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Trust & safety

The Voluntary Code for prize draw operators

The UK government's code of good practice for prize draws and competitions: what it asks of operators, who has signed it, and how we use it when we rate competition sites.

138

operators on the gov.uk signatory list

120

of them with a CompWatch page

Last checked 24 October 2026

We compare our copy with gov.uk every day.

What the Code is

The Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators is a set of standards for UK prize draws and competitions, published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on 20 November 2025. It covers draws in Great Britain that you can enter either by paying or through a free entry route. Because of that free route, these draws do not need a gambling licence, and the Code sets out what the government expects of the operators who run them.

It is voluntary. An operator chooses to sign, and its name is then added to the list of signatories on gov.uk. The operators who signed at the start agreed to have everything in place by 20 May 2026; anyone signing after that date is expected to comply from day one. DCMS oversees the Code, reviews how well it is working and can change it after consulting signatories. Operators that only run skill-based competitions are outside its scope.

The list also has "other relevant signatories": businesses connected to the sector, such as competition platforms, web designers and standards bodies, which agree to encourage operators to follow the Code.

What signatories commit to

The Code has three parts. In short, an operator that signs is promising:

Player protection

  • Only adults take part: entrants must be 18 or over, ages are checked, and adverts are not aimed at under-18s.
  • A clear complaints process, with a route to settle disputes.
  • No more than £250 a month per player on credit cards, and no credit card payments at all for instant-win draws.
  • A cap on monthly spending across all their draws, either set by the operator or chosen by each player, who can set it to £0.
  • The option to suspend an account for at least six months, with no marketing during the break, or to close it for good.
  • Watching for signs that someone is being harmed and stepping in, which can mean stopping them from playing.
  • Pointing players to support such as Citizens Advice, National Debtline, Samaritans or Mind.
  • A sensible gap between a draw opening and closing.
  • Instant-win draws kept to a minority of their competitions, with a free route that works the same way and is clearly explained.
  • Responsible advertising that follows the CAP and BCAP codes and never presents entering as an answer to money worries.

Transparency

  • A plain explanation of how each type of draw works and its rules, including that winners are decided by chance.
  • Fairly chosen winners, picked by or in front of an independent person, by a verifiably random and auditable computer process, or by a certified drawing machine, with the method stated on their website.
  • The same chance of winning each prize for free and paid entries.
  • Where possible, information about the chances of winning before entry, such as the maximum number of tickets.
  • The free entry route shown clearly before anyone pays, with enough time allowed for free entries to arrive and count.
  • The advertised prize, or a reasonable cash alternative, handed over promptly; no shrinking a prize, moving the closing date or cancelling a draw because sales are low.
  • Clarity about any charity contributions, ideally including how much is given and how often.

Accountability

  • Regular checks on their own compliance, and quick fixes where they fall short.
  • Partners such as affiliate marketers and draw-management services held to the Code too.
  • Sharing good practice with other operators.
  • The protections they offer published on their own website.
  • Working with DCMS to keep the Code up to date.

This is our summary. The full wording is in the Code on gov.uk.

How CompWatch uses it

Being on the gov.uk list is one of the trust indicators behind every operator's CompWatch letter grade, alongside signals such as published odds, a free entry route, published winners and secure payments. Each site's page shows which indicators it meets, and How We Rate explains the grades.

We check the list on gov.uk every day. When an operator we track is added, its indicator switches on; when it is removed, it switches off. If a new name does not clearly match a site we track, we check it by hand before linking the two.

Signing is a public commitment, not proof that every promise is kept: the list records who has signed, and it is not an inspection. So we treat it as one positive signal among several, and not having signed is not a black mark on its own.

Signatories we track (120)

Operators on the gov.uk list that have a CompWatch page. The letter is our trust grade; a dash means the grade is not published yet, and "New" marks a recently launched operator we have not graded.

Signatories not on CompWatch (18)

Operators on the gov.uk list that we do not have a page for (yet), with names as published.

  • Ascend Competitions UK
  • Campfire Comps
  • Crazy Cat Comps
  • Daymade
  • Escape Plan Travel Club
  • Fans Chance
  • Good Life Plus
  • Guiltless Arcade
  • Land Pirate Conversions
  • Live Life Prizes T/A Van Life Builds Ltd
  • Lotto Logic Ltd T/A Lottery USA
  • Omaze
  • Prize Storm
  • Raffle House
  • Tramway Path
  • UKMinis
  • Unleashed Competitions
  • Win Your Dream Bike

Other relevant signatories (30)

Businesses that support the sector rather than run draws: platforms, agencies, standards bodies and comparison sites, including CompWatch. They agree to encourage operators to follow the Code.

  • A&R Digital Limited
  • BaseComp
  • Brandbox Digital T/A AWD
  • Circuit 78 Marketing
  • CompEngine
  • Comps.gg
  • CompWatch
  • Finley Design
  • Golden Egg Compliance
  • Helmed
  • Luke ARC
  • Nera Marketing
  • OneID
  • Online Competition Standards Authority (OCSA)
  • Outgrowth
  • Pagecode
  • PrizeStack.io
  • PromoVeritas
  • Rafflers
  • RaffleScout
  • Raffle Web Design
  • RaffleX.io
  • Reffle
  • Rivmedia
  • ScirDom
  • The Comp App
  • The Fair Draw Register
  • UK CPSA
  • UVS (Uncloned Verification Standard)
  • Zap

Recent changes

Names added to or removed from the gov.uk list in the last 6 months. Our record starts on 19 October 2026, when we began tracking the list; earlier changes are in the update history on gov.uk.

  1. Removed (55)

Questions

What is the Voluntary Code for prize draw operators?

It is a set of good-practice standards for UK prize draws and competitions that can be entered for free as well as by paying. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published it on 20 November 2025. It covers protecting players, being open about how draws work, and checking that the standards are followed.

Is the Voluntary Code a legal requirement?

No. Prize draws with a genuine free entry route do not need a gambling licence, and signing the Code is a choice. It sits alongside the law, consumer protection rules and advertising codes rather than replacing them, and breaking it is not in itself a breach of the law.

Who decides which operators are on the list?

DCMS publishes the list of signatories on gov.uk and updates it as operators join or are taken off. Operators ask to join by emailing [email protected]. CompWatch copies the list as published and never adds or removes names itself.

How does CompWatch use the signatory list?

Being on the list is one of the trust indicators behind each operator's CompWatch letter grade. We check gov.uk every day: when an operator we list is added, the indicator switches on, and when it is removed, it switches off.

Why would an operator be removed from the list?

gov.uk does not publish reasons for removals. A removal tells you an operator is no longer a signatory, not why, so on its own it is not evidence of wrongdoing. Check the operator's own site and its CompWatch page for the wider picture.

Does signing the Code mean a site is safe to use?

Not on its own. The list records who has made the commitment; it is not an inspection or a certificate that every promise is kept. Treat it as one positive signal alongside published odds, a working free entry route, published winners and fair terms.

Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Signatory names are shown as published on gov.uk. CompWatch is independent of DCMS, and being on the list is not an endorsement by us or by the government.