Gambling Affordability Checks 2026: The Real Thresholds

Three checks, one name

The licence does not use the phrase "affordability check". It is what players call three separate processes, and they differ in who runs them, what data they read and what they can do to your account.

1. Financial vulnerability check A public-records search for bankruptcy, county court judgments and similar orders. Required by licence code 3.4.4 once your net deposits pass £150 in 30 days. No documents, and you are not told it ran unless it flags something.

2. Financial risk assessment A credit-reference-agency check for defaults, arrears and debt management plans. Being phased in by the Commission, starting at £5,000 net deposits in 24 hours. Frictionless for 97 percent of the accounts it touches, and with no effect on your credit score.

3. Source-of-funds review The casino's own review under its customer-interaction and anti-money-laundering duties. This is the one with the email, the bank statements, the payslips and the paused withdrawals, and each casino runs it its own way.

Identifying which process you are in is simple. If nothing has happened to your account, any checks so far have been the first kind. If the casino has asked you to fill in a short form or enter your salary, that has been a light assessment. If an email asks for documents, you are in a source-of-funds review, and the rest of this page explains how each casino manages that process.

The £150 financial vulnerability check

This is the only affordability check that is written into the licence as a formal process with a reference number. Social responsibility code 3.4.4 came into force on 30 August 2024 and describes exactly what the check must include.

"A financial vulnerability check must include at a minimum a customer-specific public record information check for significant indicators of potential financial vulnerability. The check must include whether the customer is subject to any of the following: a. bankruptcy order, or equivalent, or b. county court judgment (CCJ); an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA); high court judgment (HCJ); administration order (AO) or decree; Debt Relief Order (DRO); or equivalent."

Gambling Commission, LCCP social responsibility code 3.4.4

Net deposits means total deposits minus total withdrawals in a rolling 30-day period. Starting at £500, the code dropped to £150 after six months: "From 28 February 2025, the relevant threshold is where the customer's deposits minus withdrawals exceeds £150 in a rolling 30-day period." If a casino has already checked you within the last 12 months, it does not need to check you again when you cross the threshold a second time.

Period	Trigger	What it reads	Status
30 August 2024 to 27 February 2025	£500 net deposits in a rolling 30 days	Public records: bankruptcy, CCJs, IVAs, DROs and similar	Introductory threshold, now closed
From 28 February 2025	£150 net deposits in a rolling 30 days	The same public records	In force at every UK casino

The Commission reached out to operators covering about 90 percent of British customers to see how the first three months of checking at the £500 level were going. On average, operators checked 7 percent of active accounts. 68 percent were already running a version of the check voluntarily, and the speed of the checks was the striking part.

How fast a vulnerability check comes back

Share of checks returned, operator data for the three months after 30 August 2024

Within 10 minutes78%

Within 2 hours10%

Later than 2 hours12%

Source: Gambling Commission blog, "Financial vulnerability checks: Insights from implementation", 14 May 2026. The final row is the remainder.

When someone on a forum posts that a casino has "pulled your credit file", that is not accurate. The blog states that these checks are "a targeted and non-intrusive way of using publicly available information to establish if a customer is subject to bankruptcy orders or has a history of unpaid debts." NetBet states on its own help centre that its Financial Vulnerability Checks are "a standard industry practice for conducting responsible financial assessments and do not affect your creditworthiness".

Sapphire calculator with gold keys: the financial risk assessment thresholds

Financial risk assessments: the £5,000 stage

The second check differs from the first in that it reads credit reference data rather than public records. On 7 July 2026 the Commission announced it will be phased in, targeting the largest operators first with a very high threshold.

The announcement indicates who it is for and what it will replace:

"The vast majority of customers will never require a Financial Risk Assessment, which means people who place an occasional bet, are a recent winning customer or even regularly spends hundreds of pounds would be unlikely to need a check. Those who do will have a frictionless, document-free assessment provided by Credit Reference Agencies, with no impact on their credit score."

Gambling Commission, Commission to introduce Financial Risk Assessments in staged approach, 7 July 2026

Stage	Customers aged 25 and over	Under 25 and other higher-risk groups	When
Stage one	More than £5,000 net deposits in a rolling 24 hours	More than £2,500 net deposits in a rolling 24 hours	Largest operators first. Start date to be confirmed after the implementation groups set up over summer 2026
Interim stages	To be set following further engagement with implementation groups and stakeholders		Not yet dated
Final stage	More than £1,000 net in 24 hours, or more than £3,000 net in a rolling 90 days	More than £750 net in 24 hours, or more than £2,000 net in a rolling 90 days	"In due course"

What the casino receives is intentionally thin. The Commission's policy director noted that operators would receive "an overall financial risk assessment together with information in relation to four data points": defaults, multiple arrears, significant arrears and whether the customer has a debt management plan. They never see your balances or your transactions. The same blog post states why these assessments are necessary at all: high-spending customers "are between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan and between two and five times more likely to have a default in the previous 12 months than consumers in the wider population."

The pilot showed that 97 percent of accounts above the thresholds could be assessed with no supporting documents, against the 80 percent the 2023 White Paper had expected.
Fewer than 3 percent of accounts would be assessed, and fewer than one in a thousand would need a check but be unable to get a frictionless one, likely because a recent move or name change has not yet been reflected in the credit files.
For that last group, the casino is required to verify identity properly and may assess risk "through other means such as open banking or requesting documents", which is the third check on this page.
During the beginning stages "no enforcement action will be taken on a failure to act following a Financial Risk Assessment", so operators are being asked to respond proportionately rather than mechanically.

This has two implications. First, no casino is currently performing these assessments, so any credit-agency search you can see today came from the casino's own ongoing process and is not related to this rule. Second, when stage one is implemented it will only touch players depositing thousands in a single day. If this is you, the casinos on our high-stakes casinos list are the ones whose limits and verification pages we have already read for that level of play.

The casino's own source-of-funds review

Everything players complain about is in this section. No rule places a pound figure on it, because it stems from two obligations: the customer interaction code and anti-money-laundering law.

The customer interaction code is 3.4.3. In the Commission's own summary, it requires operators "to use a range of indicators to identify harm. These include patterns of spend; time spent gambling; use of gambling management tools and account indicators such as multiple or changing payment methods." It is for individual casinos to decide how they turn those indicators into a request for documents, and the Commission has said openly that it wants less of this practice. The risk assessments above are meant to reduce "reliance on the document checks that some operators currently use to seek to identify financial risk and that are unpopular with many consumers", and the more specific July 2026 blog states: "Industry and others have told us that current document checks used by many operators risk driving consumers to the illegal market."

Until this change is implemented, the review process is as the casinos describe it. Monopoly Casino is the most frank: "This verification process is something that all members on our sites are subject to in one form or another. Some members would enter this process sooner, others later, depending on multiple factors." Its list of what it wants is just as frank: "Usually, we would require information regarding employment status, occupation, and monthly income. Additionally, we need to see documents to confirm how play on site is funded."

Some casinos add a credit-agency layer of their own. Sky's page says it has "partnered with a Credit Reference Agency (TransUnion) to carry out affordability checks". It answers the question everyone asks: "When an affordability check is conducted, a soft search footprint will appear on your credit file. These searches will not affect your credit score or your chance of being approved for credit." What a soft search is, who can see it and what a mortgage lender actually looks at is all covered in our guide on whether gambling affects your credit score.

Gold-edged sapphire ledger: what a source-of-funds review reads

What the review reads Your deposits against your declared income, on statements you supply or through an open-banking link you approve. The Commission's guide says businesses "use a variety of techniques to profile customers which can help to indicate that a customer is gambling with money they do not have", helped by "open source data and Office of National Statistics publications".

What it cannot do Look inside your bank account without you. A statement you send or a bank connection you authorise is the only way a casino sees transactions. The Commission's summary of the whole system says gambling operators "will never have access to raw account level data, for example they would not be able to look at customers' bank accounts."

Gambling affordability checks at all ten casinos

Each row reads the casino's own help centre or safer-gambling pages. "Set by the casino" limits are the ones you cannot change yourself. Betfred and Coral publish general verification pages and no affordability process, so their rows are brief.

Casino	Limits set by the casino	How it assesses affordability	Deadlines it publishes
Betfred	None published	A verification policy page only. Our review covers its withdrawal SLAs.	None published
BetMGM	"Mandatory limits" applied automatically to every account, shared across all LeoVegas Gaming brands: LeoVegas, BetMGM, BetUK, Pink Casino, SlotBoss and 21.co.uk	Source-of-funds check: three months of PDF statements, payslips or a tax return, or a bank link through Kreditz. Also asks occupation and employment status.	30 days to answer a source-of-funds request; 7 days for the occupation question, or "restrictions being placed on your account"
BetVictor	None stated beyond stake and deposit tools	"Affordability measures" in the Safer Gambling Portal: "You can enter your salary and occupation here to complete the affordability check." Its verification page adds: "In some circumstances, we may request evidence of income."	None published
Coral	None published	Its verification page says only: "You may be required to send in further documents in the future, when we do routine checks on accounts."	None published
LiveScore Vegas	Spending Controls "automatically applied to all accounts upon creation and are managed by our player protection team". They cap net losses per day, week or month, and you cannot remove them yourself.	An in-account Affordability Questionnaire, or a phone assessment with the Player Protection team on 0808 196 7705	Wagering is blocked until the questionnaire is finished. You can still deposit, and can withdraw instead.
Monopoly Casino	"Account Limits (Set by us)": an initial limit for all new players, and more "if we need more information from you"	Enhanced Verification Check or a conversation with the Customer Due Diligence team, on the phone 24 hours a day. Wants employment status, occupation, monthly income and PDF statements showing income and deposits.	Enhanced verification reviewed within 7 working days; refusing means "we may apply restrictions"
MrQ	A Spend Limit "set by MrQ to help keep gambling affordable"	Source-of-funds request by email, with a documents list per circumstance, or an open-banking link through ClearStake	No fixed time: "the timeline resets from the date the new documents are submitted". Deposits or withdrawals may be paused meanwhile.
NetBet	A Net Deposit Cap "set by NetBet, based on your declared income and affordability assessment", plus a Deposit Limit set by NetBet	Declared income at sign-up, Financial Vulnerability Checks, and a verification request if the automatic check fails	None published
Paddy Power	None published	Its help centre covers self-set deposit limits and verification documents, and describes no affordability process	None published
Sky Vegas	None stated beyond the tools you set	TransUnion affordability checks that leave a soft-search footprint, and source-of-funds requests from the Safer Gambling Team	Account shows "Play Paused" until documents are reviewed, with a live-chat route to reactivate

The pattern across the column of casino-set limits is that the two casinos built on daily free games, LiveScore and Monopoly, and the two run by large European groups, BetMGM and NetBet, all start every account with a cap you did not choose. It sits under the deposit limit you set yourself, which is why a self-set limit sometimes seems not to be the one in charge. Our deposit limits guide walks through the lowest-limit-wins rule that governs the two together.

What to send when a casino asks

MrQ publishes the clearest list of documents by circumstance, and the other casinos' requests fit the same shape. The common thread is one proof of where the money comes from and one statement showing it arriving.

Your situation	Proof of income	Plus
Employed (PAYE)	Latest payslip, or P60 or SA100	A recent bank statement showing the salary paid in
Self-employed or company owner	SA302 or annual tax return, with dividend proof if relevant	A recent statement showing the income
Benefits	Benefit entitlement or verification letter	A recent statement showing the payments
Pension	A recent pension statement or confirmation letter	A recent statement showing the pension income
Savings	"A short explanation of how the savings were built"	A recent statement showing the available funds
Inheritance, insurance or a trust	A solicitor or insurer letter confirming the amount	A recent statement showing the funds received
Property sale	Completion statement or proof of sale	A recent statement showing the proceeds
Winnings from another site	A screenshot showing your name and the withdrawal details	A recent statement showing the winnings paid in

BetMGM asks for the last three months in PDF, "showing all transactions", and adds a line for anyone who deposits from one account and receives their income in another: "If this is a different account to your salary, both statements are required." Monopoly requests similar statements and asks for "a recent bank statement in PDF format, which shows both your income and deposits to the site". Every single one of the casinos that states an age limit sets that limit at three months.

Two casinos use an open-banking connection rather than PDFs. BetMGM uses Kreditz, calls it "the quickest way" and asks you to use it "as soon as possible". MrQ's ClearStake runs on Nuapay, an FCA-authorised payment institution, and MrQ explains the consent in simpler terms: "Open banking means you choose to share specific information directly from your bank. We can't see anything unless you give permission." If you would rather send files, both accept them, and our guide on what to send when a casino asks for a bank statement covers what to black out first.

What happens to your account while it runs

The general process is largely the same everywhere. What differs is how long each step takes and what is frozen while you wait.

A trigger fires. Net deposits cross a threshold, a spending control is reached, or an indicator under 3.4.3 flags your account. For LiveScore, that sends a message at the point of betting: "We still need to know more about your affordability, you will not be able to wager until you have completed our short questionnaire."
The casino tells you what it wants. BetMGM, Monopoly and MrQ all send an email, and all name the documents. Monopoly says to "always refer to the email you have received from us, which will contain all the information we require".
Something is paused. MrQ: "While we review your Source of Funds documents, deposits or withdrawals may be paused." Monopoly: "until the process is complete, we may be unable to process withdrawals or other account actions." LiveScore blocks bets but allows withdrawals: "you can always withdraw funds". Sky displays the message "Play Paused".
The review runs. Monopoly says it aims to complete reviews in 7 working days. BetMGM gives you 30 days to provide the documents. MrQ gives no figure, says support "cannot expedite or influence the process", and warns that a further document request resets the time allowed for the review.
You get an outcome. Either limits are lifted or raised, or they remain in place, or restrictions stay until you complete the process. Monopoly puts the refusal case plainly: "If you do not wish to send documentation, it is your right to choose, and we completely respect this decision. However, we may apply restrictions."

If you do not agree with the outcome, the casino's complaints procedure is the route to use, and after a maximum of eight weeks you may go to an alternative dispute resolution body. Note, however, that IBAS sets a limit on its own remit: it does not consider "claims by consumers that they have been allowed to gamble excessively/irresponsibly, unless there is a contractual element to the dispute". A complaint about a restriction should therefore be framed around the terms, and our guide on accounts that are closed or restricted describes the steps.

Daily prizes and the counters

Every threshold on this page counts net deposits. Free daily games, no-deposit spins and prize wheels do not move that counter, and withdrawing what they pay takes it lower still.

The £150 vulnerability check reads "deposits minus withdrawals". LiveScore's spending controls "monitor the overall level of losses on an account. When calculating losses, withdrawals are taken into account to reflect a customer's net position over the relevant period." NetBet's cap "reflects your overall net spend (deposits minus withdrawals)". A player who claims a free spin every day, wins £20 and withdraws it has a net position of minus £20 on all of these counters.

The checks bite on deposits, and that is where most of the reload offers on our existing-customer offers list start. A £100 deposit for a matched bonus is £100 on the counter whatever the terms of the bonus are, and two of these in one month cross the £150 line on their own. This is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to expect a quiet public-records check afterwards, and to keep three months of statements handy in case the casino's own review follows.

Sources for this guide

Every figure is attributed to at least one of the documents. Casinos and regulators change them without warning, so be sure to check the live page before using the figures.

Gambling Commission, LCCP social responsibility code 3.4.4: Financial vulnerability check: the minimum content of the check, the 12-month rule and both thresholds with their dates.
Gambling Commission, LCCP social responsibility code 3.4.3: Remote customer interaction: the duty behind operator-run reviews.
Gambling Commission, Financial vulnerability checks: Insights from implementation, 14 May 2026: the 7 percent, 68 percent, 78 percent and 10 percent figures and the "targeted and non-intrusive" description.
Gambling Commission, Commission to introduce Financial Risk Assessments in staged approach, 7 July 2026: the stage thresholds, the 97 percent pilot result, the no-enforcement statement and the "frictionless, document-free" quotation.
Gambling Commission, Financial risk assessments update, July 2026, Helen Rhodes: the four data points, the 3.4.3 indicator list, the debt-management-plan comparison and the illegal-market remark.
Gambling Commission, Summary of checks overall: Financial vulnerability and financial risk: the "raw account level data" statement.
Gambling Commission, Age, ID and financial verification: how businesses profile customers and the open-source data remark.
IBAS, What IBAS does not cover: the exclusion of irresponsible-gambling claims.
BetMGM help centre: What are mandatory limits?, Which documents can you use to verify your source of funds?, How do we process a Source of Funds check? and Occupation verification requests.
BetVictor help centre: Navigating the Safer Gambling Portal and Account verification: documents and timelines.
Coral help, Why do I need to verify my identity?
LiveScore Bet help centre: What are Spending Controls?, Who sets the spending controls?, How does the spending controls work?, Why have you let me deposit but not allowed me to bet? and Affordability Questionnaire.
Monopoly Casino help centre: Why is there a limit on my account?, Source of Funds Verification Process: Common Questions, Enhanced Verification Process and Where do I send my documents to verify my income?
MrQ help centre: Source of Funds and Spend Limits.
NetBet help centre: Safer Gambling, Will Financial Vulnerability Checks affect my credit score? and Why do I need to verify my account?
Paddy Power help centre, Deposit limits.
Sky Vegas help: Affordability, What is Source of Funds? and Play Paused: Need Help.

18+

A check that limits your account can feel like an accusation. It is a licence duty, and it is also a moment to ask whether the spend it flagged was one you would have chosen calmly. If gambling is costing more than money, the National Gambling Helpline is free and open all day, every day.

GamCare, 0808 8020 133 GambleAware GAMSTOP Our safer gambling page

Gambling affordability checks: what triggers them