Gambling Commission investigates house prize draw.
As we reported in last month's Legal and Public Affairs newsletter, the Wilshaw family, who could not sell their house, had issued a scheme to sell 46,000 £25 tickets in a prize draw. The draw was due to take place on 16 October, but this has been postponed following the intervention of the Gambling Commission. A statement published on the Wilshaws' MySpace stated: "We are so sorry to have to tell all of our entrants that the Draw has been postponed....The Gambling Commission have begun looking into the concept of House Competitions generally and as part of that process we have contacted and are in discussions with them to confirm that the competition meets their requirements." The Wilshaws had claimed that their scheme had been cleared by the Gambling Commission some months ago. "At this late stage of proceedings, the Gambling Commission have asked for more information on the competition question, despite the fact that we approached them for guidance before the start of the competition in March of this year, only to be told that they had no issues with our conduct or the running of the competition." The Gambling Commission has not issued a public opinion on whether these types of prize draws are legal or not. As we stated in the October newsletter, we believe these draws are illegal lotteries as the question posed to qualify it as a prize competition does not meet the two tests under the Gambling Act 2005. (Source: Direct Marketing Association - DMA)