What happens if a guaranteed contest isn't awarded?

In a guaranteed contest, the contest holder guarantees that they will select a winning designer, and will pay out the prize money.

We contact guaranteed customers multiple times after their contests end to let them know they need to award a winner.

If the guaranteed customer decides they don’t want to choose any of the designs as the winner, we’ll distribute their prize money evenly among the eligible participating designers. Any designers who are suspended during the time of a prize distribution automatically forfeit their share.

The prize is automatically distributed 181 days after the contest has locked, unless the customer contacts 99designs and requests further time.

Why do we do it this way? We want to reward not only our loyal designers, but our best designers too.