- The UKGC consultation on player fund protection is a timely acknowledgement that this issue has not been given the attention it deserves.
- The the UKGC wants to find a solution which will: “…balance the advantages of protecting customer funds against the additional costs to both operators and customers.”
- The preferred solution is segregated accounts but the regulator recognizes that this provides no protection from creditors in the event of insolvency or fraud.
The loss of funds held with a gambling operator is not directly comparable to the severe financial hardship which might be the result of lost pensions for example. Gamblers may have more appetite for risk.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) consultation on player fund protection is a timely acknowledgement that this issue has not been given the attention it deserves, despite regulators’ primary purpose of consumer protection.
The consultation document recognizes: “there is a significant gap between the level of protection that customers and commentators assume they might receive (and which they assume regulators would have required) and the actual level of protection afforded.”
In response the UKGC wants to find a solution which will: “… balance the advantages of protecting customer funds against the additional costs to both operators and customers.”
