GamCare questions threshold for UK gambling financial risk checks
The charity believes the proposed threshold is too high.
UK.- The responsible gambling charity GamCare has said that it believes the Gambling Commission’s proposed thresholds for financial risk checks for online gambling are too high. It has welcomed proposals to introduce the checks, but says that the proposed threshold of a £1,000 loss in 24 hours is “too significant an amount”.
It said: “The proposed threshold for a financial risk assessment related to binge activity of more than £1,000 in a rolling 24 hours is too significant an amount to lose before an intervention.”
It noted that with still no single-customer view of all of a player’s accounts, there would also be nothing to stop a player from incurring such a loss at multiple operators on the same day.
It said: “Players may create numerous accounts across various operators, which is within their rights but could potentially lead to oversight. This could result in significant losses going unnoticed until it’s too late.”
It added: “If a player was to hold 10 accounts, then they could potentially lose £10,000 in a day before the system intervenes,” it said. “This is a significant concern. To experience losses this large would be difficult for many.”
The Gambling Commission has also proposed that the checks would apply to those who lose £2,000 over a period of 90 days, while less-intrusive ‘passive’ checks would be carried out for players whose losses surpass £125 a month or £500 a year.
However, GamCare says tougher checks are needed when players open accounts. It recognised that this could push some players to unlicensed offerings but said that evidence for this is unclear. The charity said that more research was needed.
“It is hard to deny that formalising the process and setting out exact figures for financial vulnerability checks remains a daunting task, but it’s a necessary one,” it said. “Our Lived Experience Community tell us this, so as these proposals move forward, we will continue to advocate for maximising player protections wherever possible.”
The debate around financial risk checks for online gambling
Financial risk checks, or affordability checks, are one of the most controversial proposals of the UK government’s gambling white paper. Last week, the Conservative MP Laura Farris added her voice to concerns about the potential impact on equine welfare and veterinary science since the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has estimated that their introduction checks could reduce funding by 11 per cent.
The Labour Party peer David Lipsey, who is chairman of Premier Greyhound Racing, has also criticised the proposed financial risk checks for online gambling. He fears they could have a detrimental effect on the greyhound sector because they could cause high-spending customers to “disappear”.
There has been some heated debate between the Gambling Commission on one side and the gambling and horse racing sector on the other. The Gambling Commission has accused critics of the proposals of spreading “misinformation”. The regulator’s CEO Andrew Rhodes has described the work on financial risk checks as the “most challenging part of what we’re doing”. A consultation on the issue closed last week.
