Dormancy-Inactivity Fee

A lot of online casinos include a fee of some sort for inactive accounts. Here is an email we received explaining one such fee:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Support Department at “Casino”, with regards to your account.

Please be advised that in 28 days your account will become dormant and will be subject to the dormant accounts administration fee.

Accounts are classified ‘dormant’ after 180 days of inactivity, as stated in the Casino terms on the site: http://casino

Unless you place a real money bet into your account within the next 30 days, 5% of your balance will be deducted as an administration fee (minimum deduction will be $15 or currency equivalent).

In order to avoid this deduction, please log into your account within the next 30 days and place a real money bet, alternatively, if you wish to withdraw your account balance, please log into your account and submit a withdrawal request. Please be aware that the deduction process will commence on 1st July 2011.

If your account has remained inactive within the timeframe stated above, the Dormant Fee will be deducted from your balance

If your account has been frozen for any reason, or you are unable to play with us due to Country Restrictions please contact our support team at [email protected] to resolve any outstanding issues with your account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for your kind co-operation and patience in this matter.
 
      Kindest Regards,

“Casino” Support Team

Now a dormancy clause starting after 1 year or longer is perfectly acceptable. And with a fee of €5 per month applied to “cover costs” is also the norm if the casino makes every attempt to contact the player.

However dormancy fees starting after less than a year and fees that are over a small nominal amount are not really acceptable. Some casinos will even claim a players entire bank balance after 180 days without notice which is bordering on the criminal. Other casinos will actually ship the player the money after a certain period of time and close the player account and not charge any fees at all.

So please be aware of this clause and check it out in the T&C of the casino you are thinking of joining. This clause is a very good indicator of the overall fairness of the casino in general! Top Tip!