A gambling website won’t pay out my winnings until I send them proof of my identity – what should I do?
All Gambling Commission licence holders are
required to have robust customer identification processes with
appropriate systems in place to ensure that customers are over the
legal age to gamble (18 for most forms of gambling). In
addition, they are also subject to legislation aimed at preventing
crime and money laundering which means customer identification
checks must be completed before money can be withdrawn from an
online gambling account.
If age verification can not be completed within 72 hours of
applying to register an online account and depositing money, your
account will be frozen, meaning that you will be unable to use it
to gamble, until your identity has been verified.
Licence holders’ requirements for customer identification will
often be set out in their terms and conditions and should you have
any questions about their approach you should contact them
directly. If you are not satisfied you should follow their
complaints procedure.
You should also be aware that many operators are licensed
overseas and will therefore have different legal and regulatory
requirements, although the same principles will generally apply. To
see if an operator is licensed by us, search our operator
licence register.
We have produced a leaflet setting out the things consumers
should look for when gambling online:
What to look out for when gambling online - November 2008.
Page last reviewed: May 2011