One thing there is absolutely no shortage of on the internet is opportunities to gamble. ilucky88 We are 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 truth that it is so easy to feel detached from the reality of money spent online. Gradually accumulating a debt online will not feel the identical to 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.
For these reasons, debt problems from internet gambling are on the increase. In this article I hope to clarify some of the legal issues around online gambling, and providing some advice on coping with the underlying problem and the debts that result from it.
LEGALITIES Around Gambling Debts
When we talk about debt from online gambling it is important to be clear about 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 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 cover internet gambling, that is clearly a legally enforceable debt exactly like it would be in virtually any other circumstance, because you have borrowed money from the credit card company, not the casino. It really is now against the law in the US to use a charge card to pay for online gambling.
You will find that lots of bank 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 should be aware that cash advances on bank cards are almost always charged at a higher interest than normal credit for purchases.
How To Deal With Debts Caused By Gambling
In working with gambling debts, there are two separate issues to tackle. One is the debt itself, and the other may be the habit of gambling that led to the debt. Even if your debt is dealt with, it is likely to build up again if the primary cause is not tackled too. Let us first consider the problem of paying off the debt.
The principles for tackling debt are nearly always the same, irrespective of the causes of the debt. To permanently cope with debt you should not be turning over borrowing more money or paying anyone to cope with your debt for you personally. These courses of action will probably deepen your debt in the long run.
With a little advice, it is possible to deal with your financial situation yourself, by contacting your creditors and agreeing terms for repayment that you can afford. There is clearly more to it than that, but it is beyond the scope of the particular article. The process is straightforward and allows you to take back control of your finances.