One thing there is no shortage of on the internet is opportunities to gamble. We have been spoilt for choice, whether your fancy is for betting on sports, playing virtual card games or bingo. One of the items that makes internet gambling so potentially dangerous is that it is easily available for 24 hours a day.
The real danger comes once you combine this factor with the fact that it is very easy to feel detached from the reality of investment property online. Gradually racking up a debt online will not feel the same as handing over hard earned cash from our wallet, so it is that much easier to lose track of how your web spending is mounting up.
Therefore, debt problems from internet gambling are on the increase. In this article I hope to clarify a number of the legal issues around online gambling, as well as providing some advice on coping with the underlying problem and the debts that derive from it.
Legal Issues Around Gambling Debts
When we discuss debt from online gambling you should be clear about the nature of the debt, because who the money is owed to does change lives. People are often unsure concerning the legality of debts from online gambling. In the UK it is possible to gamble legally on credit and incur a debt, but this debt is not then enforceable through the law.
However, there is an important point to make here, which is that this only applies if you are using credit extended by the company offering the gambling (casino, bookie, etc). If you use a credit card company to pay for internet gambling, that is a legally enforceable debt exactly like it would be in any other circumstance, because you have borrowed money from the credit card company, not the casino. It is now against the law in the US to use a credit card to cover 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 company and the debt you incur can be pursued through legal action. If you do use a credit card to cover online gambling this way, you ought to know that cash advances on bank cards are nearly always charged at a much higher rate of interest than normal credit for purchases.
How To Deal With Debts Caused By Gambling
In dealing with gambling debts, there are two separate issues to tackle. One may be the debt itself, and another may be the habit of gambling that resulted in the debt. Even if your debt is dealt with, it is likely to build up again if the root cause is not tackled too. Let pandawa88 consider the issue of paying off the debt.
The principles for tackling debt are nearly always the same, irrespective of the sources of the debt. To permanently deal with debt you should not be considering borrowing additional money or paying anyone to cope with your debt for you personally. These courses of action will probably deepen your debt over time.
With a little advice, you can deal with your financial situation yourself, by contacting your creditors and agreeing terms for repayment you can afford. There’s clearly more to it than that, but it is beyond the scope of the particular article. The process is easy and allows you to take back control of your finances.