How your money is protected at UK online casinos
Money sitting in an online casino account is not protected the way money in a bank account is. What you do get in Great Britain is a clear label: every licensed operator has to tell you which of three protection levels applies to your balance, and what that would mean if the business went bust.
In short
- There are three ratings: not protected, medium protection and high protection. The operator must state its rating in its terms and conditions.
- Your deposits, winnings and any bonus money you have qualified for count as your funds. Stakes on bets that have not settled yet do not.
- If your money is not protected, the operator must remind you every six months, and you have to acknowledge the reminder before you can use the balance.
- The safest balance is a small one. Withdraw what you are not planning to play with.
What counts as “your money”
The Gambling Commission calls this customer funds. It covers three things:
- the money you have deposited into your online account;
- winnings owed to you, or left in your account;
- bonus money you have become entitled to under the terms of an offer.
Money tied up in an open bet — a bet you have paid for on an event that has not happened yet — is not treated as customer funds, so it is not covered by whatever protection the operator has in place.
The three protection ratings
| Rating | What it means | If the business became insolvent |
|---|---|---|
| Not protected | Your balance is treated as part of the business’s own assets. | You would be likely to lose the money in your account. |
| Medium protection | Funds are kept in accounts separate from the business’s own, and arrangements — insurance, for example — are in place to pay them out to customers. | Some protection, but it is not absolutely guaranteed that you would get your money back. |
| High protection | Funds are held in a formal trust account, legally separate from the business, controlled by an independent trustee and checked by an external auditor. | The highest level of protection and the best chance of getting your money back. |
The Commission publishes example wording for each level so you can recognise it in a set of terms. Its example of a “not protected” statement is a single line; its high-protection example refers to a formal trust account and an independent trustee or external auditor.
What licensed operators have to do
Under the Commission’s rules, a gambling business must:
- explain what would happen to your money if it became insolvent;
- display its protection rating and link you to its terms and conditions;
- ask you to confirm that you understand the rating after your first deposit, and again after later deposits if its arrangements change — typically with a “yes” or “I agree” button;
- if your funds are not protected, remind you of that every six months, show the amount it holds for you, and ask you to acknowledge the reminder before you can use the money to gamble.
The six-monthly reminder applied from 31 October 2025. It covers gambling businesses generally, but not lotteries unless they run high-frequency lotteries or instant win games.
What a licence does not guarantee
When it licenses a business, the Commission looks at its suitability, including its finances. It does not, however, oversee businesses day to day or monitor their financial health in real time. Online operators licensed in Great Britain must keep customer funds in a separate account, but the Commission is clear that this alone does not guarantee you would get anything back if the business ran into trouble.
Operators may also hold customer money in bank accounts outside the UK. The Commission says this does not change your position: your balance is treated according to whatever protection level applies.
The brands we review
When we read them on 12 November 2026, the UK terms and conditions for LeoVegas, BetUK, Pink Casino, Slot Boss and 21.co.uk all said the same thing in section 9.12: customer funds are kept in accounts separate from business accounts, with arrangements to distribute them to customers in the event of insolvency, which meets the Commission’s requirements at the level of medium protection. All five are run by LeoVegas Gaming PLC.
How to find the rating yourself
- Open the operator’s terms and conditions — the link is usually in the site footer.
- Search the page for “protection”, “insolvency” or “segregation”. In the terms we read for this guide, it sat in the section on deposits and withdrawals.
- Match the wording to one of the three levels above.
Before you deposit, it is also worth confirming the site is licensed at all. Our guide to checking a UK gambling licence takes about two minutes.
Keeping your balance small
Whatever the rating, the simplest protection is not to leave much money in a gambling account. Withdraw winnings you do not intend to play with, and do not use a casino account as somewhere to store money. If an operator says your funds are not protected and you are unhappy with that, the Commission suggests withdrawing your money promptly and thinking about whether to keep the account at all. Our withdrawals guide explains what a fair withdrawal looks like and what to do if one is delayed.