One thing there is absolutely no shortage of on the net is opportunities to gamble. We have been spoilt for choice, whether your fancy is for betting on sports, playing virtual cards or bingo. Among the items that makes internet gambling so potentially dangerous is that it’s easily available every day and night a day.
The real danger comes once you combine this factor with the fact that it is so easy to feel detached from the truth of money spent online. Gradually racking up a debt online does not feel the same as handing over money from our wallet, so it is that much easier to reduce track of how your online spending is mounting up.
Therefore, debt problems from internet gambling are on the increase. In the following paragraphs I hope to clarify a few of the legalities around online gambling, as well as providing some advice on coping with the underlying problem and the debts that derive from it.
LEGALITIES Around Gambling Debts
When we discuss debt from online gambling it is important to be clear concerning the nature of the debt, because who the money is owed to does change lives. People are often unsure about the legality of debts from online gambling. In the UK you can gamble legally on credit and incur a debt, but this debt isn’t then enforceable through regulations.
However, there is an important point to make here, which is that this only applies while you are using credit extended by the company offering the gambling (casino, bookie, etc). If you are using a credit card company to cover internet gambling, that is clearly a legally enforceable debt the same as it would be in any other circumstance, because you have borrowed money from the charge card company, not the casino. It really is now against the law in america to use a credit card to pay for online gambling.
You will find that lots of credit cards will regard a payment to an internet gambling website as a cash advance. That is then clearly borrowing money from the card issuer and the debt you incur could be pursued through legal action. If you do use a credit card to pay for online gambling this way, you ought to know that cash advances on bank cards are nearly always charged at a much higher interest than normal credit for purchases.
HOW TO APPROACH Debts Caused By Gambling
In working with gambling debts, you can find two separate issues to tackle. One may be the debt itself, and the other may be the habit of gambling that resulted in the debt. Even if your debt is dealt with, chances are to develop again if the primary cause is not tackled too. Let us first consider the issue of paying off the debt.
Slot for tackling debt are nearly always the same, irrespective of the sources of the debt. To permanently deal with debt you should not be turning over borrowing more income or paying anyone to deal with your debt for you personally. These courses of action will probably deepen your debt in the long term.
With a little advice, it is possible to deal with your debts yourself, by contacting creditors and agreeing terms for repayment that you can afford. There’s clearly more to it than that, but it is beyond the scope of this particular article. The process is straightforward and allows you to get back control of your finances.