The licence is the difference between a betting site you have some protection against and one you do not. Everything a British bettor relies on, from segregated customer funds to a formal complaints route, flows from a single fact recorded in one place. Learning to check that fact for yourself takes minutes and is the most valuable habit on this whole site.
This page walks through the check in order. Where a licence lives, how to search for it, how to read the entry, and what to make of a missing licence, a fine or a change of ownership. None of it requires legal training.
01
Why the licence is the line that decides everything
Under the Gambling Act 2005, no operator may offer betting to customers in Great Britain without a licence from the Gambling Commission. That licence is not a formality. It binds the operator to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, which require customer funds to be kept separate from operating money, age and identity to be verified, promotions to be advertised fairly, and disputes to be handled through an approved alternative dispute resolution provider.
Strip the licence away and every one of those protections disappears with it. An unlicensed site may still take your deposit and accept your bet, but if it refuses to pay, freezes your account or vanishes, you have no British regulator to turn to. That is why the licence is checked first and everything else second.
02
Searching for a site on the public register
The Commission publishes a public register of every licensed operator and updates it each working day. You can search it by business name, trading name, domain or account number. Start with the trading name shown on the site, and if that is unclear, search the domain instead, because the register records the web addresses each licence covers.
Do the search on the Commission's own website rather than trusting a link from the betting site, so that a cloned page cannot send you to a fake register. Once you find a candidate entry, you can confirm the rest of the detail against it.
A worked example
Imagine a site trading as a short brand name with a licence number in its footer. You open the register, type the brand name into the search, and an entry appears listing the operating company, an account number, remote betting among the licensed activities and a status of active. That entry, not the footer badge, is your proof.
03
Reading a licence entry correctly
An entry is only reassuring if you read all of it. Check that the status is active rather than surrendered, lapsed or revoked. Check that the licensed activities include the type of gambling you intend to do, since a licence for one product does not cover another. Check the account number, and note the operating company's name, which is often different from the consumer brand.
The table below summarises the first checks and where each one sits.
| What to check | Why it matters | Where |
|---|---|---|
| UKGC licence | Legal to serve UK, dispute route | Public register |
| Safer-gambling tools | Limits, time-outs, self-exclusion | Account settings |
| Payment terms | Debit only, clear withdrawal times | Banking page |
04
Matching trading names, domains and account numbers
A single licensed company frequently runs several brands under one licence, so the operating name on the register may not match the brand you recognise. That is normal. What matters is that the domain you are actually visiting is listed against the licence, and that the account number is consistent. A mismatch between the domain in your browser and the domains on the entry is a signal to stop.
Cloned sites exploit exactly this gap. They borrow a legitimate operator's name and number, hoping you will find the real entry and assume you are safe. Confirming the domain, not just the name, is what defeats that trick.
Key points
- The register is the only authoritative source, it is updated every working day, and it is searchable by name, domain or account number.
- Confirm the status reads active, the licensed activities cover betting, and the domain in your browser is listed on the entry.
- A licence you cannot match to an active entry is a reason to walk away, a theme we return to in our warning signs guide.
05
What a missing or overseas licence really tells you
If a site cannot be found on the register at all, the safe assumption is that it is not licensed to serve you, and you should not deposit. An overseas licence, from Curacao, Malta, Gibraltar or elsewhere, does not fill the gap. Those regimes may be legitimate in their own jurisdictions, but they do not authorise an operator to take bets from customers in Great Britain, and they do not give you access to the Commission's complaints route.
Be especially wary of any site describing itself as an alternative to GAMSTOP. Because GAMSTOP covers only GB-licensed operators, a site advertising a way around it is telling you plainly that it sits outside the licensed system.
A worked example
A site promotes itself heavily and displays a colourful overseas seal, but a search of the Commission's register returns nothing under its name or domain. That absence is the whole story. However attractive the odds, an unlicensed operator offers you no British protection, so the sensible response is to close the page.
06
Regulatory action, fines and what they signify
The Commission publishes its enforcement action, and a fine or regulatory settlement usually follows a breach of licence conditions, often relating to anti-money-laundering controls or safer gambling duties. Reading that an operator has been sanctioned tells you it fell short in a specific area and what it was required to put right.
Interpret it in proportion. A single historic penalty against a large operator that has since changed its practices is different from a pattern of repeated action. What should always concern you is an operator that is not on the register at all, because there is then no enforcement to speak of.
07
Checking again when a site changes hands
A licence check is not a one-off. Betting brands are bought, sold and rebranded, and the licensed company behind a familiar domain can change without much fanfare. When a takeover happens, the register entry, the operating company and the account number should all update to reflect the new owner.
If you have used a site for years, it is worth repeating the check occasionally, and certainly if you notice a change of branding, terms or payment processor. A domain that quietly ends up pointing to a company with no matching active licence has lost the very protection you signed up for.
Related reading on this site
- A step-by-step way to choose a betting site
- Reading odds, margins and real value
- Payments, the credit-card ban and withdrawals
- Safer gambling controls and GAMSTOP
- Spotting a betting site to avoid
How we check our facts
Licence status is verified directly on the public register held by the Gambling Commission, and the underlying law is the Gambling Act 2005 as amended, together with the current Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. This guide was last reviewed on 25 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Where exactly is the UK Gambling Commission's public register?
It is hosted on the Commission's own website, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, under its public register of licence holders. You can search by business name, trading name, domain or account number. It is the only authoritative source; a licence number printed on a betting site means nothing until it matches an active entry there.
A betting site shows a licence number but I cannot find it on the register. What does that mean?
Treat it as a serious warning. A genuine licence appears on the register, which is updated every working day. If the number, name or domain does not match an active entry, the licence may be lapsed, revoked, cloned from a real operator or simply invented. In every one of those cases you would have no GB consumer protection, so do not deposit.
What does it mean when the Commission fines or sanctions a betting operator?
A fine or a regulatory settlement usually follows a breach of licence conditions, often around anti-money-laundering or safer gambling failings. Published enforcement action tells you the operator fell short and what it must fix. One historic penalty does not automatically make a site unsafe today, but a pattern of repeated action is a reason to be cautious.
Do I need to check the licence again if a betting site is taken over?
Yes. Brands are bought and sold, and the licensed company behind a domain can change. When that happens, the register entry, the account number and the company details should update to reflect the new operator. If a takeover leaves the domain pointing to a company with no matching active licence, the protections you relied on may no longer apply.