Terms & conditions

1. Who we are

The National Treasure Hunt is operated by Nationaltreasurehunt.co.uk Contact: hello@nationaltreasurehunt.co.uk

2. Who can enter

You must be 18 or over and resident in the United Kingdom. We may ask for proof of age and address before paying out a prize, and may withhold a prize if it is not provided.

Employees of the operator, and their immediate families, may not win prizes.

3. No purchase necessary

Squares may be bought, and are also available entirely free of charge by the free entry route set out at the free-entry page. Paid entries and free entries are treated identically at every stage: same allocation, same prizes — including loose pigeons and instant wins — same draw, and the same chance of winning.

4. Squares and entries

A hunt covers a defined area divided into squares of one square metre. Claiming a square gives you that square in that hunt for as long as the hunt runs. It gives you no rights over the physical land it corresponds to, and no right of access to it.

A square can be held by only one entrant. Once claimed it is not available to anyone else.

Each hunt shows its price per square before you pay. Payments are processed by our payment provider; we do not hold your card details.

5. The prize, and early draws

Every hunt advertises its prize as an "up to" figure. That is the amount paid if the hunt sells out. Hunts have no closing date — they run until they are sold out, or until we draw them early under this clause.

If we draw a hunt early, the prize is the hunt's disclosed prize percentage of everything that hunt has taken. That percentage is shown on the hunt page before you enter and does not change once the hunt is open. It is applied to the money actually received for that hunt, so a hunt that has taken less pays less.

An early-draw prize can never exceed the advertised figure, and a hunt that has sold any squares at all still pays a prize to the closest square. There is always a winner.

We give at least 14 days' notice on the hunt page before drawing early, so anyone who wants to improve their chances — or the size of the prize — has time to do so.

6. How prizes are won

Before a hunt opens, each prize is assigned a secret point inside the hunt area. That point is recorded at that moment, in a form that allows the recorded value to be verified at the draw, and it does not change.

When the hunt closes, the point is revealed and the prize goes to the entrant holding the square closest to it. If two squares are exactly equidistant, the earlier entry wins.

If no entrant holds any square in the hunt, no prize is awarded. The secret point is not moved.

7. Instant wins

Some hunts contain squares that pay out free squares immediately when claimed. Which squares these are is fixed before the hunt opens. Instant-win rewards are free squares in the same hunt and have no cash value.

8. Loose pigeons

Some hunts contain loose pigeons: additional prizes, each worth a stated percentage of that hunt's final pot. The pot means the total received for squares in that hunt at the time it closes. The number of pigeons and the percentage each is worth are shown on the hunt page.

A pigeon's advertised value is an "up to" figure: the stated percentage applied to a sold-out hunt. The prize actually paid is the same percentage applied to what the hunt actually raised. For example, a pigeon worth 1% in a hunt that raises £20,000 pays £200, whatever the "up to" figure was.

Before pigeons are released into a hunt, each is assigned a fixed secret square, and a fixed secret search zone — an area containing that square. Both are recorded at that moment, in a form that allows the recorded values to be verified at the draw, and neither ever moves. The pigeon is placed at random within its search zone and is not at its centre.

After you enter, we tell you which of your own squares fall inside each pigeon's search zone. That is the only information given before the draw: we never disclose distances, locations, zone boundaries, or anything about other entrants' squares.

Each pigeon is won under clause 6, like any other prize: when the hunt closes, its secret square is revealed and the pigeon goes to the entrant holding the closest square. An entrant holding the exact square cannot be beaten. If two squares are exactly equidistant, the earlier entry wins.

Free entries are eligible for pigeons on identical terms to payment entries. Pigeon prizes are announced and paid when the hunt is drawn, alongside its other prizes, and clause 5 (early draws) applies to them in the same way: the percentage is applied to what the hunt actually raised.

9. Claiming a prize

Winners are contacted using the email address given at payment, or the postal address given on a free entry. If we cannot reach a winner within 90 days of the draw, we may award the prize to the next closest square.

Cash prizes are paid by bank transfer. Non-cash prizes are as described on the hunt page and cannot be exchanged for cash unless we say so.

10. Cancellation and refunds

Squares are allocated to you immediately on payment. Because an entry cannot be un-entered once it is in a live hunt, payments are not refundable once squares are claimed, except where we have made an error or where the law requires it. If we ever cancel a hunt and refund its payments, every prize attached to that hunt — including loose pigeons — is void.

11. Our right to cancel or void entries

We may void entries and refuse to award a prize where we reasonably believe there has been fraud, a payment has been reversed, automated tools have been used to claim squares, or these terms have been broken.

Squares used to display offensive content

Squares appear on a public map, in a colour you choose. They must not be arranged, coloured or positioned to display anything that is obscene, abusive, harassing, discriminatory, threatening, defamatory, or that targets an individual or group. That includes words, symbols and images formed across multiple squares, whether bought in one go or built up over time.

Where we believe squares are being used this way, our first step is normally to move them elsewhere in the same hunt. You keep the same number of squares and the same chance of winning; you lose the placement. We think that is the fair remedy, because the entry itself is not what is objectionable — where it was put is.

Where that is not appropriate — a deliberate or repeated attempt, or content that is unlawful — we may void the entries without a refund and refuse further entries. We will tell you which we have done and why.

12. Liability

We do not limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Otherwise our liability to you in connection with a hunt is limited to the amount you paid to enter it.

13. Regulatory position

National Treasure Hunt operates as a free prize draw. No purchase is necessary to enter. Squares may be bought, and squares are equally available without any payment by the free postal route, with the same chance of winning.

No payment is necessary to enter. Squares are also available by free postal entry at /free-entry. Those entries are identical: same allocation, same prizes, same draw, same chance of winning, and no limit on how many the free route may produce.

These are free draws under paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 to the Gambling Act 2005 and are not licensable under that Act.

We may require the exercise of skill, judgement or knowledge as a condition of entry on a hunt. Where we do, it is stated on that hunt before it opens.

14. Changes and law

By agreeing to these terms, you acknowledge and accept that we reserve the right to amend, vary or replace them at any time and at our sole discretion. The version published on this page at the relevant time shall apply to all entries, whether made before or after the amendment takes effect. Amendments take effect upon publication. The date of the current version appears at the foot of this page, and it is your responsibility to review these terms from time to time.

The following are determined at the point a hunt opens and shall not be varied in respect of that hunt: the advertised prize and the basis on which the prize is calculated; and the method by which the winning entry is determined. All other provisions of these terms are subject to amendment in accordance with the paragraph above.

These terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter, including any non-contractual dispute or claim, are governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim.

If any provision of these terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be severed and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. No failure or delay by us in exercising any right under these terms operates as a waiver of it.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

Last updated 13 September 2026.