Ending your Cats Protection Lottery membership made easy

What is Cats Protection Lottery?

Cats Protection Lottery is a weekly fundraising lottery operated by Cats Protection, the UK's leading feline welfare charity. When you participate in this lottery, you're not just playing for prizes—you're directly supporting the charity's mission to help cats and kittens across the country find loving homes and receive proper veterinary care.

The lottery operates under a straightforward premise: participants purchase tickets for weekly draws, with proceeds funding Cats Protection's vital work rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming thousands of cats annually. The organisation runs adoption centres, provides neutering services, and offers education programmes about responsible cat ownership throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

What makes this lottery particularly appealing to supporters is the dual benefit structure. First, you're contributing to a charitable cause that genuinely transforms feline welfare across Britain. Second, you have legitimate chances to win cash prizes each week, with draws typically offering multiple prize tiers ranging from smaller amounts up to substantial jackpots.

The lottery is regulated by the Gambling Commission, ensuring all operations meet strict UK standards for fairness and transparency. Cats Protection has been running lottery schemes for years, building a substantial supporter base who appreciate the combination of charitable giving and potential winnings.

Most importantly, the lottery provides Cats Protection with unrestricted funding—money that can be allocated wherever the need is greatest, whether that's emergency veterinary treatment, building improvements at adoption centres, or expanding their trap-neuter-return programmes for feral cat populations.

Plans, features and pricing

Cats Protection Lottery offers several participation options designed to suit different budgets and commitment levels. Understanding these options is essential before you decide whether to continue or cancel your membership.

Standard lottery entries

The basic entry structure revolves around weekly draws. Participants typically purchase entries at £1 per line per week, though the charity often promotes multi-line packages for better value. When you sign up, you're usually committing to ongoing weekly participation rather than one-off entries.

These costs might seem modest weekly, but they accumulate significantly over time. Many participants don't realise they're committing to continuous direct debit payments until they review their bank statements months later.

Payment methods and collection

The lottery primarily operates through Direct Debit arrangements, which automatically collect payments from your bank account at regular intervals—typically monthly or quarterly. This convenience factor is precisely why many people forget about their ongoing commitment until they're conducting a financial review.

Some participants may also pay through standing orders or even door-to-door collection in certain areas, though Direct Debit remains the most common method. The automatic nature of these payments means you continue contributing even if you've stopped actively thinking about the lottery.

Prize structure and odds

Weekly draws typically feature multiple prize tiers. The top prize often ranges from £1,000 to £5,000, with additional prizes of £100, £50, and £25 distributed among other winners. The exact prize structure and odds depend on the total number of active participants in any given week.

Keep in mind that lottery odds are always weighted towards the house—or in this case, the charity. This isn't criticism; it's simply how charitable lotteries function. The majority of funds collected must support the charitable mission, with only a portion allocated to prize pools.

Terms of service and cancellation policy

Understanding the legal framework surrounding your Cats Protection Lottery membership is absolutely critical before attempting cancellation. The charity operates under specific terms and conditions that govern how and when you can terminate your participation.

Legal requirements in the UK

As a UK-based lottery service, Cats Protection must comply with both gambling regulations and consumer protection laws. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides certain protections, though charitable lottery subscriptions occupy a unique legal position that differs slightly from standard commercial subscriptions.

Most importantly, you have the right to cancel your ongoing lottery participation at any time. However, the charity requires reasonable notice—typically between 14 and 30 days—to process your cancellation and stop collecting payments. This notice period isn't arbitrary; it reflects the administrative time needed to update payment systems and ensure no further debits occur.

Notice periods and payment cycles

The standard notice period for Cats Protection Lottery cancellations is usually one month, though this can vary depending on your specific agreement terms. What catches many people off guard is how notice periods interact with payment collection dates.

Here's a practical example: If you submit your cancellation request on the 15th of the month but your Direct Debit collects on the 1st, you might still see one or even two more payments processed before the cancellation takes full effect. This isn't the charity being difficult—it's simply how payment processing timelines work in practice.

Refund policies and outstanding payments

Generally speaking, charitable lottery subscriptions don't offer refunds for draws that have already taken place. If you've been entered into a draw, that entry is considered fulfilled even if you subsequently cancel. This means timing your cancellation strategically can save you unnecessary payments.

Additionally, if you've won any prizes that haven't been claimed, ensure you've received these before cancelling. The charity typically has procedures for distributing winnings, but cancelling your membership might complicate this process if prizes are still pending.

Cancelling by post - the complete guide

Postal cancellation represents the most reliable and legally robust method for terminating your Cats Protection Lottery membership. Despite living in a digital age, written correspondence sent via Royal Mail provides unmatched proof of your cancellation request and creates an official paper trail that protects your interests.

Why postal cancellation is most reliable

After processing thousands of subscription cancellations, I can tell you that postal methods—specifically Recorded Delivery or Signed For services—offer three critical advantages that electronic methods simply cannot match.

First, physical letters create indisputable evidence that you submitted a cancellation request. If any dispute arises about whether you cancelled or when you cancelled, your Recorded Delivery receipt provides dated, verifiable proof that the charity received your letter on a specific date.

Second, postal cancellations force organisations to acknowledge receipt formally. When someone physically signs for your letter, that signature becomes part of the official record. This eliminates the \