legal

Affordability Check

A UKGC-mandated verification that a player can financially afford their gambling activity, triggered at defined loss thresholds.

Also known as: Affordability reviewFinancial risk check

Affordability checks are a UKGC-specific compliance obligation introduced in 2020-2023. When a player’s cumulative losses at a UKGC-licensed operator cross defined thresholds (typically £125/month or £500/month, depending on the operator’s risk model), the operator must verify that the player can financially afford the losses without harm.

What operators check:

Bank statement analysis (via open-banking API or manual review).
Salary or income documentation.
Analysis of gambling as a percentage of monthly disposable income.

What triggers the request:

Loss thresholds set by the operator (guided but not fixed by UKGC).
Multiple failed deposit attempts.
Rapid escalation of deposit amounts.
Session-length or session-count anomalies.

Practical impact on play:

Until affordability is confirmed, the operator may:

Lock deposits at a lower ceiling.
Restrict bet sizes.
Freeze the account entirely.
Void bonuses — if the check was triggered mid-bonus.

Most players find the process intrusive but understand it exists for harm prevention. If you refuse to provide documents, the account will be closed and your balance returned via your original payment method.

Non-UK jurisdictions: Affordability checks are unique to the UKGC in practice — MGA, DGA, iGO Ontario, and others rely on session-based RG interventions rather than income-based checks.