Casino lost its licence or went bust: what happens to your balance

When a casino loses its licence, closes its website or its operating company becomes insolvent, the question is the same: what happens to the money in your account? The answer depends less on the casino’s marketing than on two documents – the rules of the regulator that licensed it and the funds clause in its own terms. This guide sets out what the official texts of the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, the Curaçao Gaming Authority and the Anjouan licence issuer say about player funds, as read on 15 October 2026, what the terms of the 39 casinos we profile record on the point, and the practical steps to take. It describes rules and published wording; it is not legal advice, and it says nothing about the financial health of any casino.

Licence lost, website closed, company insolvent: three different events

• The licence is revoked, suspended, surrendered or not renewed. The company still exists and still owes you your balance; it simply may no longer take bets under that licence. Regulators usually require an orderly wind-down in which customers are told and paid out.
• The website closes or moves. A brand can be shut down while its operator carries on with other brands, or move to a new domain. Closing a website does not cancel what the operator owes you.
• The operating company becomes insolvent. This is where funds protection matters. If player money is held in a way the law treats as separate from the company’s own assets, it can be returned to players; if it is not, players may have to claim alongside other creditors and may recover little or nothing.

The events often come together, but they are not the same, and the protection that applies differs for each. The ownership guide explains why the company behind the brand, not the brand, is the party that holds the licence and owes you the money.

UK: three protection ratings, set out in the terms

The Gambling Commission’s licence condition 4.1.1 requires remote operators that hold customer funds to “ensure that these are held in a separate client bank account or accounts”. Customer funds include cleared deposits, winnings left on the account and “crystallised but as yet unpaid loyalty or other bonuses” (LCCP 4.1.1). Condition 4.2.1 requires the operator to set out clearly in its terms whether customer funds are protected in an insolvency, the level of protection and how it is achieved; the customer must acknowledge this information in writing before the funds can be used, at the first deposit and again after a change to the funds terms (LCCP 4.2.1).

The Commission’s player pages describe three ratings (all last updated 10 September 2025, read 15 October 2026):

• Not protected. “Any money in your account would be classed as part of the gambling company’s assets if it becomes insolvent”, and “you would likely lose any money in your account”. Since 31 October 2025 the business must remind you every six months that your funds are not protected (What it means if your money is not protected). Some operators keep the money in a separate account and still choose this rating; the terms then read “not protected segregation”.
• Medium protection. The business has made arrangements, for example insurance, but “it is not absolutely guaranteed that you will get your money back” (Medium protection).
• High protection. The money is held in a separate account “legally recognised as separate from the business”, controlled by an independent trustee and checked by an external auditor – “the best chance of getting your money back” (High protection).

Two limits apply to every rating. Money staked on bets whose events have not yet happened is “not covered by any arrangements the gambling business has in place to protect customer funds if it becomes insolvent” (Information on customer funds). And the rating describes an insolvency, not an ordinary closure: for a business that stops trading, the Commission’s guidance says “every attempt must be made to return customer funds, including to inactive customers”, that two weeks is the minimum time between informing customers and closing the website, and that customers need a means of contacting the business even after closure (Closing a licensed gambling business, last updated 15 January 2026). The Commission also asks closing businesses not to send customers to it with complaints – it does not handle individual disputes.

Malta: player funds as “the separate and distinct patrimony of the players”

The Malta Gaming Authority’s Player Protection Directive (Directive 2 of 2018, version 3, January 2023) has a whole part on the protection of player funds. Article 37 states that the law establishes these funds “as being the separate and distinct patrimony of the players, and are not funds belonging to the licensee”; the licensee must make sure the bank or payment institution holding them understands that the licensee’s creditors “have no claim or right of action” against them. Article 38 requires the player-funds balance to be at least equal to the total owed to players at any time, and if it falls short, the licensee “shall make good the shortfall from the licensee’s own funds, forthwith”. Article 31 lets the Authority impose additional safeguards such as “trusts, bank guarantees and reserve accounts”, and article 29 sets the ordinary payout rule: funds remitted on request within five working days “if practicable”, subject to identity, security and anti-money-laundering checks (MGA Player Protection Directive, read 15 October 2026).

The MGA’s FAQ adds that a licensee that voluntarily surrenders its licence must state the date of termination, player operations and “pending player funds” (MGA FAQ). We found no MGA page describing step by step what players receive in an operator’s insolvency, and we do not predict how a court would apply article 37 in a specific case. Note one tension in our own records: some MGA-licensed casinos we profile use the UK rating wording “not protected” in their terms (table below). We report both texts as written.

Curaçao: segregation, wind-down instructions and an offline portal

Under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), the Curaçao Gaming Authority publishes “Instructions on wind-down of operations and discontinuation of online interfaces by license holders” (July 2026). They cover voluntary surrender, revocation as an enforcement measure, rejection of a licence application and the closing of a single domain. On revocation, the company may with immediate effect no longer use the CGA seal or “permit existing players to wager”; on a rejected licence it gets six weeks to wind down. The instructions add that the end of the wind-down period “does not release the Company from its obligation to fully settle remaining player claims”, and that “it is not permitted to leave debts outstanding (including player claims) without properly settling them” (CGA wind-down instructions).

On segregation, the CGA’s certification policy lists among its continuous monitoring “confirmation that player funds are properly safeguarded in a segregated or federated account” (CGA certification policy). Its crypto policy (June 2026) says wallets “must be segregated between player-flow, operational and treasury purpose” and that player funds should be held in segregated wallets, with full implementation due within 12 months, by June 2027 (CGA crypto policy). Its terms-and-conditions guideline (April 2026) requires terms to state that the licensee “is not a financial institution” and pays no interest on deposits (CGA terms guideline).

What we could not read: the licence-conditions page on the CGA’s licensing portal did not load (the portal is offline; on 7 October 2026 the CGA announced it “will not be returned to service” and that existing licences remain valid – CGA announcement). We therefore do not quote the licence condition on segregated player funds itself. We found no CGA text describing an insolvency-protection scheme or a protection rating comparable to the UK’s.

Anjouan: one sentence, nothing on balances after revocation

The Anjouan licence issuer’s website (run by a private licence administrator, not a government register) says that operators “must maintain adequate financial resources and segregate player funds from operational funds”, may be subject to periodic financial audits, and that the Authority may suspend or revoke a licence where standards are not met (Anjouan Gaming: Regulatory standards). Its licence-conditions page lists suspension and revocation as possible outcomes but says nothing about player funds (Anjouan Gaming: Licence conditions). As of 15 October 2026 we found no published Anjouan rule on how player balances are protected in an insolvency or paid out after a licence ends. Why we label Anjouan licences “listed in issuer registry” is explained in the Anjouan vs Curaçao guide.

Which regulator stands behind the 39 casinos we profile

The 39 casinos we profile name 12 different regulators or licence issuers in our records: 12 under the UK Gambling Commission, 5 under the Malta Gaming Authority, 4 under the Curaçao Gaming Authority and 2 listed by the Anjouan issuer. The table shows the regulator in each record (where a casino holds several licences, the one our record is built on) and, for the four authorities covered above, a one-line summary of the player-funds text we read. “Not reviewed for this guide” means exactly that, not that no rule exists. Regulator names link to our regulator pages where one exists.

What the terms we read say about funds protection

For 10 of the 39 casinos our records hold a statement about how customer funds are kept: 4 state “high protection”, 1 “medium protection” and 2 “not protected”; the others describe segregation or a guarantee without naming a level. The wording below is quoted from the record, with the clause and the date we read it. These are the casinos’ own statements: we did not see the underlying trust deeds, insurance or bank guarantees. For the remaining casinos our records hold no such statement – which does not mean their terms contain none, because this was not one of our standard checks for every casino. Search the terms yourself for “customer funds”, “segregat” and “insolvency”.

What to do if your casino loses its licence or stops trading

1. Request a withdrawal of your available balance now, through the normal cashier, and keep the confirmation. Do not leave winnings on the account “for later”; under a UK licence, money on open bets is not covered by any funds protection.
2. Record everything with dates: screenshots of the balance, transaction history, pending withdrawals, any closure notice and the terms page (including its version date). The complaint checklist lists what to keep.
3. Read the notice for the payout route. UK guidance expects closing businesses to give reasonable notice and a way to claim funds after closure; the CGA instructions say player claims must be settled even after the wind-down period.
4. Check the licence register yourself to see whether the licence is suspended, revoked or simply moved to another company – the licence-check steps show where each register is. Our regulator pages for the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, the Curaçao Gaming Authority and Anjouan link the official registers.
5. Complain in the right order: to the operator in writing first, then to the dispute-resolution (ADR) body or regulator your licence names. Our guide on where to complain about an online casino sets out what each body says it will and will not handle.
6. If the operator is in a formal insolvency procedure, the notice should name an administrator, liquidator or trustee. Claims then go to that person, not to support chat; for anything beyond that, ask an independent adviser in your country.

If the casino “moves” to a new domain

Closures and licence changes are a classic moment for copycat sites: an email or message tells you the casino has moved and asks you to log in or deposit on a new address. Before you enter credentials or send money, check that the new domain is listed in the regulator’s register or certificate for that operator and that the company name in the new terms matches the old one. The seven checks in our guide to fake and cloned casino sites take a few minutes. For the casinos we profile, the domain we recorded is on each profile.

What not to do

• Do not pay a “fund recovery” service that promises to get your balance back for a fee. Under a UK or Malta licence the ADR route is free; paid recovery offers are a known follow-on scam.
• Do not deposit to “unlock” a withdrawal or to cover a “release fee” after a closure notice.
• Do not rely on a balance shown in a frozen account as money you will get back. Until it reaches your bank or wallet, it is a claim.

Frequently asked questions

Funds protection is decided before anything goes wrong: by the regulator that licenses the casino and by one clause in its terms. Read that clause before you deposit, withdraw what you do not need to keep on the account, and keep records. If gambling is causing you harm, a closing casino is a good moment to stop; independent help is listed on our responsible gambling page, and how we record facts is described in our methodology. 18+.

Sources

All read on 15 October 2026. Quotes are from the documents as published on that date.

• Gambling Commission – LCCP condition 4.1.1 Segregation of funds
• Gambling Commission – LCCP condition 4.2.1 Disclosure to customers
• Gambling Commission – Information on customer funds (your money) and the pages on not protected, medium and high protection (last updated 10 September 2025)
• Gambling Commission – Closing a Gambling Commission licensed gambling business (last updated 15 January 2026)
• Malta Gaming Authority – Player Protection Directive (Directive 2 of 2018, V3 January 2023), Part IX
• Malta Gaming Authority – Frequently asked questions
• Curaçao Gaming Authority – Instructions on wind-down of operations (July 2026)
• Curaçao Gaming Authority – Certification policy
• Curaçao Gaming Authority – Crypto policy guideline (June 2026) and Policy guideline: Terms and conditions (April 2026)
• Curaçao Gaming Authority – Transition to a new regulatory platform (7 October 2026); the licence-conditions page on the former portal could not be read
• Anjouan Gaming – Regulatory standards and Licence conditions (the issuer’s own website, not a government source; no page date shown)
• The terms of the 39 profiled casinos, as recorded on each profile with clause references and check dates.