Coroner calls for National Lottery to join exclusion scheme

A coroner has warned of the risk of possible deaths if the National Lottery is not included in Gamstop, the UK’s gambling exclusion scheme.

Steve Goff was a health-conscious, positive man who struggled with a gambling addiction for two years. He tragically took his own life after spending his last few pounds on an online National Lottery draw.

Goff had begun gambling in 2006 and it led directly to his marriage breakdown a year later. While there were times when he managed to get his gambling under control, he had attempted to take his own life twice before. After the second attempt he signed up for Gamstop, meaning he had self-excluded from online gambling sites and casinos for five years. When that time had expired he immediately began to receive marketing from gambling companies and his addiction began to escalate. While he signed up for Gamstop again in 2024, his finances were in serious difficulty. He took his life on the same day that he was due to be evicted from his flat due to unpaid rent.

Emma Whitting, senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton wrote a ‘prevention of future deaths’ report following the inquest into Goff’s death. In it, she highlights how Goff, who was blocked from gambling sites through Gamstop, was able to continue gambling through the National Lottery, which is not part of the scheme.

“By not including online gambling with the National Lottery Draw in the Gamstop scheme,” she wrote, “there is a risk that consumers having self-excluded via Gamstop will still gamble online with the National Lottery Draw.”

Whitting sent the report to the Gambling Commission, and to Gamstop, in August following the inquest in July. Chief Executive of Gamstop, Fiona Palmer, acknowledged that while National Lottery online instant games were covered by the exclusion scheme, the draw games were not. The Gambling Commission explained that they were considering various options in response, but they needed “careful consideration”.

“While it is important to note that National Lottery draw-based games are generally lower-risk products relative to other gambling activities and that consumers can already self-exclude from all online National Lottery games directly with the National Lottery operator, following the inquest into Mr Goff’s death, we have been engaging with Gamstop and [National Lottery operator] Allwyn to consider what more could be done to increase consumer protections… including the possibility of extending the scope of Gamstop in some form.”