UK Gambling Commission Licences: How to Check a Casino
A Gambling Commission licence identifies an authorised gambling business and the activities it may provide. For an online casino, check the exact domain and legal company in the public register. A logo in a footer, an old licence number or a licence held by a similarly named site is not enough.
Read the company and domain record together
- Open the casino’s account terms and record its legal operator, website domain and stated licence details.
- Search the Commission’s business register by domain or company.
- Check the licence status and relevant activities. An active sports-betting permission is not automatically a casino permission.
- Open the domain-names record. Distinguish an active or white-label entry from an inactive or historical entry.
- Compare the exact company with the terms. Investigate any mismatch or recent transfer before treating the record as current.
The register retains former licensees for a period after a licence ends. Finding a company’s name is therefore not the same as finding a current permission. The Commission explains the register’s coverage in its public-register guidance.
What the licence means for sister sites
Two domains under the same licensed operator can be connected, but a corporate group may use several operating companies. A software supplier can also serve unrelated businesses. Keep these relationships separate when comparing sister casinos.
A licence relationship does not establish shared logins, transferable balances, identical bonus eligibility or matching withdrawal times. Those details depend on the operator’s terms for the particular domain. Our sister-site identification guide shows how to compare the evidence.
Rules with specific implementation dates
| Rule | Scope and date |
|---|---|
| Light-touch financial vulnerability checks | The initial threshold was £500 in net deposits over a rolling 30-day period from 30 August 2024. It reduced to £150 from 28 February 2025. This is not a universal statutory spending allowance or a promise that no other checks occur. |
| Online slot stakes | The £5 limit took effect9 April 2025; the £2 limit for ages 18–24 followed21 May 2025. These are online-slot rules, not a single stake cap for every gambling product. |
| Bonus wagering | From 19 January 2026, wagering requirements on bonus funds are capped at ten times under Commission rules. Individual offers may require less. |
Sources: financial vulnerability checks, online-slot stake guidance and bonus-rule changes. Different checks and product rules should not be combined into an invented single threshold.
Identity checks and customer funds
Online gambling businesses must verify age and identity before gambling. Further information can be needed later for legitimate reasons, but a withdrawal should not be delayed by asking for information that could reasonably have been requested earlier. See the Commission’s verification guidance.
A licence does not guarantee that money held in an account will be returned if an operator becomes insolvent. Read the protection category in its terms. Customer-funds guidance explains the distinction between protection arrangements and ordinary gambling balances.
If you have a dispute
Use the operator’s formal complaints process first and keep the correspondence. An unresolved gambling-transaction dispute can be referred to the operator’s approved alternative dispute resolution provider after eight weeks, or earlier if a final position has been reached. Do not assume every casino uses the same provider.
The regulator’s role is not to act as a personal claims handler for every withdrawal or bonus dispute. Follow its consumer ADR guidance for the appropriate route.
18+. A licence does not eliminate gambling losses. For exclusions and support, see our responsible gambling guide.