How Does People's Postcode Lottery Work?

What is People’s Postcode Lottery?

People’s Postcode Lottery is a society lottery — a licensed, Gambling Commission-regulated lottery in which the proceeds benefit charitable causes rather than a single private operator. It is run in Great Britain by Postcode Lottery Limited, part of Novamedia’s Postcode Lottery Group, under Gambling Commission account number 829 (registers.gamblingcommission.gov.uk, July 2026). It is not available in Northern Ireland.

Unlike prize competitions such as Omaze or Raffle House, People’s Postcode Lottery:

• Holds a Gambling Commission licence, as a society lottery
• Does not require a free-entry route
• Is structured as a subscription rather than a one-off entry
• Requires you to have a UK home address at the postcode you subscribe with

The Gambling Commission’s licensing of People’s Postcode Lottery means it is legally permitted to be called a lottery. Prize competitions such as Omaze are not licensed lotteries and must not be called lotteries.

How do you sign up?

Signing up takes a few minutes:

1. Visit postcodelottery.co.uk and enter your postcode.
2. Choose how many tickets to buy at that postcode, or at a different one.
3. Set up a monthly Direct Debit, or pay by debit/credit card, PayPal, Google Pay or Apple Pay, at £12.50 per month per ticket.
4. Your subscription becomes active from the following billing date.

You can hold more than one ticket at your postcode, or register tickets at multiple postcodes. Each additional ticket is a separate £12.50 monthly subscription.

What are the different prize draws?

People’s Postcode Lottery runs several overlapping draw types, each with a different frequency and prize structure (postcodelottery.co.uk, July 2026):

Draw type	Frequency	Prize structure	Who can win
Daily Prize	Every day	£1,000 for every ticket in each of 20 winning postcodes	All tickets in the 20 winning postcodes
Millionaire Street (Street Prize)	Weekly, on Saturdays	£1 million shared between all tickets in one winning postcode, capped at 10% of that draw’s ticket sales per ticket, up to £500,000	All tickets in the winning postcode
Monthly Prize	Every month except April and December	£250,000 for every ticket in one winning postcode	All tickets in the winning postcode
Postcode Millions	April and December	Multi-million-pound prize shared across a winning postcode area	All players in the winning area

Winning postcodes are chosen using Gambling Commission-certified random number generator software, with 20 draws conducted each month in front of an independent adjudicator, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. Results are then announced daily throughout the month.

Why does it matter how many people are in your postcode?

Several Postcode Lottery prize draws distribute the total prize pot between all tickets at a winning postcode. If three tickets are registered at your postcode and it wins the Daily Prize, each ticket receives a third of that postcode’s £1,000. If thirty tickets are registered and it wins, each receives one-thirtieth.

This creates a straightforward dynamic: more tickets at your postcode mean a smaller individual prize when your postcode wins, but the same probability of your postcode being drawn in the first place. Prize size is diluted by ticket count; the odds of selection are not.

The Monthly Prize and Postcode Millions are the exception in one sense — every ticket in the winning postcode wins the full advertised amount regardless of how many other tickets share that postcode, because the prize is a fixed sum per ticket rather than a pot split between players.

What goes to charity?

A minimum of 30% of every £12.50 ticket subscription goes to charitable good causes, currently 31% (postcodelottery.co.uk, July 2026). Postcode Lottery manages society lotteries on behalf of 20 Postcode Trusts, covering causes from the environment and animal welfare to community support and international aid — including the Postcode Green Trust, Postcode Animal Trust, Postcode Care Trust, Postcode Earth Trust and Postcode Support Trust, among others.

Subscribers do not choose which trust benefits from their ticket. Each Postcode Trust runs its own monthly draw, and the trust promoting that particular draw receives the charity share from tickets entered into it. In 2025, players raised over £236 million for good causes, taking the cumulative total raised since launch past £1.8 billion (postcodelottery.co.uk, July 2026). Grant recipients are published on the Postcode Lottery charities page.

For a comparison of how 30% compares to other lottery and prize draw operators, see our how much goes to charity comparison.

How does winning actually work?

If your postcode is drawn in any of the prize draws, you win automatically — you do not need to check tickets or claim a prize in advance. Winners are notified by email, SMS, letter or phone call depending on the prize, and winnings are paid into your bank account within 28 days (postcodelottery.co.uk, July 2026).

Winners are also announced daily on the Postcode Lottery website, in the results archive and via social media.

Can you cancel the subscription?

Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time online at postcodelottery.co.uk/cancel, by calling 0808 109 8765 (Monday to Friday 9am–6pm, Saturday 9am–5pm), or by post. Cancellation takes effect from the next billing date — you will not receive a refund for the current month. See our full Postcode Lottery cancellation guide for step-by-step instructions.

For a broader look at what People’s Postcode Lottery offers versus other options, including Omaze and other prize draws, see our how much goes to charity comparison.