Play Responsibly
Playing the Scottish Children’s Lottery should be a fun and enjoyable experience while giving to good causes, and playing responsibly is the key to this. We, at Scottish Children’s Lottery, are committed to look after our players and to ensure they enjoy their gambling in a safe and responsible environment.
While the majority of our players stay in control and gamble within their means, for some, gambling can become a problem. That’s why here at the Scottish Children’s Lottery, we take a proactive approach to help you play responsibly. We provide information on how to help you stay in control, help you assess your gambling behaviour, tools to help you manage gambling, as well as information on where to get help should you need it.
Here are a few tips on how to stay in control and play responsibly:
- Treat the lottery play as a form or entertainment, rather than a way to make money.
- Try to establish limits on how much you will spend; and only spend what you can afford to lose.
- Don’t gamble if you are under the influence of alcohol or any other substance.
- Don’t gamble to try to escape from problems, stress or boredom in life.
- Play sensibly and don’t go chasing for losses.
Recognise a Problem:
If you feel you may have a problem with your gambling, ask yourself the following questions:
- Did you ever lose time from work due to gambling?
- Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
- Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
- After losing, did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
- Did you often gamble until your last pound was gone?
- Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
- Were you reluctant to use gambling money for normal expenditures?
- Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
- Did you ever gamble longer than you planned?
- Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?
- Did gambling cause you to have difficulty sleeping?
- Do arguments, disappointments, or frustration create within you an urge to gamble?
- Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?
The more you answer 'yes' to these questions, the more likely you may have a gambling problem.
Manage Your Play:
If your gambling is starting to become a problem, don’t be despair, as there is always a solution. At Scottish Children’s Lottery, we provide a variety of tools to help you manage your play. These tools are made available to you at all time and you can set them up under ‘My Details’ within your account.
Deposit Limit and Spending Limit
This facility enables you to set a Deposit Limit as well as a Spending Limit for a selected period of time. Default limits are set for all new players account:
Default Deposit Limit:
- Maximum of £2,000 in 1 month
Default Spending Limit:
- Maximum of £2,000 in 1 month
You can change these limits anytime. Simply go to the Manage Limits section within ‘My Details’, select the monetary amount and the time period from the pull down menu. When you are done with your selections, click ‘Save’ to confirm.
The following are the maximum limit you can set:
| Period |
Maximum Deposit Limit You Can Set |
Maximum Spending Limit You Can Set |
| 24 hours |
£250 |
£250 |
| 7 days |
£500 |
£500 |
| 1 month |
£2,000 |
£2,000 |
The limits will be reset as follows:
- The 24 hours limit is reset each day at 00:00:00 am.
- The 7 days limit is tracked from day of account registration. This means that your limit will be reset periodically every 7 days thereafter.
- The 30 days limit is tracked from the day of account registration. This means that your limit will be reset periodically every 30 days thereafter.
If you are revising your previous limits downward, the updated settings will take effect immediately after you click ‘Save’.
If you have requested an increase of your limits, the change will take place 24 hours from the point of your request. If you change your mind, you can reduce the limit within this 24 hours window before your initial request to increase your limit comes into effect.
This tool is available for you to use when playing our Instant Win Lottery. It helps you keep track of how long you have been playing. Each Instant Win Lottery game has its own timer, which starts when you make your first purchase. A reminder will pop up at the selected time interval throughout the game play. It will offer the facility to exit the gambling session as well as a link to your account history. Once you leave the game and enter a different game, the timer will be reset.
You can set the reminder by going to the ‘Reality Checks’ section within ‘My Details’, select the time period (5mins, 15mins, 30mins and 1 hour) and click ‘Save’ to confirm.
If you wish to take a break from your play, you can request a Time Out for a period of 24 hours up to 6 weeks.
When the Time Out period is activated:
- You will not be able to log in to your account or make any further purchases (including purchases over the phone),
- Previously purchased tickets for upcoming draws will be unaffected,
- Any previous subscriptions (via direct debit or credit cards) will be unaffected,
- Your marketing preference will be unaffected.
You can set a Time Out period by going to the ‘Time Out’ section within ‘My Details’, select the Time Out period (24 hours, 7 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks) and click ‘Save’ to confirm.
If you wish to change your options (cancel or extend the Time Out period) once a Time Out period is activated, please contact our customer service team. They will be able to help you make changes as you are unable to access your account online.
Once a Time Out period has ended or cancelled, you will regain access to your account automatically.
Self-exclusion is a formal process whereby you request us to prevent you from being able to access your online account for a period of 6 months up to 5 years.
Please note that Self-Exclusion is an irreversible process. Once you self-exclude, we cannot reactive your account and you may not apply to open a new account until the Self-Exclusion period expired.
When a Self-Exclusion is activated:
- You will not be able to log in to your account or make any further purchases (including purchases over the phone),
- Once a Self-Exclusion is activated, it cannot be cancelled.
- Any active lottery subscriptions on your account will be cancelled, subject to the following:
- Direct debit drawdowns which have been processed prior to requesting the 'self-exclusion' cannot be reversed.
- Subsequent drawdowns will be stopped as a result of the subscription cancellation.
- Pending lottery tickets where all draws are unprocessed - will be cancelled and refunded.
- Pending lottery tickets containing a processed draw - will not be cancelled. If a win occurs, players will have to contact customer service to receive their winnings, as they will not have access to their account to withdraw the prize (small or large).
- Any funds in your account balance will be refunded.
- We will opt you out of all marketing communications. However, this may not prevent you from receiving marketing material which is already in the process of being dispatched. We would ask you to please disregard any such material received accordingly.
- You will receive an email with details about your self-exclusion and indicate the date when account access may be requested again.
Once the self-exclusion period has expired, your account will remain in this status unless you contact our customer service team to reactivate it. Your account will only be accessible after a further 24-hour cooling off period. Marketing communications will not be reactivated unless you request us to opt you in.
How to set a Self-Exclusion period
You can set a Self-Exclusion period by going to the ‘Self Exclusion’ section within ‘My Details’, select the Self-Exclusion period (6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years), enter your password and click ‘Save’ to confirm.
By requesting Self-exclusion, you are entering an agreement with us. During the self exclusion period, we will employ automated checks to endeavour to ensure that you can no longer access your account and our gambling service. At the same time, you also agree that you will not attempt to try to circumvent the agreement by continuing to participate in the gambling service provided by us.
Please remember that if you breach the Self-exclusion agreement by continue to gamble with us, or you circumvent your agreement by, for example, opening and operating new accounts, and/or our automated checks and/or IT or software programmes fail to recognise any attempt by you to circumvent your self-exclusion, we shall not be liable to you or any third party in respect of any breach by you of that agreement giving rise to loss, and we are under no obligation to compensate any loss or damage caused by your action or breach, or to return any deposits, winnings, or other funds in respect of your action or your breach.
If you require further information relating to this facility please contact Customer Service.
After self-excluding from our site, we also advise that you self-exclude from any other gambling operators where you hold accounts.
If you wish to close your Player Account, you can do so in the ‘Close Account’ section under ‘My Details’. You may close your account at any time provided that:
- There are no remaining funds in your player wallet.
- You have no active subscriptions.
- You have no active lottery tickets for draws yet to take place.
- You have no Instant Win Lottery games waiting to be completed
Once your account is successfully closed:
- Your current login session will be terminated.
- No future subscription tickets will be purchased.
- We will opt you out of all marketing communications. However, this may not prevent you from receiving marketing material which is already in the process of being dispatched. We would ask you to please disregard any such material received accordingly.
- An email will be sent to you informing you of the account closure.
Once your account is closed, you may request to reopen your account subject to our Terms & Conditions and Responsible Gambling policy.
Protecting Minors
In Great Britain, it is illegal for someone who is under 16 years of age to play lottery. At Scottish Children’s Lottery, we carry out both automatic and manual checks to ensure our customers are old enough to play. We may request documents from you to help us verify your identity and age. Until the verification can be performed successfully, we may occasionally have to suspend your account and withhold your funds.
In trying to protect children from underage gambling, gaming companies and parents must work together. We suggest that you keep your login details confidential at all times, and always make sure that you log out after you finished your gambling session.
Parental Controls
There are a number of third party software that parents or guardians can use to monitor or restrict access to gambling sites on your PC, laptop or mobile devices:
GamBlock is a software which blocks access to gambling websites, and is available for PC, mobile and tablet.
Cyber Patrol is a software that allows you to block inappropriate web contents as well as to monitor online acitivies.
Net Nanny is a filtering software protects children from inappropriate web content
Betfiler is a anti-gambling software which blocks access to gambling websites.
CYBERsitter filtering software allows parents to add their own sites to be blocked.
Other Sources of Help
Customers and family members who are experiencing problems with gambling should seek help. If you need to talk to someone about problem gambling, the following help is available:
GamCare is the leading provider of information, advice, support and free counselling for the prevention and treatment of problem gambling. Visit their website or call their free UK Based Helpline at 0808 8020 133.
GambleAware aims to promote responsibility in gambling. They provide information to help people make informed decisions about their gambling. Visit their website or call their free National Helpline at 0808 8020 133.
Gambling Therapy is a free online service that provides practical advice and emotional support to people affected by problem gambling.
Gamblers Anonymous is a support group for people who wish to do something about their gambling problem and help others do the same through attending meetings.
The National Problem Gambling Clinic offers treatments for people from England and Wales aged 16 and over. They offer a range of psychological treatments for gambling addiction, depending on the needs of the individual. They also offer services specifically for women and friends and family of problem gamblers.
If you require further information on the above, please contact our Customer Service.
Social responsibility
We take our social responsibilities seriously and we make regular donations to GambleAware who funds education, prevention and treatment services and commissions research to broaden public understanding of gambling-related harm.
