Image: Gambling Commission
A gross limit counts deposits without subtracting withdrawals
A gross deposit limit counts money paid into the gambling account during its stated period. A withdrawal does not cancel an earlier deposit in that counter. A net deposit limit instead counts deposits minus withdrawals, according to its applicable period and terms. That distinction can explain why an allowance looks smaller after an operator changes its limit options.
From 30 September 2026, the Commission required operators to offer gross deposit limits with at least equal prominence to other financial limits. Only gross limits can be called deposit limits under the standard, and these gross limits use fixed periods. Other limit types can use fixed or rolling periods. This guide concerns the Great Britain framework, checked on 13 October 2026; the actual account's settings remain essential.
Deposit £100, withdraw £60: the difference in pounds
Consider an invented £150 allowance for one stated period. The account receives £100 and later pays out a £60 withdrawal. The gross counter remains £100, leaving £50 against the £150 gross limit. The net counter is £40, leaving £110 against a £150 net limit if those are the only relevant transactions and no other restriction applies.
| Counter | Calculation | Used | Remaining against £150 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross deposits | £100 deposited | £100 | £50 |
| Net deposits | £100 minus £60 withdrawn | £40 | £110 |
These are arithmetic examples, not an invitation to redeposit a withdrawal. They assume the payment has been recognised in the relevant period. A pending withdrawal, a failed payment or another limit can change the account's actual displayed allowance. Read the transaction status rather than using a screenshot of an earlier balance as the counter.
A balance is not a deposit allowance
The account balance and remaining deposit allowance answer different questions. In an illustrative account with a £100 gross limit, a £100 deposit uses the allowance even if play later leaves only £15 in the account. The £15 balance does not mean that £85 of new deposits is available. Equally, an increased balance after a win does not erase the original deposit.
Separate four figures on a worksheet: money deposited, money withdrawn, current cash balance and remaining allowance. Add their dates and payment statuses. A support query saying 'I have £15 left, why can I not deposit?' is much easier to answer when it also identifies the £100 deposit and the active gross period. Game stakes and winnings influence the balance, but they are not direct inputs to a gross deposit counter. A loss limit is another control with a different calculation.
Fixed and rolling periods can show different results
A fixed period has defined boundaries; a rolling period looks back over a moving duration. For a hypothetical calendar-month limit, October deposits are grouped inside October. For a hypothetical rolling 30-day net counter, a deposit stays in the calculation until it falls outside the moving window. Do not treat one calendar month as a synonym for thirty days.
The Commission's May 2026 extension notice clarifies that gross deposit limits must use fixed periods from 30 September. It does not give every operator an identical customer-facing midnight or time zone. Find the account's published reset information. Record whether the page says calendar day, week or month and whether it specifies the clock used. A deposit near a boundary may fall into a different period from the one you assumed, so retain its timestamp for support.
William Hill's published example, not a universal timetable
William Hill's support page labels its new limit options as effective from 22 September 2026. Checked on 13 October, it states that its net and gross options use calendar periods: daily at 00:00, weekly from Monday, and monthly from the first day. The page separately says operator-set limits continue on a rolling basis.
Use that as an operator-specific illustration, not a timetable for every casino. Its public help also points customers to a Deposit Tracker and shows routes through Safer Gambling, Deposit Tracker and Deposit Limits, or Deposit. We inspected the public explanation, not a funded customer account. If your actual display differs, ask the operator to identify which limit and time zone applies rather than waiting for a reset inferred from another brand's help page.
Several simultaneous limits: the smallest available amount matters
Imagine a £40 daily gross limit and a £100 weekly gross limit. If £30 has been deposited today and £95 this week, the daily counter leaves £10 but the weekly one leaves only £5. In that simplified example the usable allowance is £5, not £10. A reset of the daily period does not erase the deposits already counted in the weekly period.
Apply the same discipline when an operator-set restriction coexists with a customer-set limit. The amount you entered is not necessarily the only control affecting the cashier. Ask support to name the binding limit, its remaining amount and its next reset. Do not open another account or use another payment route to work around a restriction. The purpose of understanding the counters is to keep a budget and diagnose a display, not to maximise the amount that can be deposited.
The financial-vulnerability check uses a different counter
The Commission's financial-vulnerability provision uses deposits minus withdrawals exceeding £150 in a rolling 30-day period, from 28 February 2025. It has a prior-check exception where a qualifying check or assessment occurred within the previous twelve months. It requires proportionate consideration of risk; it is not a universal £150 personal spending allowance or the same calculation as the new gross deposit limit.
In a hypothetical account, £200 deposited and £60 withdrawn produces £140 net deposits but £200 gross deposits for matching transaction dates. Those values could affect two different systems differently. Conversely, a fixed period resetting does not mean a rolling 30-day check resets with it. Do not assume that staying below a threshold makes gambling affordable or prevents other checks. Account restrictions can reflect information beyond these arithmetic examples.
What to check when the allowance looks wrong
Save the limit name, amount, period, reset wording, transaction list and the exact error message. A screenshot showing only an unavailable Deposit button omits the information needed to explain it. Ask whether a withdrawal is completed or pending and whether the binding restriction is customer-set, operator-set or another account control.
For customer-led reductions, the technical standard requires immediate implementation unless a system or technical failure prevents it. Increases require at least a 24-hour cooling-off period and subsequent positive confirmation. A limit increase is not a suitable fix for a misunderstood calculation. Our player-protection guide covers the wider rules, while the complaint guide explains how to document an unresolved account issue. Keep the original budget as the decision point, rather than treating remaining allowance as money you ought to spend.
FAQs
Does withdrawing money restore my deposit limit?
Not for a gross deposit limit: the original deposit continues to count within its fixed period. A net limit subtracts recognised withdrawals under its own rules. Your account can also have other simultaneous restrictions, so a withdrawal does not necessarily create new usable allowance even when one net counter falls.
When did the gross deposit-limit changes take effect?
The Commission's second phase took effect on 30 September 2026 after an implementation extension. Operators must offer gross limits prominently and use the deposit-limit name for those limits. This does not establish identical reset clocks for every operator, and a particular operator could introduce its new options before that deadline.
Does every casino reset limits at midnight?
Do not assume a universal clock. Gross deposit limits use fixed periods, but you still need the operator's account-specific reset wording and time zone. William Hill's checked public help describes calendar resets; that example does not prove another casino uses the same boundaries or that an operator-set rolling restriction has reset.
Is the £150 vulnerability threshold my deposit allowance?
No. It belongs to a separate financial-vulnerability check using deposits minus withdrawals over a rolling 30 days, with a prior-check exception. It is not a personal budget recommendation or permission to deposit up to £150. Gross limits, other account restrictions and individual circumstances are separate considerations.
18+ only. Gambling can be addictive; set limits and never chase losses. Free, confidential support: BeGambleAware.
