Imagine that, for whatever reason, someone, a friend or family member for instance, is abroad on holiday, incapacitated, possibly in hospital, comatose or even in prison and they are sitting on some pretty decent winnings. In this instance our lucky/unlucky acquaintance requires us to claim their winnings for them. Can we claim winnings for someone else in a betting shop, online bookmakers or casino?
Well, the short answer is no, not really. Most bookmakers these days, even on the high street, are increasingly account based and they will have it written into their terms and conditions that only the account holder may place bets and withdraw winnings. This is actually a legal requirement for them to prevent money laundering and to ensure only those who can bet legally do so.
One would like to imagine that a housebound and understandably internet unsure 80-year-old might have a friend or family member that could collect their winnings on their behalf provided. In the past certainly, it was regular occurrence, standard occurrence at the independent shops at least. But with the big corporations, certain things such as identity and approval will likely need verification.
After Life
Unfortunately, there is always the possibility of punters passing away before the outcome of the bet is known in which case there may be an exception made. What happens then can be complex and ultimately boils down to the terms and conditions of the bookmaker that the bet was placed with.
Normally, you would explain on the departed’s behalf that the account holder had sadly passed away, send in a death certificate and prove you have the right to the departed’s estate.
This means you can then withdraw any money in the account, however, the rules around bets that have not yet settled are different. If the company has a termination clause in their terms then they can void all bets from the date of death returning stakes to the estate. If they do not have a termination clause those bets will stand and you will need to wait to see the result of them before claiming any winnings.
You can claim money from someones betting account even if you are not resident in the country or even if you are a minor inheriting the estate.
Your Money Only
Ultimately, if you do manage to convince the operator to pay you the winner’s reward, you would need at least some form of written, oral or signed consent from the person whose winnings you are trying to collect and, overall, terms and conditions as dictated from bookmaker to bookmaker and casino to casino would differ in each.
Generally speaking though, cashing out for others is not accepted and is not an option. Bookmakers don’t like paying out at the best of times let alone when someone is collecting money that isn’t theirs to collect.
Largely if you are doing this in a betting shop for a fairly low amount of winnings then it is unlikely to be scrutinised but it is still not allowed whatever way you do it. Most bookmakers have a system where you can mail in bet slips if you cannot get to a shop to claim, so this could be the better avenue in these cases.
