Before you run your free draw or contest, find out about the rules so that your free draw or prize contest complies with the law. Organizers must not claim that consumers are luckier than they are, for example by using words such as “finalist” or similar (Rule 8.21), or by falsely claiming or implying that consumers have won, will win or will win a prize if they do something if that prize does not exist (8.21.1). The Gambling Act 2005 regulates gambling in England, Wales and Scotland and is the most important piece of legislation you must comply with when running a competition. But before that, we need to be clear about the type of competitions we organize. This is important because the words “raffle”, “lottery”, “sweepstakes” and “raffle” are often used interchangeably, but they actually describe different activities and different laws apply to each. Q: I asked participants to “solve” a problem and only the correct answers will be entered into the free prize draw to win one of my free products or services? Is this a contest? Q: I would like to offer a prize to people who participate in a survey – is it a contest? Northern Ireland is subject to rules that prevent any form of purchase that allows you to participate in a prize draw. Often, organisers of UK-wide sweepstakes exclude residents of Northern Ireland from the promotion. For sweepstakes in Northern Ireland, you must either exclude people living in Northern Ireland or find a way to promote the draw in Northern Ireland. The organizers are responsible for all aspects and stages of their promotions and must not cause unnecessary disappointment or give consumers legitimate grounds for complaint.

ASA received 57 complaints about a random draw from complainants who had received an email informing them that they had won the promotional prize, but were subsequently informed that the email had been sent to them in error. While taking note of the sponsor`s statement that the problem was caused by a technical problem because the promoter had claimed that consumers had won a prize when this was not the case, ASA considered that the promoter had given consumers legitimate grounds for complaint and that the promotion had not been carried out in accordance with the GAP Code (TheHut.com Ltd t/a Zavvi. 02 October 2019). Promoters are responsible for the administration of their Contest and must ensure that promotions are conducted under appropriate supervision and that they have sufficient resources to administer the Promotion as described (8.15). Promoters must also allow a reasonable period of time for each stage of the promotion, including collecting entries, selecting winners and announcing results (8.15). What we`re going to talk about today are the rules for holding a draw. These are usually paid for participation in competitions that take place for the organizer`s winnings. The winner will be selected at random from all participants who correctly answer the competition question (or who participate via the free registration channel – more on this below). Another benefit of using the free compliance pathway is that you can open your competitions to residents of Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has slightly different gambling laws than the rest of the UK and it is mandatory to offer a free entry route to run competitions. The organizer of a raffle or lottery needs a license to organize it. So here it can be confusing if you`re actually running a contest but call it a “raffle” or a “lottery.” The Code also states that Promoters must post or provide information indicating that a valid prize has been awarded – generally the name and county of the Grand Prize winners and, if applicable, their winning entries. You must also inform participants of their intention to publish or make available the information at or before the time of participation and give them the opportunity to object or reduce the amount of information published or made available. In these circumstances, the organizer must nevertheless provide the information and the winning entry to the ASA if it is disputed (see rule 8.28.5). The ASA upheld complaints about a Bier Nuts promotion offering multiple prizes, including £120,000 worth of beer, snacks and merchandise, for failing to provide evidence that they had published or provided information about valid rewards (Bier Nuts Ltd, 21 July 2021). The ASA upheld the complaints about a random draw because, although the organizer stated that it had randomly selected a shortlist of 100 participants from a hat and had randomly selected the final winner of that shortlist, it had not provided any evidence to the ASA (Molly-Mae Hague, March 3, 2021). In the case of promotions with “shortlisted winners”, access codes or numbers will be distributed in the product packaging or otherwise to consumers, each bearing a unique code or other form of identification. The winning entry has already been pre-selected prior to distribution, and the winner is the customer who enters with that pre-selected winning entry. Prizes will only be awarded to those who return the winning code or symbol to the Promoter during the Promotion Period. Therefore, prizes do not necessarily have to be awarded, as the winning entry may not be submitted. If the winning entry is not submitted, an organizer may award prizes to participants in a traditional random draw.

First of all, you need to be clear about what the prize is and how you can participate. Participation in contests is free and serves to promote sales. For example, you can encourage your customers to buy a specific product by asking them to enter a free sweepstakes to win a prize. The Gambling Commission prevents illegal gambling and can act if free draws or contests are held as illegal lotteries. Sometimes it is necessary to stipulate that no submissions from residents of Northern Ireland will be accepted in order to avoid having to apply the laws of that jurisdiction, for example: it is legal in the UK for entrants to have to purchase a product to enter a prize draw, but this is not allowed in Northern Ireland, where sweepstakes are only legal if they are free. To be a contest, you must ensure that everyone who participates has a certain level of knowledge or judgment or displays an element of skill that prevents a significant portion of people from entering or winning a prize. Free sweepstakes and contests can be held for commercial or personal use and can be used to promote a product or donate a high-value item such as a car. If you intend to run a free sweepstakes, contest or draw for charitable purposes, you must comply with all applicable gambling regulations, including laws relating to the fair prize awarding process.

This section describes the responsibilities of the fundraising organizations involved in these activities. A: If participants have to solve a large number of clues and only completed entries are submitted, they will qualify as a contest, although those who have successfully solved the puzzle will subsequently participate in a random draw to choose the winner.