National Lottery retailers maintain 91% ‘first visit’ pass rate for third straight year

National Lottery retailers have maintained their 91 percent pass rate in verifying age of mystery shoppers in 2019, Camelot revealed.

This is the third year in a row that 91 percent of retailers correctly asking for ID as proof of age on the first visit.

Camelot, the National Lottery operator, conducts 11,600 mystery shopper visits each year to ensure that people under the age of 16 don’t play any National Lottery game.

“Keeping players safe is central to how Camelot operates the National Lottery, and we have lots of processes in place to prevent underage play and also to support healthy play,” commented Jenny Blogg, Camelot’s retail director.

“Our 2019 results clearly show that these are working well, and have been for a number of years now. I’d like to personally thank each and every one of our retail partners for the part they have played in this.”

Camelot said it will send a leaflet to all retailers over the next few months with top tips on acceptable forms of identification, what to do if a customer appears to be underage or playing in an unhealthy way, and ways to ensure all staff are correctly trained.

The firm will also hold the next phase of its ‘Supporting Healthy Play’ training programme throughout the year.

Camelot works with around 44,000 retailers across the UK, with independent outlets making up the majority. A retailer who fails a mystery shopping visit on three occasions will see their National Lottery terminal being suspended.