British Regulator Says Document Checks Not Needed After Assessments

UK operators would not be required to ask for documents after carrying out affordability checks on customers, according to a senior official at British regulator the Gambling Commission.

Affordability checks were proposed as part of the government’s 2023 White Paper, which suggested a number of gambling regulatory reforms. Light touch vulnerability checks were initially triggered when a player spent £500 in a month as part of a trial that began in August 2024, and from February 28, 2025, this decreased to £150 spend in a month.

While the Commission has not yet signed off on the final implementation of financial risk assessments (FRAs), as they are also known, the British Horeseracing Authority (BHA) understands the Commission is set to sign off on the next pilot in May.

Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Commission, believes it is not a particularly practical idea to have customers sending their own documentation to be approved by operators, and has claimed the previous pilot showed 97% of customers would successfully receive a frictionless assessment process.

“Outdated, inconsistent and disproportionate”

Speaking at the Ethical Gambling Forum, hosted by Flutter Entertainment at the operator’s offices in Leeds, Miller said:

"In 2026, it can’t be right that this still leads to some operators asking consumers to share bank statements and other financial documentation. Such an approach is outdated, inconsistent and disproportionate.

"To provide assurance to industry, our approach to compliance would also ensure that failing to request documents following a financial risk assessment would not be a reason for regulatory action. To request financial documents in such circumstances would serve no legitimate regulatory purpose and consumers could rightly refuse to provide them."

However, Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive of industry trade body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), claimed the “fundamental problem” with the checks is that they “do not reliably work.”

Hurst said:

“If a financial risk flag is raised, operators will be expected to act.

“In reality, that is a judgement about what a customer can afford to spend, whatever terminology is used. The headline figure of 97% being frictionless is therefore misleading. It ignores the real impact on customers who are flagged and may face disrupted play.

“On documentation, while the Commission says operators should not request it, past guidance has not always been consistent. Greater clarity will be essential to build trust. Before moving forward, there must be clear answers on whether these checks work, what actions they will trigger, and what they will mean for ordinary customers."

What happens next?

Miller mentioned the Commission’s board will take recommendations on its next steps, but stressed the outcome of this should not be pre-judged. Miller said the Commission would work with the government, the industry and credit rating agencies to establish an implementation plan if and when the checks come to fruition.

Players not keen on document checks

Earlier this month, a YouGov poll found close to two thirds of bettors would be unwilling to hand over personal documents to operators. YouGov’s poll, commissioned by the BGC, showed 65% of betting customers are not willing to provide documents such as bank statements to prove their affordability. However, the BGC did not reveal the number of respondents that were polled.

In an earlier study released by the Commission in May 2024 off the back of a Freedom of Information request, 77% of more than 12,000 respondents disagreed with the idea of gambling businesses being required to assess if gambling is affordable.