UKGC: No Data on Locked Customer Funds

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Regulator Confirms Lack of Centralised Data on Withheld Player Money

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) does not hold centralised statistics on the total value of customer funds locked by licensed operators. The response also confirmed that retrieving data on the number of frozen accounts would exceed cost limits, highlighting a significant gap in regulatory oversight of a common consumer issue.

Why This Data Matters

Customers frequently face situations where their funds are withheld or accounts are frozen, often pending the outcome of identity or source of funds verification checks. The request, dated 10 July 2025, was submitted amid consumer concerns about operators withholding funds. Without comprehensive data, it is impossible for consumers, researchers, or the regulator itself to accurately gauge the scale of this problem across the UK market or track whether it is improving or worsening over time.

Breakdown of the FOI Response

The request posed two key questions:

1. Are there statistics on operators holding locked funds and what happens to that money?
2. Is the total amount of funds and the number of frozen accounts recorded anywhere?

In response to the first question, the Commission stated unequivocally that it "does not hold statistics of the nature you have requested."

For the second question, the UKGC invoked Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, which permits public bodies to refuse requests where the cost of compliance would exceed £450, or 18 hours of staff time. The Commission explained that information relating to frozen accounts may be contained within a large number of individual case files. It noted that in the previous year, there were "circa 1500 assessment activities some of which may include references to frozen accounts."

To answer the request, staff would be required to manually review all of these documents to locate and extract the relevant information, a task the UKGC estimated would take "in excess of 18 hours."

Significance for the Industry

The UKGC's response reveals a blind spot in its data collection. While the regulator handles individual complaints and conducts operator assessments that may touch upon locked funds, it does not appear to aggregate this specific data point for industry-wide analysis or public transparency.

This lack of a top-level view means that there is no official benchmark for the value of funds being held in limbo by operators at any given time. For consumers, it underscores the difficulty in understanding the prevalence of account-locking issues and leaves them to navigate disputes on a case-by-case basis without the context of broader industry trends.