A disgruntled former MP for Tewkesbury, Laurence Robertson, recently vented his frustration at bookmakers being overzealous regarding affordability checks. His comments to the Racing Post came just a day after British Horseracing Authority chief Joe Saumarez Smith also made a similar complaint regarding checks imposed by bookmakers.
Given these two high-profile complaints about the more rigorous checks bookmakers are making, we wanted to assess the situation. Are these isolated incidents or might regular bettors also face similar experiences? If so, what impact might this have on the horse racing industry?
The New Rules
Speaking to the Racing Post, Saumarez Smith admitted that although he is no stranger to restricted accounts, “recent weeks have been particularly bad and it feels like operators are becoming more restrictive and fearful”. The recent change is a likely consequence of new rules announced on 1st May 2024, which has seen three of the four stages rolled out so far (the final stage is to follow in February 2025).
The changes cover various elements but the main point of contention has been the tightening of financial risk assessments. Under the new rules, bookmakers are required to implement financial checks when customers reach net deposits of £500 a month (reducing to £150 a month from 28th February). These checks run alongside a pilot of frictionless financial risk assessments that will target customers at risk of quickly losing large sums. The proposed threshold is £1,000 in net deposits within 24 hours or £2,000 within 90 days.
What’s The Issue?
Robertson complained about his bookmaker pestering him with all sorts of ‘crazy’ questions. He claimed he had only lost around £30 over three months but was asked “How had this loss impacted his life? Was he lying awake worrying about it, or drinking more?”. In the case of Saumarez Smith, he had his Betfair account suspended for nine days, after mentioning his cancer diagnosis, and other accounts were heavily restricted.
The pair believe the new Gambling Commission rules are to blame for these over-the-top checks and restrictions.
It is hard to see how the new rules have directly impacted Robertson or Saumarez Smith. According to Robertson he only lost £30 in three months, well below the threshold for checks, while Saumarez Smith claimed to be in profit. In both cases, it seems to have been a combination of their status and the current climate of caution that is responsible. Although no longer an MP, Robertson remains a politically exposed person while Saumarez Smith is head of the BHA.
With the Gambling Commission clamping down on bookmakers taking advantage of vulnerable customers, it is no major surprise that bookmakers have acted very cautiously around these two. Robertson is still politically exposed until July while Saumarez Smith has his role and cancer diagnosis. This is not to say the bookies’ extensive questioning and heavy restrictions were justified, but you can perhaps understand why they wish to be extremely careful.
Will The New Rules Be a Problem?
Roberton fears that the new affordability checks will have a huge negative impact on the racing industry. He is well placed to speak on the matter too given he was part of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock.
The main concern is that these checks will simply turn punters away. Some will not like the faff of providing documents, others will not feel comfortable about it. In his view, checks will only turn people off betting or push them towards unregulated outlets. Of course, on the flips side, there will be plenty of campaigners who see this as a positive thing.
The obvious answer to this is that bookmaker revenues will drop. It should be noted though that this a trend that has already begun, so to pin the blame on the checks would be entirely unfair. As reported at the end of 2024, figures revealed a £3bn fall in online betting turnover on racing, in real terms, over the past two years. Even without taking inflation into account, horseracing betting turnover fell 16.3%.
Significantly reduced betting revenues spell trouble for the horse racing industry as it has a symbiotic relationship with bookmakers. Not only does racing get lots of money through sponsorship but also through the statutory levy on bets, collected by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Sponsorship, the levy and media rights are worth an estimated £384m to horse racing according to a 2023 report.
So, if betting revenues continue to fall the horse racing industry will feel the pinch but there is currently little evidence to suggest financial checks will play a large part in this. As mentioned by Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes, turnover will be impacted by many other factors such as “changes in consumer spending power or product competition”.