I see no reason to delay claiming a lottery prize. In my opinion it's a waste of time, because you could be already using your prize somehow if you claimed it as soon as possible. Lottery winners who wait for weeks or months to receive their prizes are probably not aware they won yet, because it's usual to play lottery tickets and forget about them, due to the winning chances being too low. When people around me play the lottery they put the ticket receipt over the table or any other place where the tickets are constantly under sight, so we never forget about checking the results once the draw is done.

Those delayed winners, on the other hand, probably forget their ticket receipts on drawers or even drop them on the garbage, so they tend to forget easily about the lottery played, taking them a long time to remember to check the results. I think that is why the lottery gives so much time like a whole year time period for gamblers to claim their prizes. At least on this aspect, it's very fair and respectful from their part.