Wed. Feb 5th, 2025

The Horseracing Bettors’ Forum (HBF) has welcomed new Gambling Commission rules offering more transparency about the level of protection offered for customer funds but remains “stunned” that operators can still leave punters’ money unprotected in the case of insolvency.

The industry regulator announced the changes to its licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) on Tuesday, along with new rules around deposit limits, which followed a consultation launched in November 2023.

Gambling operators who hold customer funds must already set out in their terms and conditions whether these are protected in the event of insolvency. There are four levels of protection: not protected with no segregation of funds, not protected but segregated, ‘medium’ protection and ‘high’ protection.

From October 31 operators whose customer funds are ‘not protected’ in the event of insolvency must actively remind consumers once every six months that is the case.

The HBF wrote to the Gambling Commission about its stance on protection of funds last year, with the regulator responding it had always “adopted a transparency and buyer beware approach”, a position the HBF said it “emphatically” disagreed with.

In response to the latest announcement, the HBF said: “The HBF appreciates the Gambling Commission decision to make sure every punter is made fully aware of the level of protection of funds by any bookmaker they may use, but remains stunned that the level of protection of ‘no protection’ remains deemed as acceptable. In our view, all punters’ funds should be fully protected in the event of insolvency.”

New rules will also come into force from the end of October which will require all gambling businesses to prompt their customers to set a financial limit before they make their first deposit. Operators will also have to remind customers every six months to review their account and transaction information.

Tim Miller:

Tim Miller: changes will improve “consumer empowerment and choice”

Tim Miller, the Gambling Commission’s executive director for research and policy, said the changes “illustrate our commitment to ensuring gambling is fair and open by improving consumer empowerment and choice”.

He added: “These changes will help consumers decide on deposit limits, enable them to keep track of their spending and ensure they are fully aware of what happens to their funds should an operator become insolvent. We will now continue our work to deliver our remaining white paper commitments, including our programme of evaluation.”


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‘We remain unconvinced’ – HBF chief shares concerns after introduction of ‘light touch’ affordability checks 

Gambling Commission says growth must meet licensing objectives as chancellor renews call to regulators 


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