Playing responsibly

Our responsible play tools

We've made these tools real, not decorative. Every one of them actually blocks entries while it's active, including free postal entries. There's no setting on this page that we quietly ignore.

You must be 18 or over

NetCompetitions is for residents of Great Britain aged 18 or over. You confirm you're 18+ and a resident of Great Britain when you create your account, and our competitions are only ever open on that basis.

Set a spend limit

You can cap what you spend on entries over a day, a week, or a month (whatever period suits you), up to a maximum of £1,000. Once it's set, you can't spend beyond it.

To make sure a limit protects you in the moment:

• Lowering your limit takes effect straight away.
• Raising or removing it waits 24 hours. That short pause is deliberate: it takes the heat out of an impulsive decision, so a limit you set on a calm day still holds on a tempting one.

You'll always see any pending change before it takes effect. Set or change a limit any time in your spend-limit settings.

Take a break

If you'd like to step away for a while, you can take a break for 24 hours, one week, or one month. During a break:

• you can't enter competitions or make any purchases, and
• we pause your marketing emails.

Both switch back on automatically when the break ends. There's nothing you need to remember to do. A break can't be lifted early, so it's a real pause, not a soft one. You can take a break in your settings.

Self-exclude

If you need firmer distance, you can self-exclude for 6 months, 1 year, or permanently. This is a serious, considered step, so it works differently to a break:

• it can't be undone or shortened once it starts, and
• it stays in place even if you delete your account, so you can't remove it by signing up again.

While you're self-excluded you can't enter competitions or make purchases. If you're considering this because things have stopped feeling in control, please also look at the support below. You don't have to do it alone. Self-exclusion is available in your settings.

Closing your account

You're always in control of your account and your data:

• Deactivate closes your account for now and stops marketing, and you can reactivate whenever you're ready.
• Delete removes your personal data for good. We keep only an anonymised record of past transactions where the law requires it (for tax and anti-money-laundering rules), with nothing that identifies you. The full list of what survives deletion is in our Privacy Policy.

Both are in your account settings.

A quick self-check

It might be worth pausing if any of these feel familiar:

• You're spending more than you meant to, or more than you can comfortably afford.
• You're entering to chase a loss or to change your mood, rather than for fun.
• It's taking up more time or headspace than you'd like.
• Someone close to you has mentioned it.

None of this is a judgement; it's just worth noticing. The tools above are there for exactly these moments.