A gross deposit limit in the UK caps the total money you pay into a gambling account over a set period. Withdrawals do not give you more room to deposit. A net deposit limit works differently: it counts your deposits minus your withdrawals, so taking money out frees up more space to put money back in. Since 30 September 2026, every online gambling business licensed in Great Britain must offer the gross version, and only the gross version is allowed to be called a “deposit limit”.
This page explains the difference in plain terms, shows what it looks like with real numbers, and sets out what the Gambling Commission now requires. It is written for players, not for compliance teams.
The short version
- A gross deposit limit counts every pound you deposit. Withdrawing money does not reset it.
- A net deposit limit subtracts your withdrawals. It lets you deposit more than the headline figure over the same period.
- From 30 September 2026, UK-licensed sites must offer gross limits, and must show them at least as prominently as any other limit.
- The word “deposit limit” is now reserved for gross limits only.
- Net limits are still allowed, but as an extra choice under a different name.
- Lowering a limit happens straight away. Raising one takes at least 24 hours.
What a gross deposit limit means in the UK
The rule lives in the Gambling Commission’s Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards, requirement 12B. These standards are technical rules that every remote operator with a Great Britain licence has to build into its website or app.
The standard defines a gross deposit limit as one “where the amount a customer deposits into their account is limited over a particular duration”. It then adds the part that matters most: “Only limits that meet this definition can be referred to as a deposit limit, and limits meeting this definition must be described to a customer as a deposit limit.” That wording comes from the Commission’s decision on Proposal 2 of its deposit limit consultation.
What a net deposit limit is
“Net deposit limit” is a newer term. The Commission introduced it in the guidance that sits under requirement 12B, and defined it as “the amount deposited into the account minus any withdrawals made for the period/duration of the limit applied”. That definition is set out in the response to Proposal 3.
The same guidance lists two other optional limit types. A stake limit caps what you bet. A loss limit caps your stakes minus your winnings. Operators may offer any of these alongside the required gross deposit limit, but not instead of it. You can find these and other terms in our glossary of responsible gambling terms.
The difference, with numbers
Imagine you set a £200 monthly limit on the first of the month. You deposit £200 that day. Later in the week you win and withdraw £150.
| Step | Gross limit of £200 | Net limit of £200 |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit £200 on day 1 | £200 of £200 used | £200 of £200 used |
| Withdraw £150 on day 4 | Still £200 used. No change. | Counts as £50 used |
| Room left this month | £0 | £150 |
| Most you could deposit this month | £200 | No fixed ceiling — it rises every time you withdraw |
Both limits say “£200”. Only one of them actually stops at £200.
This matters because of how people gamble when things are going badly. Money that comes out of an account often goes straight back in. Under a net limit, a run of withdrawals and re-deposits can quietly multiply what you put through the account, while the number on the screen never moves. A gross limit has a hard ceiling. When it is reached, the operator must block further deposits until the period restarts or you raise the limit yourself.
Why the Commission changed the rule
The problem was inconsistency. In its supplementary consultation, the Commission said that “some operators are changing the way in which they interpret financial limits, in particular deposit limits”. The same phrase meant different things on different sites, so two players setting what they thought was the same £200 cap could end up with very different protection.
Announcing the change, Helen Rhodes, the Commission’s Director of Major Policy Projects, said the measures would “bring consistency and clarity for those consumers choosing to set deposit limits” (Gambling Commission, 7 October 2025).
The Commission did not get everything it first proposed. It originally wanted gross limits to be the default. After consultation it settled on “as a minimum” instead, to protect consumer choice, and added the equal-prominence rule so that gross limits could not be buried below other options. It also rejected a proposed seven-day delay on limit increases and kept the existing 24-hour cooling-off period. Both decisions are recorded in its response to Proposal 1.
The timeline: two phases, one delay
The changes arrived in two stages, and the second one slipped by three months.
| Date | What took effect |
|---|---|
| 31 October 2025 | Operators must prompt new customers to set a financial limit at registration or before the first deposit. Setting a limit becomes the default choice. Limits must be entered as free text, apply at account level, and be reachable from the homepage and deposit pages. Six-monthly prompts to review your account begin. |
| 30 June 2026 | Original date for the gross deposit limit requirements. Postponed. |
| 30 September 2026 | Gross deposit limits must be offered, with at least equal prominence to other limit types. Only gross limits may be called “deposit limits”. Gross limits must run on fixed time frames. |
The delay was announced in May 2026. The Commission’s implementation extension notice moved the date to the end of September 2026 and confirmed the final shape of the requirements. The same notice withdrew an annex published on 7 October 2025 that contained small errors, and asked anyone holding a copy saved before 22 May 2026 to disregard it. The Commission’s upcoming RTS changes page now lists nothing further pending, so these rules are the current position.
The first phase came out of the Commission’s work on customer-led tools, which also clarified that operators may require whole pounds or a sensible minimum amount, but may not pre-fill or grey out a suggested figure for you.
The other rules that come with your limit
The gross-versus-net change is only one part of requirement 12. The rest of RTS 12 governs how limits behave once you have set one. The full wording is published as Annex 2 of the consultation response and in the standards themselves.
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Periods offered | Sites must offer at least 24 hours, 7 days and 1 month. |
| Fixed time frames | Gross deposit limits must run on fixed periods. Other limit types may be fixed or rolling, as long as the start and end are made clear. |
| More than one limit at once | The most restrictive one always applies. The Commission’s own example: a £10 daily limit plus a £100 weekly limit means £10 a day and £70 a week. |
| Lowering a limit | Takes effect immediately, unless a technical failure prevents it. |
| Raising a limit | Needs your request, then a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours, then a fresh confirmation from you at the end of it. |
| Hitting the limit | The system must block further deposits until the period restarts or you raise the limit. |
| Reviews | If you have a limit, you must be prompted to review your account and transaction information at least every six months. If you declined a limit, at least once a year. |
| Who it covers | All remote gambling licensed in Great Britain, except subscription lotteries. |
The 24-hour delay on increases is the single most useful feature on this list. It means a decision made at two in the morning cannot take effect until you have had a day to think about it, and you have to say yes a second time. Our guide to deposit limits, daily, weekly and monthly caps goes through how to use that pause well.
What this change does not do
It is worth being clear about the edges of this rule.
- It is not a cap on how much you can gamble. It caps what you deposit. Money already in the account, and winnings, can still be staked.
- It does not work across operators. A limit set with one company applies to that company only. Great Britain has no national cross-operator deposit cap, unlike some other countries. Our comparison of player protection rules across 15 jurisdictions sets out who does what.
- It does not apply to unlicensed sites. The standard binds Great Britain licence holders. Offshore sites are outside it, and outside the rest of the consumer protections too.
- It is not self-exclusion. A limit is a budget tool you control. Self-exclusion is a binding block you cannot lift early. See our complete guide to self-exclusion.
- Net limits have not been banned. Operators may still offer them, under a clearer name, as an extra option.
What to check on your own accounts
If you set a limit before autumn 2026, it may not be a gross limit. Operators were not required to move existing accounts over automatically. A few things are worth doing.
- Open the limits page on each site you use. It must be linked from the homepage and from the deposit page.
- Read what the limit is called. If it says “deposit limit”, it should now be gross.
- Look for wording about withdrawals being deducted. That is a net limit wearing a different name.
- Set the period as well as the amount. A monthly figure alone gives you no protection on a single bad day.
- Do it on every account, not just the main one.
Limits work best alongside other tools rather than on their own. Our overview of every player protection feature covers time-outs, reality checks and activity statements, and our review of gambling blocking software covers tools that sit outside the operator entirely.
If limits are not holding
Repeatedly raising a limit, waiting out the 24 hours to raise it again, or opening accounts elsewhere once a limit bites, are all signs that a budget tool is no longer enough on its own. That is not a personal failure. It is information about how the products are built.
Stronger steps exist, and they are free. Self-exclusion through GAMSTOP covers every online operator licensed in Great Britain at once. Support and treatment are available separately from the gambling industry. Our page on gambling help in the United Kingdom explains the routes.
Talk to someone
The National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, is free on 0808 8020 133 and available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Live chat is on the GamCare website. You do not have to be in crisis to call, and you do not have to have decided anything yet.
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026. Sources checked on this date.