New gambling bill to include debt help

Tessa Jowell stated that regulations will benefit consumers while offering help to those whose addiction spirals out of control and leads to a massive debt.

One proposal to help people tackle their debt problems is to allow them to sign up for a system that will ban them from online gambling.

“Customers must be able to exclude themselves if they feel they have a problem,” the Gambling Commission said. “This should be by contacting customer services and also, where technology permits, by going through an automated process, perhaps on a website. The self-exclusion period should be for at least six months and should be able to be extended to at least five years.”

A report also found that people may need better debt management skills as a significant minority struggle to cope with gambling debt.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport claims in a 2002 report that 74 per cent of internet gamblers had major problems, including debt and suicidal thoughts.

Due to such concerns, the new regulations may prompt many to seek out advice on becoming debt free to stem such dark musings.