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A licensed online casino in Great Britain must tell customers what would happen to money held in their account if the business became insolvent. A gambling licence is not a deposit guarantee. The Gambling Commission says customer balances are not protected in the same way as money held in personal bank accounts. Yet the exact protection arrangements can differ materially between operators.
This guide explains the regulator's three published protection levels, a disclosure change that took effect on 31 October 2025, and a practical way to locate and interpret the wording before relying on a balance. It is not a list of recommended gambling sites.
Three protection levels in the terms and conditions
The Gambling Commission's customer-funds guide requires businesses to disclose their protection rating in the terms and conditions. The options have precise regulatory meanings:
| Published rating | What it means | What it does not promise |
|---|---|---|
| Not protected | The operator has not made arrangements that protect the customer balance if the business becomes insolvent. The money can form part of the company's assets. | Keeping the balance in a separate account alone does not guarantee repayment. |
| Medium protection | The business has additional arrangements intended to protect customer money, such as insurance or another form of protection. | Recovery remains not absolutely guaranteed. |
| High protection | Customer money is held in a legally recognised separate account, controlled by an independent trustee and checked by an external auditor. | Even this rating should not be described as a blanket government guarantee. |
The labels refer to the operator's arrangements in the event of insolvency. They are not a safety score for individual games, an estimate of how likely the company is to fail, or a prediction about the speed of routine withdrawals.
Why a separate bank account may still mean 'not protected'
The Gambling Commission distinguishes between segregation and protection from creditors. It requires online gambling licensees to keep customer funds separate from their own operating funds. However, a segregated account does not automatically mean that customers will recover the balance if the business fails.
This is why the word segregated alone is not enough. The question is what legal or other arrangements apply if insolvency actually occurs. The regulator's money-and-rights overview explains the differences between the three levels.
A website stating that it holds customer money 'safely' is not an adequate substitute for its exact regulatory rating. Locate the customer-funds, insolvency or protection of funds section of the terms and conditions and read the rating in full.
The six-month reminder rule introduced in October 2025
From 31 October 2025, gambling businesses holding customers' funds that are not protected must remind those customers every six months. The reminder must be acknowledged before customers can use the funds held for gambling. According to the regulator's explanation of unprotected funds, the notice includes the amount held, based on the balance at the time the reminder is created.
That does not mean a reminder itself changes the protection rating or gives the customer a right to compensation. It also does not automatically mean the business has entered insolvency. It is a recurring disclosure designed to make the risk visible.
If such a notice appears, check that you are reading the operator's official authenticated communication rather than a link received in an unsolicited message. You can independently open the regulator's public register to verify the business's identity. A customer uncomfortable with an unprotected balance can consider withdrawing money already held, subject to applicable checks and contractual rights, instead of keeping an unnecessary balance.
Which balances count as customer funds?
The Commission's information on customer funds identifies several categories that may be covered by whatever arrangements exist:
- Money deposited into an online gambling account.
- Winnings owed to the customer or left in the account.
- Bonus money the customer has actually become entitled to under the offer's terms and conditions.
A particular distinction matters: money staked on an open bet is not classed as 'customer funds' for these protection arrangements. An open bet is one where the stake has been placed but the event has not yet occurred. Do not assume the same insolvency protection treatment automatically applies to that money.
An unearned promotional balance is also not necessarily equivalent to withdrawable money. If a site shows separate cash and bonus wallets, ask how each type of balance is treated before drawing any conclusion about customer-funds protection.
Five checks worth making before trusting an account balance
1. Locate the exact operator and licensed entity. Check the spelling of the business name, site address and licence in the Gambling Commission's public register. A familiar brand is not a substitute for the legal company's identity.
2. Read the specific insolvency disclosure. Record whether the terms say not protected, medium protection or high protection. If the wording is unclear, ask customer support to point to the relevant clause.
3. Keep evidence of your balance. Securely retain account statements, relevant transaction identifiers, withdrawal requests and dated terms if there is a dispute. Avoid sharing full payment-card details or identity documents outside the operator's verified channels.
4. Separate ordinary payment delays from insolvency risk. A withdrawal marked 'pending' is not proof that an operator is insolvent. Our guide to pending versus processing payments explains status labels. We have also covered the £900,000 L & L Europe regulatory case involving withdrawal delays, which involves regulatory compliance and does not establish an insolvency event.
5. Seek the right kind of help. If a business is already insolvent, any claims process may be handled by an insolvency practitioner. A routine payment dispute normally follows the operator's complaint procedure, then the relevant approved alternative dispute resolution route if eligible. The regulator provides separate money and rights guidance and does not itself guarantee repayment.
What an insolvency rating cannot tell you
A 'high protection' label says something specific about how customer funds are arranged, not whether an operator offers better games, higher returns, faster payouts, or a safer personal financial decision. Likewise a 'not protected' label should be accurately disclosed, but should not be turned into an unfounded accusation that a company is insolvent or operating without a licence.
CasinoTop.uk does not classify named operators in this article because their individual fund-protection disclosures were not checked for this edition. Do not infer the current rating for any brand from an old review, logo, affiliate offer or general UKGC licence status.
Bottom line: In Great Britain, gambling balances are not bank deposits. Verify the legal operator, find its exact protection rating, understand which funds are included, and distinguish an ordinary withdrawal problem from insolvency. That is more useful than treating a casino's licence as a promise that all money will be returned.
Primary sources checked 1 November 2026: Gambling Commission — what happens if a business goes bust, information on customer funds, and guidance about unprotected balances. This is general consumer information, not financial or legal advice.
We check licensing, terms, payments, and available player-protection tools. Commercial relationships do not change our evidence standards.
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