If you have ever signed up to an online gambling platform in the United Kingdom, then you will also likely be familiar with the verification process that is necessary to go through, too. After opening an account, you will be asked to confirm your identity, which requires you to send in a copy of a passport, ID card or driving licence. All of those identity documents feature a photo of you on them, ensuring you can confirm your identity to the platform. But there is also another verification process that may need to be completed.
This is the proof of address. This verification is usually requested prior to you being able to make an initial withdrawal from your account. It is normally the case that a player will submit copies of a utility bill to be able to prove their address, as this is perhaps the simplest way, considering these provide your name and address all in one section.
In many cases you do not need to provide a POA if you are on the electoral roll and this matches the address you signed up with. Betting companies can check the electoral roll and also perform soft credit checks to check your address and residential status (although this does not affect your credit score). If this happens you may not need to send in proof of address, but if this is not possible you will be asked to prove where you live, commonly using a utility bill.
Yet what happens if you don’t receive paper bills to be able to send such a document in to an online casino or sportsbook? How do you go about proving your address in this instance? Here, we will provide some insight into the various ways in which you are able to prove your address in the United Kingdom, if you do not receive paper bills through the post. But first, a little information about why betting companies and gambling sites require a proof of address from players in the first place.
The Reasoning Behind Needing a POA
The short answer to the query as to why a proof of address is needed by gambling businesses is that it is part of the regulations set out by licensing body, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). The simple reasoning given by the UKGC is that it is requested so that the platform you are playing at can verify you, the player. As of May 2019, all gambling businesses are required, as per conditions of the UK gambling licence that they hold, to verify a player’s name, address and date of birth. Furthermore, that information is required from you as a minimum prior to you being able to gamble online.
However, provided in the details around the documents that a gambling business can ask a player to provide are only three things – passports, driving licences and household bills. This identity information is utilised to check that you are first of all old enough to gamble, that you are not self-excluded from gambling, and that you are who you say you are upon completing a registration.
But let’s delve a little further into the reasoning behind the request for a proof of address. While the valid photo ID is probably the most primary of requested documents for verification purposes, the others are still required so as to fully confirm that you are who you say you are. The proof of address may be a document that many people find difficult to understand, because at the end of the day, you’re not having anything sent to your home address in most cases, and in that case, why does it matter where you reside?
Mostly it is to confirm your residential status. You cannot just open an account with a UK betting company if you don’t reside in the UK. If, for example, you were visiting the UK on holiday you would not necessarily be allowed to open a UK betting account. This is partly for tax reasons in the UK and the country you live in and partly to prevent fraud.
It also comes down to the fact that online gambling businesses usually always state in their terms and conditions that only a certain number of accounts can be registered per household. Certainly, special bonus offers and promotions aren’t frequently provided more than once to a single household address. Therefore, it is vital that a casino or sportsbook knows that you are residing in the address that you sign up with, which a proof of address is able to verify. In doing so, the risk of fraud is reduced significantly, as some people try registering multiple accounts to the one name and address.
Additionally, where you live can be important later on. Should you proceed with gambling and using large amounts at the site, then it may require you to verify your proof of income to support that activity. You essentially need to justify your decision to wager such large amounts of money. If you live in a low-income area of the country but you’re spending large amounts of money at an online gambling site, then that would certainly stand out as being strange betting activity. Therefore, you’ll need to confirm you can afford to do so.
Essentially, it’s for your own protection at the end of the day. Alas, not everyone receives paper bills to their home these days. It is therefore vital to know what alternative options you can utilise in this circumstance to confirm your home address.
Alternatives to Use for Proof of Address in the UK
Should you not have the ability to provide a proof of address through a bill, there are other options that you can make use of instead. Keep in mind that whatever you use for this, the document you’re submitting needs to be dated within the past three months in most cases (although council tax bills are often accepted up to 12 months).
Furthermore, the copy of the document that you send in should be a clear image with all four corners of it able to be seen. Make sure that you also check into the specifics at each different platform, because some may support certain documents but not others.
Generally you cannot use phone bills in place of a utility bill. This is because it is not difficult to register a phone contract with an address you do not actually live at.
Bank Statement
The most common alternative that people utilise is a statement from the bank, which will always display your home address on it. Naturally, this will always be addressed to your home place of residence, but it is also a bit of a difficult one for some people to utilise, because the information included in a bank statement is private. You may be happy with a casino viewing your home address confirmation, but you may not be comfortable with them looking at your ingoing and outgoing payments, and how much is in your bank account(s).
Today, there is another issue with bank statements, because many people have opted to go paperless where statements are concerned. This means that the banks don’t send out statements through the post, and instead you have to access your information online or via mobile banking. It’s not always the case that getting a statement this way will also incorporate your home address, either. Why? Because it is not necessary unless the statement is being mailed out to you. Sure enough, the address will be linked to the account, but this doesn’t mean that it definitively is going to be displayed on a statement that you print out at home.
Payslip
Employers provide their staff members with payslips every month, which are personally addressed to you. Even if these are handed over to you within your place of work rather than mailed to you, the address if very often printed on such. Your payslip is therefore a legal document, which is personally addressed to you.
Again, this particular method of confirming your address is sometimes considered an invasion of privacy. Not everyone is comfortable with showing a casino (or the KYC team of a casino – a bunch of strangers) the income that they make every month. That being said, it can serve as an authentic method of verifying your address, so it is one to consider if you don’t receive bills.
Lease or Rental Agreement for Your Residence
Many people rent their place of residence, and for this, there needs to be a rental agreement/lease on written paper. Whether you’re living in a house or a flat this way, you can utilise the lease to verify your place of residence. As long as the document is a recent one and that it applies to the place you are currently living, then it should be accepted. With more and more things being online today, there is the possibility that if you don’t have this in paperwork form, it will be stored online. Simply print it off to display the address you are living at and that you are the renter.
A rental agreement will also display the plans for your place of residence at the moment. The period of time that the contract runs for is displayed, the exact location of the property and the price of it per month. Because of this, it works as a valid proof of address. It serves in the way that, similarly, a tenancy statement does. Where these are concerned, it is just important to remember that the documents should be recent and clearly state the address and your name on such.
Mortgage Statement
Anyone who is not renting a place may have a mortgage, and for this, you will likely also have a mortgage statement for the property. This can easily be used to verify your home address. Documents of this nature can vary in terms of how old they can be for casinos and sportsbooks to accept them as valid for proving your address. It is normally the case that a mortgage statement can be used for up to 12 months after the date on it as valid proof of your address.
This is why it is important to check the date written on the document before submitting it. And if you’re unsure about what will be accepted in terms of this, then you can always contact the customer support team of the online gambling site to find out.
An Up-to-Date Credit Card Statement
Credit cards can no longer be used as a form of payment for online gambling sites anymore. Yet this doesn’t mean that statements associated with such cannot be used to verify your home address. The difference between this type of statement and a standard bank statement is that the former will show every charge made on a credit card as you have used it. Again, it is possible that statements for such are provided online rather than physically. But most financial institutions providing credit cards offer the service of printing off and sending statements to you at your home address. You can always request one to be sent to your home address and use it as proof of such.
This is one instance where the statement can be no longer than three months old when submitted to the gambling site. Such a statement should also be from a well-known, primary credit card provider or a provider which is underwritten by a main provider. These include providers like HSBC, Barclays, Santander, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB and so on.
NHS Card or Official NHS Letter
This is not a commonly known proof of address document, because online gambling sites don’t often state it as an accepted form. Medical cards aren’t given out in the United Kingdom anymore as they used to be, but it remains possible that if you still possess one, it may be accepted for proof of address purposes.
If you don’t have a card of this type, then a letter from the NHS can sometimes be utilised. This can be a letter regarding an appointment you may have with a hospital or doctor’s surgery or perhaps another that confirms upcoming or already had procedures. Check with the online site’s support team to see if they will support this as a valid proof of address.
Council Tax
Council tax letters can generally be used to prove your address. In some cases betting companies will accept these for up to 12 months, as they are technically valid for one year. If you received a council tax letter in say April it should be valid until the following March.
It is a legal requirement for all adults living at an address to be registered for council tax and so it should contain the names of all people living in that property along with the address.
Letter from College or University, or a UCAS Form/Student Loan Letter
You do need to be aged 18 or older in the UK to participate in gambling, and this is the age that many people in the country are going to college and university. Many places accept letters from colleges, universities and language schools as valid forms of identity and proof of address. The subject of the letter itself is of little relevance, just as long as your current address is on it, and it features an official letterhead of the education institute.
Students also end up taking out loans a lot of the time to help with tuition in higher education establishments. If you have received such a loan and the place providing it has sent you a letter confirming such, then this may also be accepted as a valid proof of address option to use. Again though, make sure that the casino or sportsbook accepts such before you submit it, because not everywhere does.
Driving License
If you have already provided your passport as ID you may be able to use your driving license as POA as the license contains your address.
Some companies will only accept a driving license as ID and not as a POA as licenses can last over 10 years but this is not always the case, especially if your license was recently renewed.
Other Official Letter
Other documents can be used to prove your address if they are official. For example, letter from HMRC are often accepted as well as DVLA letters and other documents sent by government agencies.
There is no hard and fast rule on exactly what will and will not be accepted. The main thing is you are providing something that the betting company regards as credible confirmation that you live where you say you live. The best thing to do if unsure is contact customer support and see if they will accept the documents you have.