UK deposit limit rules

What the UK deposit limit rules say

A deposit limit caps how much money you can put into a gambling account over a set period. In Great Britain the rules are in the Commission’s remote technical standard RTS 12 on financial limits (opens in a new tab), which every online operator must meet. RTS 12 was updated after a 2023 Commission consultation, and the changes arrived in stages between October 2025 and September 2026.

The short version: limits must be offered at account level, you must be prompted to set one before you first deposit, reductions take effect at once, increases wait at least 24 hours, and you must be reminded to review your limits. This page explains each part. It belongs to our UK casino bonus rules section and contains no offers.

The financial limit prompt before your first deposit

Since 31 October 2025, customers must be prompted to set a limit as part of registration or at their first deposit. Setting a limit has to be the default choice: you must take an action to decline, and the operator must receive that decision before you can deposit or gamble. Operators may make the default clear with pre-selected fields such as a tick box, or by visual emphasis.

The amount is yours to choose. Operators must use free-text amounts with no pre-filled suggested figures, so the screen should not steer you towards a high number. The Commission described the change in its news release on new deposit limit rules (opens in a new tab), and our page on the financial limit prompt looks at the sign-up screen in detail.

Gross deposit limits and the three required periods

RTS 12 defines a deposit limit as one where “the amount a customer deposits into their account is limited over a particular duration”. Only limits that meet that definition may be called deposit limits. That rules out using the name for limits based on net deposits (deposits minus withdrawals), which can let more money in than the headline figure suggests. The gross deposit definition counts every pound you put in.

Operators must offer gross deposit limits over 24 hours, 7 days and 1 month. The deadline for this was 30 June 2026, later extended to 30 September 2026. When limits overlap, the most restrictive one always applies, and once a limit is reached the system must block further deposits until the period restarts or you raise the limit.

The first and third rows come straight from the standard’s own example: a £10 daily limit and a £100 weekly limit allow £10 a day and £70 a week, because the daily cap bites first.

Raising and lowering a limit: cooling-off rules

The rules treat lowering and raising a limit very differently, on purpose.

The 24-hour wait gives you time to reconsider a decision made in the heat of a session. It is one of several cooling-off tools; a time-out lets you stop gambling for a set period without closing the account.

Limit reminders every 6 and 12 months

• Customers with limits: prompted to review their account and transactions at least every 6 months, if the account was active in a rolling 12-month period. You can also ask for more frequent reminders.
• Existing customers without limits: prompted at least once every 12 months to review that position.
• All active customers without limits: to have been prompted at least once by October 2026.

A reminder is a good moment to compare your limit with what you actually deposited. If your limit is much higher than your real spending, lowering it costs nothing and takes effect at once.

How to set a deposit limit at a UK casino

1. Log in and find the safer gambling or responsible gambling area; operators must link to limit settings from the homepage and deposit pages.
2. Choose a deposit limit and the period: 24 hours, 7 days or 1 month (or more than one).
3. Type the amount you can afford to lose. There should be no suggested figure.
4. Save the limit. A new or lower limit applies straight away.
5. Consider adding other tools the site offers, such as loss limits, time limits or reality checks.
6. If you later want to raise it, expect to wait at least 24 hours and confirm.

PlayOJO, for example, says on its help page that deposit limits are under My Account, then Settings, then Deposit Limits, with increases taking 24 hours and decreases applying immediately. For other sites, look in the account or safer gambling menu, or ask support. Our guide on how to set deposit limits has more detail.

How deposit limits interact with casino bonuses

Bonus funds and free spins are not deposits, so they don’t use up a deposit limit; only money you pay in counts. Our answer on whether bonuses count towards deposit limits covers the detail. The reverse matters more: if a promotion needs a £20 deposit and your daily limit is £10, you can’t deposit enough to qualify that day. That is the limit doing its job, not a problem to work around.

A bonus also doesn’t lower the cost of play. If you deposit £20 and receive a £10 bonus with 10x wagering, you must stake £100; at a 4% house edge that costs about £4 on average, and any session can lose the full deposit. Our guide to budgeting with a casino bonus shows how to plan around your limit.

Operators must stop new bonus take-up for customers with strong indicators of harm under the customer interaction rules. Removing or repeatedly raising limits is one of the signals operators watch.

Other financial limits and checks you may meet

• Operator caps: some sites set their own maximums, separate from your limit. Coral and Ladbrokes, for example, cap a single UK deposit at £2,000 and allow up to three active payment methods in a rolling 30 days.
• Financial vulnerability checks: when net deposits pass £150 in a rolling 30 days, operators run a public-record check, as our page on financial vulnerability checks explains.
• Stake limits: online slots are capped at £5 a spin for players aged 25 and over and £2 for 18 to 24-year-olds; see online slot stake limits.
• No credit cards: gambling with a credit card has been banned since 14 April 2020, as our credit card ban page explains.
• Bank blocks: many banks let you block gambling payments; see our guides for Monzo and Barclays.

When operators get deposit limits wrong

Deposit limits only work if the system counts every deposit. In November 2025 the Commission imposed a £650,000 penalty on Videoslots Limited for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures, which included deposit limits that ignored customers’ initial deposits. The Commission’s Videoslots announcement (opens in a new tab) has the details. If you think a limit didn’t work as set, complain to the operator in writing and keep screenshots; our page on operator fines for bonus failings lists other cases.

What deposit limit rules don’t cover

• They don’t set a national maximum you can deposit; you choose the amount.
• They don’t link limits across different operators. A limit at one site has no effect at another, which is why GAMSTOP and bank blocks exist.
• They don’t require credit-reference affordability checks; those were only piloted.
• They don’t cover Northern Ireland, where Commission rules don’t apply.
• They don’t stop you losing money already deposited, though loss limits, where offered, can help.

If one limit isn’t enough, self-exclusion blocks access altogether, and our safer gambling hub lists free support.

UK deposit limit rules timeline

Free help if limits aren’t enough

If you find yourself raising limits often or depositing more than you planned, talk to someone. The National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, run by GamCare’s support team (opens in a new tab). GAMSTOP blocks all online gambling sites licensed in Great Britain for 6 months to 5 years. The NHS runs gambling clinics you can refer yourself to, and Gamblers Anonymous holds regular meetings.

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.