The UK betting, bookmaker and gambling industry has been in the spotlight for much of 2023 with the Gambling Commissions proposed affordability checks on customers. But just what are these suggested betting measures the government wants to enforce?
Affordability Checks Gambling Petition Surpasses 100,000 Signatures
The Gambling Commission issued a white paper on reforms to gambling legislation which purposed introducing affordability checks on all customers using online gambling sites in order to prove bettors weren’t not betting beyond their means.
However, this intrusion into the world of betting in the UK led to a petition being set up in the UK Government and Parliament site with many leading horse racing figures, including top trainers Nicky Henderson & John Gosden, getting behind the appeal.
It took under 30 days for the gambling affordability checks petition to hit 100,000 signatures, which now means this topic has to be debated in UK parliament.
The petition hit this magic number on Tuesday 28th November, which will now send a clear message to the Gambling Commission about the feelings on this matter from the UK betting public.
The date for parliament to discuss the betting affordability checks issue, based on the petition, is yet to be announced.
What Are The Gambling Affordability Checks?
The proposed betting affordability checks are meant to prevent problem gambling. Which is an area of the industry that bookmakers and punters alike will be keen to support.
However, what the UK betting world are questioning is that are the gambling affordability checks suggested by the Gambling Commission’s white paper, despite it saying this will only affect 3% of online gambling accounts, the right way of tackling this issue?
Or will it even solve the problem?
32m Active Gambling Account In The UK
Recent figures shown in the Gambling Commission say there are almost 32 million active gambling accounts in the UK, so even if just 3% of these are impacted it still means almost a million customers will be checked.
It’s believed that everyday betting punters are not keen on having to give over personal financial information in order to prove they have enough fund and ongoing income to support their betting. With many saying if these affordability checks do become law they will bet less or even not at all.
This will, of course, lead to other areas of the betting industry being impacted – which brings in over £4bn in tax to the UK treasury and supports over 100,000 jobs.
While others are also suggesting that this will just lead to an increase in bettors heading to the black market to get bets placed, which leads to further risks and dangers.
Yes, some bettors that are asked to produce financial documents will do just this and as long as they meet the criteria, will carry on betting. However, what the betting industry and bookmakers also feel is that there will also be a lot more bettors that either won’t want to give this information out or won’t be bothered with the hassle and stop or cut down their betting.
Gambling Affordability Checks Explained
The suggested affordability checks would see betting sites, bookmakers, and online gambling companies to perform a financial risk assessment customers. This analysis would then highlight is a customer’s gambling habits are sustainable and affordable, plus showcase if they are at risk of any financial suffering due to their practice.
Financial Vulnerability Checks: Triggers when a punter shows a net loss of £125 within a rolling 30-day period or £500+ over a rolling 365-day period.
What Checks Will Be Made Here? Public information that’s available like bankruptcy order, county court judgements or any history of debts unpaid.
Second Financial Vulnerability Checks: This will be triggered as the white paper describes as ‘binge gambling’. A net loss of £1,000 in a 24-hour period will lead to an ‘enhanced spending check’
What Checks Will Be Made Here? This would involve credit reference agencies and not impact the customer unless this check showcases anything of concern. However, it’s believed some of this information may have to be collected from customers if the credit checks fail to give enough detail. This could include proof of income and bank statements being sent.
The Gambling Commission is also considering another check on any proposed £2,000 net losses within a 90-day period – similar to the £1,000 checks for the 24-hour range.
These checks also through up a number of questions and issues.
Notably, you could potentially win £6,000 over the four-day Cheltenham Festival in March. But the following month lost $1,000 at the Aintree Grand National meeting on the opening day. Due to this your betting account would come under scrutiny and even blocked with betting sites asking for bank accounts and proof of income. Despite still being in profit by £5,000.
Will Betting Affordability Checks Extend To Betting Shop Customers?
Despite recent assurances from Andrew Rhodes from the Gambling Commission that the betting affordability checks will only apply to those betting online, many feel if these rules come into play then it won’t be long before they are hitting the high street bookmakers or even the racecourses.
Afterall, if the sole aim of these checks is to prevent or highlight problem gamblers – then surely if a person can’t bet online but can in their local highstreet bookmaker, then many feel this doesn’t solve the problem.
However, if these checks are extended into the shops or the racetracks, this comes with extra issues. Mainly on how these checks will be done in person and would betting shop staff have to be trained up or even have the right tools to perform these checks.
Add in punters betting on the oncourse bookmakers as the big festivals like Royal Ascot, then surely racegoers are not going to have to walk around with their payslips of bank statements in order to get a bet on. We’ll see.
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