Websites that offer online lottery syndicates are quickly becoming massive players in the online lottery industry, and more and more sites are offering various options for players to play together as a group. Launched in 2011, SimplyLotto.co.uk is another site that allows you the chance to try your luck with a group of other likeminded people. The site is owned and operated by Simply Lotto Ltd. and is currently only available in English. In this SimplyLotto.co.uk review, we will look at how this site works and how you can use it to make yourself some extra money.
How Does It Work?
As mentioned, SimplyLotto.co.uk works only to provide access to their specially formulated lotto syndicates. This means that you cannot use the site to purchase any individual tickets for an upcoming draw or place a bet on what the results of a forthcoming draw may be. Instead, you pool your money with players from around the world and the site purchases a staggering number of tickets on your behalf. This means that you have a much higher likelihood of winning at a fraction of the price—meaning improved odds of winning.
To get in on this, you will need to register a player account. Doing this is easy enough but does require you to visit about three different screens before you see the actual registration form. This form will ask you to provide your name, address, date of birth, and contact information. Once you have provided all this, you will move onto the third (and final) part of registration—selecting your syndicate.
There are three different syndicate options to choose from. Each gives you a different amount of chances to win per month and, as such, costs slightly different amounts. The syndicates cost £3.99, £7.99, and £11.99—depending on which syndicate you choose. All the syndicates are offered purely on a month-to-month basis and work as subscriptions that will keep charging you unless you tell the site that you no longer choose to participate.
Once you have chosen which syndicate you would like to play in, you can complete your payment and continue with your daily life. The site will handle the purchasing of all your tickets and check if you are a winner after each draw has been concluded.
Is SimplyLotto.co.uk Legit or a Scam?
Simply Lotto’s terms and conditions do an excellent job of protecting you as the player and the website as the syndicate operator. In addition, the site enjoys a rather excellent online reputation—something that speaks volumes about how they operate. In fact, the only negative reviews that the site has all seem to centre around the same thing—the struggle of trying to cancel a syndicate subscription or being double charged for their subscription.
We must say, however, that most of these complaints are quite old and there do not seem to be any recent complaints against the site. Since this shows that the site must have cleaned up their act, we see no reason why you shouldn’t make use of this site and its great syndicates.
User Experience
To be honest, the site is slightly childish in its design for our liking—simply because of the terminology used and the sticker-type graphics that appear throughout. This does not mean that it is not still nice to look at, as it is a clean and modern site to visit. Navigation is also incredibly easy and is all handled by the top menu bar or the footer menu.
There are no dedicated mobile applications for the site, but you can still access the site on your mobile device, as the site has been optimised to work for those on the move.
Lotteries Available
There are only two lotteries supported by the site—UK Lotto and EuroMillions. Thankfully, both are great lotteries, and you will not be upset that they are the only two offered.
While we wouldn’t be opposed to the site adding some popular lotteries from around the world to their portfolio in the future, we don’t see that happening considering it’s a “.uk” domain. But hopefully they will at least add some other UK lotteries eventually.
SimplyLotto.co.uk Extras
The only visible additional feature on the site is the inclusion of a Lottery Results section. Sadly, every link throughout the site to get to this section does not work. We are confused as to whether this is intentional or an accidental oversight on the part of the developer. Regardless, we are disappointed that an otherwise decent site has zero other extras.
Payment/Withdrawal Options
The only way to pay for your syndicate subscription is by using a Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card. As soon as you load one of these payment methods, they will be stored by the site and charged each month on the date your subscription becomes due. Should your payment bounce, the site will continue to attempt to charge your card for 30 days. It is rather ridiculous that this is the only payment method available, and we hope more options will be added sooner rather than later.
Withdrawals are also paid out to your provided debit or credit card. You can request to have your winnings paid directly to your bank account. However, this request will only be granted at the discretion of the site owners. Withdrawals are also limited to amounts over £50 and are subject to you submitting proof of your physical address and identity.
How to Claim Your Winnings
You will not need to worry about trying to collect your own winnings should you be lucky enough to strike it rich. The site will claim all winnings on your behalf and pay them into your online player account within 30 days of your win (where reasonably possible). Cleverly hidden in the terms and conditions, however, is a clause that states if the site is unable to claim your winnings, you will forfeit them entirely. To help soothe this sting, the site will refund you the cost of your initial purchase. Depending on the size of the prize that you won, this clause could potentially cause you a lot of suffering later on, so it’s best to not treat it too lightly.
Customer Support
There is no real customer support section anywhere on the site. Rather than a traditional FAQ section that actually helps to answer questions, the site has a How It Works page that does nothing to answer any queries you may have. What it does do really well, however, is leave you with around 200 new questions.
Contacting the site can only be done via the provided online form, via email (admin@simplylotto.co.uk), or via phone (084 384 97946). There is no mention of the operating hours of the contact number or how long it will take the site to respond to the online form or email queries.
Welcome Bonuses/Promotions
There is a very well-advertised welcome bonus for new players that entitles you to a free ticket for the next EuroMillions draw. Aside from this, there does not seem to be any additional promotions offered by the site.
Rules and Regulations
The site does not mention any restrictions regarding who can or cannot register as a user. Amazingly, this lack of rules even extends to mentioning a specific minimum age. Instead, the only thing said in the terms and conditions is that you may not register if you are not of legal age to form a binding contract or if you are not allowed to use the services of the site within your region legally.
SimplyLotto.co.uk Review Conclusion
SimplyLotto.co.uk undoubtedly has plenty of things working in its favour. It offers access to two of the most popular British lotteries available today, it has excellent syndicate options that work well to improve your chances of winnings, and it makes claiming your prize a breeze. Unfortunately, it has fallen prey to some of the most common pitfalls that other lotto websites fall prey to.
There is no excuse for the pitiful amount of payment methods offered, the lack of extras is disappointing (especially when the one there is does not even work), the customer support is a joke, and the clause that states you forfeit your winnings if the site “can’t claim your prize” is concerning, to say the least. Overall, however, this site has potential and is worth taking a look at—especially if you are looking for a decent syndicate to take part in—but there are many better sites available.
Why only two supported lotteires? Seems very lazy in this day and age.