Operator reported death by suicide
Sensitive content warning
This webpage refers to the sensitive topic of suicide. Please consider whether you are comfortable with accessing this section of the website.
We recognise that it can be difficult to read about suicide. If you are affected by the content covered in this information and need support, then help is available from a range of organisations. We have included the following links to some sources of support:
National Gambling Helpline (opens in new tab)
Telephone: 0808 8020 133
NHS - Help for problems with gambling (opens in new tab)
Samaritans (opens in new tab)
Telephone: 116 123
This information relates to reports of death by suicide made by operators, which we subsequently refer to as gambling licensees (who are gambling businesses). To aid understanding of the level of reporting we have received, we are publishing anonymised and aggregated information. We plan to publish this information on an annual basis.
What is this information about?
On 1 April 2024, we implemented a specific requirement for gambling licensees to notify us if they become aware that a person who has gambled with them has died by suicide. The purpose of this reporting is to enable the us to consider whether it is appropriate to commence an investigation into whether there were regulatory breaches and to take account of any issues for regulatory policy consideration.
Licence Condition 15.2.2, paragraph 2 states:
The licensee must notify the Commission, as soon as reasonably practicable, if it knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a person who has gambled with it has died by suicide, whether or not such suicide is known or suspected to be associated with gambling. Such notification must include the person's name and date of birth, and a summary of their gambling activity, if that information is available to the licensee.
Following consultation on our proposal for the requirement, we stated in our consultation response document that no information about specific individuals would be put in the public domain and if anything were to be published, it would be suitably anonymised and consist of aggregated information. The reason for making this information available is to be transparent about the number of reports we have received. This is in part due to stakeholder interest in these figures. This information is not suitable as a measure for the number of deaths by suicide associated with gambling and must not be used as a proxy for such figures.
When accessing the anonymised and aggregated information, this needs to be read alongside a number of important considerations.
Gambling licensees are required to report any death by suicide of which they became aware without seeking to make any assessment on whether there was a link between the gambling activity and the death by suicide of the individual. Gambling licensees will not always be aware when a person who has gambled with them has died by suicide.
In order to capture the maximum amount of information, the scope of the Licence Condition requirement is designed to be very broad:
Reporting of all deaths by suicide - Gambling licensees must notify us when they become aware that a person who has gambled with them has died by suicide. We do not expect gambling licensees to determine whether the death was related to gambling. Once reported, we will consider whether it is appropriate to commence an investigation into the gambling business’ compliance with its regulatory requirements. The information provided by gambling licensees might also form part of our broader policy considerations and development. It should be noted that we do not investigate gambling-related deaths or suicides; it is for the coroner to decide a cause of death. We, however, will consider instances where there appears to be a regulatory failure.
'Reasonable cause to suspect' – Gambling licensees must notify the us, as soon as reasonably practicable, if they know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a person who has gambled with them has died by suicide. Our position is that the use of the word 'reasonable' is an important qualification. We do not expect gambling businesses to actively investigate various sources of information but to be cognisant of developments it might become aware of and respond accordingly.
Time limit - Death by suicide is such a serious event that we do not consider it appropriate to apply a time limit to the reporting of this information. Although there was no expectation on gambling businesses to proactively check for historic cases prior to the new Licence Condition coming into force, we did encourage gambling licensees to report any previous cases that they were aware of. We received some reports of this type during 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which is unlikely to occur again in the future.
Reporting completeness – Some reports could reasonably lack important information (such as the name of the person when reporting, for example, in relation to non-remote gambling customers) or may be inaccurate (for example, the person is alive or there has been a death not by suicide).
We do not comment on any information held regarding specific operators unless it is in the public interest to do so.
Further information on death by suicide reporting is available at our Additional information about our role and remit page.