How to check an online casino licence (UK guide)

If you live in Great Britain, there is one question to answer before anything else: is this casino licensed by the Gambling Commission? A British licence means the operator must verify your age and identity, follow rules on advertising and fairness, offer safer gambling tools and handle complaints through an approved dispute service. An offshore licence does not allow the operator to serve players in Great Britain, and it does not give you these protections. Checking takes a few minutes.

Check a licence in five steps

Find the licence details. A licensed operator shows its Gambling Commission account number and company name in the footer of its website, usually with a link to the regulator.
Open the public register yourself. Go to gamblingcommission.gov.uk and search the public register by company name or account number. Do not rely on a link from the casino alone.
Match the company. The company named in the casino's terms and conditions must be the one on the register.
Check the status and the domain. The licence must be active, and the web address you are using should appear among the domains listed for that operator.
Look for the safer gambling tools. Deposit limits, time-outs and a link to GAMSTOP are part of what a licensed site has to offer. If they are missing, be wary.

Red flags

No licence number, or a number that does not exist on the register.
A licence from another regulator presented as if it allowed play from the UK.
No age or identity check before you can deposit.
Credit card deposits accepted: operators licensed in Great Britain may not take them.
Support that will not name the regulator or the dispute service.

What a licence does not do

A licence is a minimum, not a recommendation. It does not make withdrawals instant, and it does not change the maths: casino games are built to pay back less than they take over time. Read the withdrawal terms and the wagering rules of any bonus before you sign up.

How we check casinos

For every casino we review, our team records the regulator, the licensed company and the licence status on the official register, then rates the site using our analysis method. Many casinos in our reviews hold offshore licences and target other markets: if you play from Great Britain, only an operator on the Gambling Commission register may offer you casino games.

If something goes wrong

Complain to the operator first and keep copies of your messages. If the complaint is not resolved, a licensed operator must tell you which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider handles it. If gambling is becoming a problem, our responsible gambling page lists where to get help.

Sources

Gambling Commission, public register: gamblingcommission.gov.uk
GAMSTOP, national online self-exclusion scheme: gamstop.co.uk
GamCare, which runs the National Gambling Helpline: gamcare.org.uk

Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. It involves the risk of losing money and can become addictive. For free, confidential support in Great Britain, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day.