Insurance bonus explained

What an insurance bonus is

An insurance bonus is a promotion that pays you back if a specific bet, or a specific stretch of play, ends in a loss. The usual casino forms are first-bet insurance, where your first wager is refunded if it loses, and first-session insurance, where net losses within a set number of hours after your first deposit are returned up to a cap. In both cases the refund normally arrives as bonus funds with wagering attached.

It is a one-off cousin of the lossback bonus, which refunds a share of losses over repeating periods, and of cashback, which may pay on every stake. You will find all three on our bonus types hub.

At our last check on 5 October 2026, none of Coral, Ladbrokes, PlayOJO, Casumo or 10bet offered an insurance bonus. Their welcome offers are free spins or deposit matches.

Insurance bonus, blackjack insurance and bet insurance compared

The word ‘insurance’ appears in three places in gambling, and only one of them is a bonus:

This page is about the first kind, with a section on blackjack insurance because it is so often confused with a bonus. Since January 2026, casino and sports insurance can’t be mixed, as explained below.

How a casino insurance bonus works, step by step

A typical first-session insurance offer follows this sequence:

1. You opt in at sign-up or before your first deposit.
2. You deposit and play qualifying games within the insured window, for example the first 24 hours.
3. When the window closes, the casino totals your net loss on qualifying games.
4. If you finished down, it refunds that loss up to the cap, usually as bonus funds.
5. You then wager the refund, up to 10x in the UK, before any winnings from it can be withdrawn.
6. If you finished up, nothing is refunded and you simply keep your winnings.

Each step has a term behind it: the window, the qualifying games, the cap and the payment form. Our clause-by-clause guide to casino bonus terms explains how to find them, and how to opt in to a bonus covers the first step.

What an insurance bonus is really worth

The refund is not the same as the amount lost, because bonus funds have to be played through. This illustrative example uses a first-session insurance offer that refunds up to £20, paid as bonus funds, on slots with a 4% house edge.

So a £20 loss ‘insured’ with a 10x refund is, on average, a £20 loss followed by £12 back: you are still £8 down. And the refund only appears if you lose. If you would have made the same qualifying bet anyway, the offer adds a little; it does not change the house edge on anything you play. Our expected value guide shows how to run these numbers for any offer.

Why an insurance bonus never removes the risk

Insurance offers used to be marketed as bets you couldn’t lose. The ASA’s guidance on gambling free bets and bonuses (opens in a new tab) says advertisers should avoid claiming a bet carries no risk unless the customer genuinely can’t lose their own money, and it also says an offer shouldn’t be called free if you must risk your own money to qualify. A refund paid as bonus funds with wagering fails that test: your original stake is gone, and what comes back is worth less than it.

If a UK insurance offer claims your bet carries no risk, treat it as a red flag about the advertiser. Our pages on significant conditions in ads and ‘free’ in gambling ads explain what a compliant advert has to say.

Blackjack insurance: a side bet, not an insurance bonus

In blackjack, when the dealer’s face-up card is an ace, you may be offered insurance. You stake up to half your original bet; if the dealer has blackjack, the insurance pays 2 to 1, and if not, you lose it. Despite the name, it is just another bet with its own house edge.

The maths is straightforward. In a shoe with many decks, roughly 4 in every 13 cards are worth ten, so the dealer completes blackjack about 30.8% of the time. For a 2 to 1 payout to break even, that chance would need to be one in three, or 33.3%. On a £1 insurance bet, the average result is about 0.308 × £2 − 0.692 × £1, a loss of about 7.7p, using that many-deck approximation.

So blackjack insurance costs money on average and isn’t a promotion. For bonuses that do apply to the game, see our blackjack bonus and live blackjack bonus pages, and check the game weighting rules, because table games often count for less towards wagering.

UK rules that shape an insurance bonus

On 19 January 2026, two changes to the Gambling Commission’s rewards and bonuses code (LCCP 5.1.1) (opens in a new tab) came into force. The 10x wagering cap limits playthrough on any insurance refund paid as bonus funds. The mixed-product promotion ban means one incentive can’t span more than one type of gambling, so a casino loss can’t be insured with a sports free bet, and a losing accumulator can’t be refunded with casino spins.

The Commission explained the reasons in its announcement that gambling promotions would become safer and simpler (opens in a new tab). Our bonus rules timeline puts all the dates in one place.

Insurance bonus terms to read before you opt in

• What is insured: one bet, the first deposit, or net losses over a window.
• Window: how long the insured period lasts, and when it starts.
• Cap: the most that can be refunded.
• Qualifying games: whether live casino and table games count.
• Refund form: cash or bonus funds, with any wagering and expiry.
• Maximum bet: limits on stake size while the refund is active, on top of the £5 (or £2 for 18–24s) online slot stake limits.

Insurance and chasing losses

Insurance offers are built around losing, and that can blur judgement. Knowing a refund is coming can make a bigger first stake feel safer than it is, and a refund paid as bonus funds keeps you playing to clear it. Decide your first-session budget before you opt in, set a deposit limit, and stick to stakes you would use without any offer.

If you find yourself chasing a loss, stop and take a break. GamCare (opens in a new tab) runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, free and 24/7, and our safer gambling page lists other support, including GAMSTOP and bank gambling blocks.

Alternatives to an insurance bonus from our partners

We can’t point you to an insurance bonus at any of our partners, because none offers one. These no-wagering spin offers are the honest alternatives, for new customers aged 18+ with terms applying:

• Coral: bet £10 on slots, from a deposit made by an eligible method, and receive 100 free spins at 10p on selected games: £10 of spins, accepted within 48 hours and valid 7 days, with no wagering on winnings. Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards are excluded. Runs 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027.
• Ladbrokes: spend £10 on slots after depositing for 50 free spins a day across the first 10 days, up to 500 spins at 10p, with no wagering. Claim by 23:59 each day; spins last 7 days.
• PlayOJO: make a first deposit of £10 or more for 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza at 10p (£8 of spins), with winnings paid in cash. New UK customers excluding Northern Ireland; not combinable with other offers.

Unlike insurance, these offers don’t depend on you losing first. Coral and Ladbrokes share an operator, LC International Limited, so check the terms before joining both. To compare all five welcome offers, use our casino bonus comparison.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: set a budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.