UK Prize Draw Code of Practice: What It Means for Players
The UK prize draw code of practice is a voluntary set of standards for prize draw and competition operators, published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on 20 November 2025. Signatories had six months — until 20 May 2026 — to put it into practice. The code caps credit-card entries at £250 a month, bans credit cards entirely for instant-win draws, requires spend limits and self-exclusion tools, and commits operators to award every advertised prize with no cancellations for low ticket sales. It is not a law and there is no licence behind it, but nearly 200 operators have now signed, including Omaze, BOTB, 7days Performance and Raffolux.
This guide explains what the code actually requires, what it deliberately leaves out, which sites have signed up, and how to use it when you are deciding whether a competition site deserves your money.
Why prize draws needed a code
UK prize draws sit in a legal gap. Because every legitimate draw offers a free entry route, they fall outside the licensing regime of the Gambling Act 2005 — no Gambling Commission licence, no statutory regulator, no ombudsman. We cover the legal mechanics in are prize draws legal in the UK?, but the short version is: the sector grew into a £1.3 billion a year market with 7.4 million adult players and over 400 operators, on little more than consumer law and advertising rules.
The government chose a voluntary code over legislation — for now. DCMS developed it with the industry and published it in November 2025, with the gambling minister framing it as a test: if player protections improve, statutory regulation stays off the table. The code itself says non-compliance will leave the government considering "all available options", which is the polite version of the same warning.
The code at a glance
| Rule | What signatories commit to |
|---|---|
| Credit cards | Capped at £250 per player per month; banned outright for instant-win draws |
| Spend limits | Monthly limits players must be able to set themselves — including at £0 |
| Self-exclusion | Available for at least 6 months, with no marketing during it |
| Age | 18+ only, with a reasonable verification process |
| Free entry | Shown clearly before you pay, with genuinely equal odds |
| Draws | Run by an independent person, under independent supervision, or by a verifiably random and auditable process |
| Prizes | Awarded as advertised, or a reasonable cash alternative — no cancelling because tickets sold badly |
| Odds | Clear information on the likelihood of winning, such as maximum ticket numbers |
What signatories must do
The code groups its commitments into player protections, transparency and accountability. These are the parts that change things for you as a player.
Spending controls
Signatories must cap credit-card spending at £250 per player per month across their prize draws, and refuse credit cards completely for instant-win competitions. Every player must be able to set a monthly spend limit — and the code specifically requires that £0 is an allowed limit, which turns it into a self-block tool. Operators must offer self-exclusion of at least six months, stop all marketing to self-excluded players, and are encouraged to offer shorter "pause" options too.
Harm monitoring
Operators are expected to watch for signs a player is in trouble — spending patterns, financial distress, switching payment methods — and to intervene, up to stopping someone entering at all. They must signpost support services such as Citizens Advice, National Debtline, Samaritans and Mind.
Fair draws and honest odds
Draws must be conducted by an independent person, under independent supervision, or by a computer process that produces verifiably random and auditable results (or a certified physical drawing machine). Every entry — paid or free — must have an equal chance of winning, and the draw mechanism has to be explained on the operator's website. Operators must also publish clear information about your likelihood of winning, for example the maximum number of tickets. If you have ever wondered whether UK prize draws are rigged, this is the section of the code written to answer it.
Free entry that actually works
The free entry route must be displayed clearly and prominently before the point of purchase — not buried in the terms. It has to be ordinary first- or second-class post, or another method that is no more expensive and no less convenient, and closing dates must leave enough time to use it. Our free postal entry guide shows how to use these routes properly.
Prizes that get awarded
Signatories commit to promptly giving winners the advertised prize or a reasonable cash alternative. The code explicitly prohibits reducing a prize's value, extending an end date, or cancelling a draw because ticket sales were low. Instant-win draws must not make up the majority of an operator's competitions, and where an operator promotes charitable donations, it must be clear about how much goes to charity and when.
Marketing rules
Advertising must follow the existing CAP and BCAP codes, must not target under-18s, and must never present prize draws as an escape from financial problems, a substitute for employment, or a route to financial security.
What the code does not do
This is the part most coverage skips, and it matters just as much.
It is voluntary. No operator has to sign, and DCMS issues no licences and no fines. Oversight is a periodic review, and the ultimate sanction is the threat of future regulation — not enforcement against an individual operator today.
Non-signatories are untouched. An operator that never signs breaks no rule by ignoring every standard above. The code only tells you something about the sites on the list.
There is no compensation scheme. If a signatory lets you down, the code gives you no payout mechanism. Your actual protections remain the Consumer Rights Act, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act on credit-card payments over £100, chargeback on debit cards, and the ASA for misleading advertising. Complaints go to the operator first, then to DCMS at prizedrawcode@dcms.gov.uk — but DCMS is not an ombudsman and will not order refunds.
Signing is not vetting. Signatories self-certify. Appearing on the list means an operator has publicly committed to the standards, not that anyone has audited them against it. Treat it as one trust signal among several — that is exactly how we use it in our review methodology.
Which sites have signed up?
The government maintains the signatory list on the gov.uk code page, and it is growing fast: just over 20 operators at launch in November 2025, and 196 operator signatories plus around 55 supporting businesses at the August 2026 update.
Household names on the list include Omaze, BOTB, Raffle House, 7days Performance, Dream Car Giveaways, Raffolux, Rev Comps, Elite Competitions, Aspire Competitions and Raffall. When we cross-checked the list against our operator directory in August 2026, 26 of the 95 sites we track appeared on it.
Absence from the list is not proof of a problem — the list is updated month by month, smaller operators may not have engaged with DCMS at all, and a name can be listed under a company's registered name rather than its brand. But signing costs nothing and signals a public commitment, so for a site that markets itself heavily, we treat a missing signature as worth a question.
How to check an operator yourself
- Open the gov.uk signatory list and search the page for the site's brand name.
- No match? Check the site's terms and conditions for the promoter's registered company name — operators often trade under a different name — and search the list for that instead.
- Cross-check the promises the code covers: is the free entry route visible before checkout, are maximum ticket numbers published, is there a named draw method?
- Run the site through our 60-second legit check, which walks the same signals the code formalises — company details, draw fairness, free entry, and pressure tactics.
How we use the code in our reviews
PrizeDrawsDaily reviews rated operators on transparency, draw fairness, free entry and player treatment before this code existed — the code essentially turns the checks we already run into a public industry standard. Signatory status now feeds our research alongside Companies House records, Trustpilot patterns and each site's own terms. It raises our confidence in an operator; it never replaces the checks. You can see every rating on our operator reviews and the full scoring system in how we review.
FAQ
Is the prize draw code of practice legally binding?
No. It is a voluntary code with no licence, fines or enforcement body behind it. Signatories make a public commitment, and the government has signalled that statutory regulation could follow if the voluntary approach fails — but today, your legal protections come from consumer law, not the code.
Are prize draws regulated in the UK?
Not by a statutory regulator. Prize draws with a free entry route fall outside Gambling Commission licensing under the Gambling Act 2005. The DCMS voluntary code, published in November 2025, is the sector's self-regulation layer, and the ASA still polices advertising.
How do I check if a competition site signed the code?
Search the signatory list on the gov.uk code page — it is updated regularly. If the brand name is missing, check the operator's terms for its registered company name and search for that, since sites are sometimes listed under the company rather than the brand.
What is the £250 credit card limit?
Signatory operators must cap each player's credit-card entries at £250 per month across their prize draws, and must not accept credit cards at all for instant-win competitions. Debit cards are unaffected by the cap.
Does the code guarantee I will get my prize?
It commits signatories to award the advertised prize or a reasonable cash alternative, and forbids cancelling or shrinking a draw because ticket sales were low. But there is no compensation scheme behind it — if things go wrong, your remedies are the operator's complaints process, Section 75 or chargeback through your bank, and consumer law.
Who enforces the prize draw code?
DCMS oversees it and reviews how it is working, possibly delegating oversight to an industry body later. There is no fines regime. Complaints go to the operator first, then to DCMS at prizedrawcode@dcms.gov.uk, while misleading advertising can be reported to the ASA.