Online Bingo in the UK: A Plain Guide to Licensing, Rules and Player Rights

Online bingo in Britain sits inside one of the most tightly policed gambling markets on the planet. Every operator that accepts a UK player needs a licence from the Gambling Commission, a body based in Birmingham that supervises roughly 2,700 licensed businesses across betting, casino and bingo. That single fact shapes almost everything else in this article.

Bingo is not a niche add-on in the UK. The Gambling Commission's most recent industry statistics put bingo's gross gambling yield at around £1.6 billion a year across land-based and remote play, and the remote bingo sector alone accounts for roughly £1 billion of that total. Millions of accounts, hundreds of brands, one regulator.

What follows is a practical walkthrough of how online bingo actually works in 2026: who regulates it, what the rules say, how complaints get handled, how the tax works, and what the big operators such as Bet365, William Hill, Sky Bingo, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Coral, Betfred, Gala Bingo, Foxy Bingo and JackpotJoy actually offer. No hype. Just the mechanics.

Who Regulates Online Bingo in the UK?

The Gambling Commission licenses and regulates all commercial gambling in Great Britain, excluding Northern Ireland, which runs its own regime through the Northern Ireland Department for Communities. The Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005, which came into force on 1 September 2007 and replaced the older Gaming Act 1968 framework.

Licences come in two main flavours for bingo. A remote operating licence covers online bingo, online casino and remote betting. A non-remote operating licence covers physical bingo halls. Many operators hold both. A brand like Mecca Bingo, owned by Rank Group, runs halls under a non-remote licence and its online arm under a remote one.

What does the Gambling Commission actually do?

The Commission writes the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, known as the LCCP, which every licensee must follow. It investigates breaches, issues fines, suspends licences and can revoke them entirely. Between 2017 and 2024 the Commission handed out more than £200 million in regulatory settlements and fines across the gambling sector, with several penalties directly involving bingo and casino operators.

It also runs the National Self-Exclusion Register, known as GAMSTOP, which launched in April 2018. GAMSTOP lets a player block themselves from every UK-licensed online gambling site for a minimum of six months, extendable to one year or five years. Around 500,000 people had registered with GAMSTOP by its fifth anniversary.

Beyond the Commission, two other bodies matter. The Advertising Standards Authority polices bingo adverts under the CAP Code, and the Competition and Markets Authority has taken action against operators over unclear bonus terms. In 2019 the CMA secured formal commitments from several major operators to change how they advertised free spins and bonus offers.

How does UK licensing differ from offshore licensing?

Offshore licences from Curaçao, Anjouan or the Kahnawake Gaming Commission are cheaper and lighter on consumer protection. A Curaçao licence historically cost a few thousand euros and imposed few reporting duties. A UK remote operating licence costs substantially more and requires annual licence fees, personal management licence checks and full compliance reporting.

That difference matters to players. A site holding a UK licence must contribute to GAMSTOP, must display the GamCare helpline, must run age verification checks and must follow strict rules on bonus terms. An offshore-only site typically does none of these things. If you see a bingo brand advertising heavily to UK players without a UK licence, treat that as a red flag rather than a bargain.

Some operators hold both. 32Red, for example, has historically held UK and Gibraltar licences. Gibraltar's regime is closer to the UK's in tone but still separate. The practical test for a player is simple: check the footer of the site for a Gambling Commission licence number, which is usually a six or seven digit number starting with 0.

How Complaints and Disputes Get Handled

Disputes happen. A player wins a jackpot and the operator says a term was breached. A withdrawal sits pending for days. A bonus gets voided after the fact. The route to resolution in the UK is well defined, and knowing the steps saves weeks of frustration.

First stop is always the operator's own complaints process. Under the LCCP, licensees must have a written complaints procedure and must respond to a formal complaint within eight weeks. If the operator has not resolved the matter by then, or has issued a deadlock letter, the player can escalate to an alternative dispute resolution provider.

Which ADR provider handles UK bingo complaints?

Every UK-licensed operator must be a member of an approved ADR scheme. The two main providers are IBAS, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service, and the equivalent service run through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution. ADR decisions are binding on the operator but not on the player, who can still go to court.

IBAS publishes anonymised adjudications on its website, and bingo disputes feature regularly. Typical cases involve bonus term interpretation, voided bets and account closures. The service is free to the player. Turnaround is usually four to eight weeks from acceptance of the case.

If the operator is not a member of an ADR scheme, or the ADR process itself is mishandled, the player can complain directly to the Gambling Commission. The Commission does not resolve individual disputes or award compensation, but it does log complaints and can use patterns of complaints as evidence in a licence review.

What happens when the regulator fines a bingo operator?

Regulatory settlements usually combine a financial penalty, a divestment order requiring the operator to return money to affected customers, and a set of licence conditions. In 2023 the Commission ordered one operator to pay £585,000 for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, with £60,000 of that returned to customers.

Fines of that size rarely make headlines because bingo penalties tend to be smaller than those in the casino and betting sectors. But the pattern is consistent: the Commission publishes a public statement, the operator accepts the findings, and the licence conditions get tightened. Repeat offenders face suspension. In 2024 the Commission suspended one operator's licence entirely pending a review.

For a player, the practical takeaway is that complaints are not a dead end. They feed into a system that has real teeth, even if the process is slow. Keeping screenshots, transaction records and chat logs makes the difference between a case that gets taken up and one that stalls.

Tax, Fees and the Money Behind UK Bingo

Bingo carries a different tax treatment from other gambling in the UK, and that quirk shapes the whole market. Remote bingo is taxed at 21% of gross gambling yield under Remote Gaming Duty, the same rate as remote casino. But bingo duty on the physical game has historically been lower, and the government has tinkered with the structure repeatedly.

From 1 April 2027, the government has confirmed a new remote gambling duty structure that will raise the headline rate on remote casino and bingo. The exact figure has been set at 40% for remote casino-style products under the Autumn Budget 2025 announcements, with the bingo sector lobbying hard for a lower rate. Operators are already pricing that change into their bonus budgets.

How much does a UK bingo licence cost?

Licence fees depend on the type and scale of the operation. A remote bingo operating licence has an annual fee that starts in the low thousands of pounds for a small operator and rises sharply with turnover. Personal management licence applications cost around £370 per person, and there are additional fees for each licensed activity.

Application fees are separate from annual fees. A remote operating licence application typically costs several thousand pounds, plus a fee for each additional activity such as casino or betting. The Commission publishes the full fee schedule on its website, and the numbers change roughly every two years with inflation.

For a brand, the bigger cost is compliance. A mid-sized online bingo operator will spend six figures a year on compliance staff, responsible gambling tools, data protection and audit. That is why the market has consolidated. Small independent bingo sites have largely been absorbed by the big groups: Entain, Flutter, Rank, William Hill, Betfred and Buzz Bingo.

Which operators hold the biggest share of UK online bingo?

Consolidation has left a handful of groups controlling most of the market. Flutter Entertainment owns Paddy Power, Sky Bet, Sky Vegas and Sky Bingo. Entain owns Ladbrokes, Coral, Gala Bingo, Gala Casino, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. Rank Group owns Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos. William Hill is part of 888 Holdings, which also runs 888 Casino, 888 Sport and Mr Green.

That concentration matters for the player in two ways. First, many brands share back-end technology, so game selection can look similar across supposedly different sites. Second, bonus terms and wagering requirements tend to converge within a group. If you dislike one brand's terms, you may dislike its sibling brands too.

Independent operators still exist. Betfred remains family-owned. Buzz Bingo operates its own platform. MrQ, owned by Lindar Media, has built a reputation for no-wagering bonuses. And smaller brands such as Foxy Bingo, JackpotJoy and Heart Bingo occupy specific niches.

Top Online Bingo and Casino Operators for UK Players

Brands come and go, but the UK market has a stable core of operators that combine a UK licence, a recognisable name and a functioning bingo or slots product. The list below is not a ranking by payout. It is a practical map of who does what, and where the differences actually lie.

Which bingo brands are best for new players?

New player offers vary enormously, and the headline number is rarely the whole story. Gala Bingo and Foxy Bingo typically offer a deposit match with a bingo ticket bundle. JackpotJoy leans on slots and a spin-based welcome. MrQ has built a following on no-wagering bonuses, which means winnings are not locked behind playthrough requirements.

Wagering requirements are the number to check. A "£50 bonus" with a 40x wagering requirement means you must stake £2,000 before withdrawing anything from that bonus. At 20x, the figure drops to £1,000. Some bingo-specific bonuses cap the contribution of bingo play to wagering at 10% or 20%, which stretches the requirement further.

Ticket prices matter too. Most 90-ball bingo rooms price tickets between 1p and 50p, with jackpot rooms charging more. A typical 75-ball game has tickets around 10p to 25p. If a room advertises a £10,000 jackpot, check whether that is a shared network jackpot or a room-specific one, because the odds are very different.

What games do the big operators actually run?

Bingo variants are standardised across the UK market. 90-ball bingo dominates, with 75-ball and 80-ball variants also common. Speed bingo, sometimes called 30-ball or 40-ball, compresses games into a couple of minutes. Themed rooms run alongside these, often with a TV or celebrity tie-in.

Game software comes from a small number of providers. Virtue Fusion, owned by Playtech, powers a large share of UK bingo rooms. Microgaming, Pragmatic Play, NetEnt and Eyecon supply slots that sit alongside the bingo. Evolution dominates live casino, which many bingo brands now offer as a side product.

That supply chain matters because it explains why so many bingo sites look alike. If three brands all run Virtue Fusion bingo and Pragmatic slots, the difference is the community, the promotions and the loyalty scheme, not the games themselves. Pick a brand based on how it treats you, not on which slot logos appear on the homepage.

Are bingo bonuses worth taking?

Sometimes. A no-wagering bonus is almost always worth taking because the value is real. A high-wagering bonus is effectively a discount on play, not free money. The honest way to assess one is to calculate the expected cost of clearing it against the expected return from the games you would play.

Worked example. A £10 bonus with 40x wagering requires £400 of stakes. On a bingo game with a 5% house edge, that is an expected loss of £20. The bonus is worth £10. Net expected value is negative £10. On a slot with a 3% edge and 100% contribution, the expected loss is £12, still above the bonus value.

Where bonuses do work is when wagering is low, contribution is high and the games have a low house edge. Bingo rooms typically return 70% to 85% to players, which is a much bigger edge than most slots. That is why bingo bonuses with high wagering requirements are usually poor value, and why operators prefer you to clear them on slots.

Player Protection, Self-Exclusion and Complaints in Practice

UK gambling law requires every licensed operator to offer a set of player protection tools. These are not optional extras. They are licence conditions, and the Commission has fined operators for getting them wrong. Knowing what is available, and how to use it, is part of playing safely.

The core tools are deposit limits, loss limits, session time reminders, reality checks and time-outs. Deposit limits can be set daily, weekly or monthly. Under Commission rules, an operator must action a deposit limit increase only after a 24-hour cooling-off period. Decreases take effect immediately.

How does GAMSTOP work for bingo players?

GAMSTOP is the National Self-Exclusion Register for Great Britain. Registering blocks you from every UK-licensed online gambling site for a minimum of six months. You can choose six months, one year or five years. The block cannot be lifted early, and it applies across all operators on the register.

Registration is free and takes about 10 minutes. You need your name, date of birth, address and email. Once registered, you will be removed from marketing lists. Operators must check GAMSTOP before allowing a new account and must not send promotional material to registered users.

GAMSTOP does not cover land-based bingo halls, nor does it cover gambling sites licensed only offshore. If you want a complete block, you also need to self-exclude directly with any halls you use and with any offshore sites you have accounts on. The Commission's guidance is explicit on this limitation.

What is the legal age for online bingo in the UK?

The legal age for online bingo in Great Britain is 18. That applies to all remote gambling, including bingo, casino, slots and sports betting. Land-based bingo halls also operate at 18 and over, though some family-friendly sessions historically allowed younger players in specific circumstances. Those exceptions have narrowed considerably.

Age verification is mandatory before a player can deposit or gamble. Operators must verify name, address and date of birth. Most do this electronically within seconds. If verification fails, the account is restricted until documents are provided. The Commission has fined operators for allowing underage gambling, with penalties running into six figures.

Northern Ireland applies the same 18 age limit for online gambling, though its licensing regime differs. The island of Ireland south of the border has its own rules under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which established a new regulator. UK players using Northern Ireland addresses should expect the same practical experience.

Where can players get help with a gambling problem?

GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free from UK landlines and mobiles. The service offers confidential advice, counselling referrals and practical support. GamCare also runs a live chat service and a forum.

Other options include Gamblers Anonymous, which runs meetings across the UK, and the Gordon Moody Association, which provides residential treatment. StepChange and National Debtline can help with financial consequences. None of these services charge the user.

For a bingo player, the most useful first step is usually a deposit limit, followed by a time-out if things feel out of control, followed by GAMSTOP if a longer break is needed. Operators must make these tools easy to find. If a site buries them, that is a warning sign.

How do you complain about a bingo operator?

Start with the operator's own complaints team in writing. Keep the reference number. Under the LCCP the operator has eight weeks to resolve the complaint. If it does not, or if it issues a deadlock letter earlier, you can escalate to IBAS or another approved ADR provider.

Prepare your evidence before escalating. Transaction records, chat transcripts, screenshots of the terms you relied on and any emails from the operator all help. ADR providers work from documents, not from recollection. A case with clear evidence is far more likely to succeed than one built on memory.

If the operator is not a member of an ADR scheme, or the ADR outcome seems perverse, you can complain to the Gambling Commission. The Commission will not overturn the ADR decision, but it will record the complaint. Repeated complaints about the same issue can trigger a licence review, which is where the real consequences sit.

How the Regulator Monitors Compliance Day to Day

Compliance is not a one-off check. The Commission runs a continuous monitoring programme that includes data returns, mystery shopping, thematic reviews and targeted investigations. Operators must submit regulatory returns, usually quarterly, covering revenue, customer numbers and key compliance indicators.

The Commission also uses its own intelligence. It monitors advertising, checks affiliate sites, reviews complaints and follows up on media reports. When a pattern emerges, such as a spike in complaints about a specific bonus term, it can launch a thematic review that covers multiple operators at once.

What triggers a Gambling Commission investigation?

Several things. A high volume of player complaints. A whistleblower report from inside the company. A data return that looks out of line with peers. A media investigation. A breach identified during a routine compliance assessment. The Commission has an intelligence team that triages all of these.

Once an investigation opens, the operator is asked to provide documents and explanations. The process can take months. Outcomes range from no action to a formal warning, a financial settlement, additional licence conditions or, in the most serious cases, suspension or revocation. The Commission publishes the outcome of every enforcement case on its website.

The 2023 case involving a major operator resulted in a £585,000 settlement, with £60,000 returned to customers. The 2024 suspension of one operator's licence showed that the Commission will act decisively when it believes consumer protection is at risk. The message to the industry is that compliance failures carry real cost.

How does the regulator handle player complaints?

The Commission does not adjudicate individual disputes. Its role is to identify whether a complaint reveals a breach of licence conditions. If it does, the Commission can act against the operator. If it does not, the complaint is logged and the player is directed back to the operator or to ADR.

That distinction confuses many players. A complaint about a specific £50 withdrawal is not something the Commission will resolve. A complaint that an operator systematically misled players about bonus terms is. The Commission's published guidance is clear that it prioritises patterns over individual cases.

Players who want their specific case resolved should go to ADR. Players who want to change how an operator behaves should complain to both. The two routes serve different purposes, and using both gives the best chance of a result.

What are the most common compliance failures in bingo?

Three themes dominate. First, social responsibility failures: not intervening when a customer shows signs of harm, not acting on deposit limit requests quickly enough, not checking affordability. Second, anti-money laundering failures: inadequate source of funds checks, poor monitoring of unusual transactions.

Third, advertising and terms failures: misleading bonus claims, unclear wagering requirements, promotions that do not match their description. The CMA's 2019 action against several operators focused on exactly this area, and the Commission has continued to pursue similar cases.

Bingo-specific issues include the treatment of shared jackpots, the rules around ticket purchases in the final seconds of a game, and the handling of voided games. These are niche but they generate a disproportionate share of player complaints, and the Commission has addressed them in published guidance.

How Online Bingo Compares to Other UK Gambling Products

Bingo sits in an unusual position. It is a game of chance with a fixed prize pool, which means the house edge is set by the operator's take from ticket sales rather than by the mathematical structure of a slot. That makes bingo more predictable for the operator and, in principle, more transparent for the player.

Typical bingo room returns sit between 70% and 85%. Slots in the UK market usually return between 92% and 97% by design, though the volatility is much higher. Live casino games such as roulette return around 97.3% on a single-zero wheel. So bingo has a much bigger house edge than slots, but a lower variance.

Why do players choose bingo over slots?

Community. That is the honest answer. A bingo room has chat, hosts, shared jackpots and a sense of occasion. Slots are solitary. The social element is why brands such as Gala Bingo, Foxy Bingo and JackpotJoy invest heavily in chat moderation and community events.

Price point matters too. A 10p ticket gives a couple of minutes of entertainment at a fraction of the cost of a spin. For players on a budget, bingo's low stake per game is a genuine advantage. The trade-off is the higher house edge, which means the expected cost per hour can be similar or higher.

Session length is another factor. A 90-ball game takes around three to five minutes. A speed bingo game takes under two. That rhythm suits players who want structure rather than the open-ended format of a slot. It also makes it easier to set a session budget and stick to it.

Does bingo have better or worse odds than the lottery?

Bingo has better odds than the National Lottery, but both are games of chance with a house edge. A typical UK bingo room returns 70% to 85% of stakes as prizes. The National Lottery returns around 53% to good causes and prizes combined, with the prize share alone around 53% of sales.

Jackpot odds differ enormously. Winning a UK Lotto jackpot is roughly a 1 in 45 million event. Winning a bingo house prize is often 1 in a few hundred, depending on the number of players. The bingo jackpot is smaller but far more likely.

For a player, the practical implication is that bingo delivers more frequent, smaller wins. That suits some people and frustrates others. If you want the chance of a life-changing sum, bingo is not the product. If you want regular small wins, it is.

How does the regulator treat bingo differently from casino?

Bingo gets a slightly lighter touch on some rules, reflecting its lower harm profile in the Commission's own risk assessments. The Commission's gambling harm metrics show bingo players report lower rates of problem gambling than casino or slots players, though the difference is not enormous.

That said, bingo is not exempt from anything important. Deposit limits, GAMSTOP, age verification, advertising rules and ADR membership all apply equally. The Commission has been clear that the "bingo is harmless" assumption is not a licence condition it recognises.

Tax treatment is the biggest structural difference. Remote bingo and remote casino are both taxed at 21% under Remote Gaming Duty. General betting is taxed at 15% under General Betting Duty. The 2027 changes will raise remote casino and bingo rates further, and the bingo sector has argued that the increase risks pushing players toward unlicensed offshore sites.

Practical Guide: Setting Up and Playing Safely

Getting started with online bingo in the UK is straightforward, but a few practical steps make the experience better and safer. Verification, deposit limits and a clear budget are the three things worth sorting before you play a single game.

Verification usually happens at registration. You provide name, address, date of birth and often the last four digits of a payment card or a national insurance number. Most operators verify electronically within seconds. If it fails, you will be asked for documents such as a passport or utility bill.

What should you check before depositing?

Check the licence. Look for a Gambling Commission licence number in the site footer. Check the ADR provider. Check the deposit limit tools. Check the withdrawal terms. Check the bonus wagering requirements if you plan to take one. Five minutes of reading saves a lot of frustration.

Check payment methods too. Debit cards are the standard, and credit cards have been banned for UK gambling since 14 April 2020. PayPal, Apple Pay and bank transfers are widely accepted. Some operators charge for certain withdrawal methods, though most do not.

Check the withdrawal process. Some operators process withdrawals within hours, others take 24 to 72 hours. Pending periods vary. If a site advertises "instant withdrawals", check the small print, because many apply that only to specific payment methods.

How do you set a deposit limit that actually works?

Set it before you play, not after. Decide what you can afford to lose in a month, divide by four, and set that as a weekly limit. A £40 monthly budget becomes a £10 weekly limit. Operators must action decreases immediately and increases only after 24 hours.

Use loss limits as well as deposit limits. A deposit limit caps what you put in. A loss limit caps what you lose. The two together give you a hard stop. Session time reminders and reality checks add a third layer, prompting you to reassess.

If you find yourself wanting to raise a limit shortly after setting it, that is information worth paying attention to. The 24-hour cooling-off period exists precisely because limit increases are often impulsive. Use it as a pause, not an obstacle.

What are the warning signs of a problem?

Chasing losses, hiding play from family, borrowing money to play, feeling anxious when not playing, and playing longer than intended are the standard markers. None of them on their own means you have a problem. Several together, repeatedly, is a pattern worth addressing.

The National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 is free and confidential. GamCare also offers online chat and a forum. GAMSTOP is available if you need a longer break. None of these services judge you, and all of them are funded to help.

Operators also have a duty to intervene. Under the LCCP, they must monitor customer behaviour and act when they see signs of harm. If an operator has not intervened when it should have, that is a compliance failure, and it is something the Commission takes seriously.

Frequently Asked Questions About Online Bingo

Is online bingo legal in the UK?

Yes. Online bingo is legal in Great Britain for players aged 18 or over, provided the operator holds a licence from the Gambling Commission. Northern Ireland has its own licensing regime but the same 18 age limit. Playing on an unlicensed offshore site is not illegal for the player, but it removes all UK consumer protections.

How do I check if a bingo site is licensed?

Look for a Gambling Commission licence number in the site footer, usually starting with 0. You can verify it on the Commission's public register by searching the operator's trading name. If a site advertises to UK players but shows no UK licence, treat it with caution and check whether it is licensed elsewhere.

What is the minimum age for online bingo?

18. This applies to all remote gambling in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Operators must verify age before allowing deposits or play. Land-based bingo halls also operate at 18 and over. Age verification failures have resulted in six-figure fines for operators.

Can I self-exclude from all UK bingo sites at once?

Yes, through GAMSTOP. Registration blocks you from every UK-licensed online gambling site for a minimum of six months, extendable to one year or five years. It is free and takes about 10 minutes. It does not cover land-based bingo halls or offshore-only sites, so separate exclusions are needed for those.

What is the National Gambling Helpline number?

0808 8020 133. The line is run by GamCare and is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week from UK landlines and mobiles. GamCare also offers live chat, email support and a moderated forum for people affected by gambling harm.

How long does a bingo operator have to resolve a complaint?

Eight weeks from the date of the formal complaint. If the operator has not resolved the matter by then, or has issued a deadlock letter, the player can escalate to an approved alternative dispute resolution provider such as IBAS. ADR decisions are binding on the operator but not on the player.

Does the Gambling Commission handle individual player complaints?

No. The Commission does not adjudicate individual disputes or award compensation. It logs complaints and uses patterns to identify licence breaches. Players wanting a specific case resolved should use the operator's complaints process and then ADR. Complaints to the Commission serve a different purpose.

Are bingo winnings tax-free in the UK?

Yes. Gambling winnings are not subject to income tax or capital gains tax for the player in the UK. The tax is paid by the operator through Remote Gaming Duty at 21% of gross gambling yield, rising under the 2027 changes. Players do not declare bingo winnings on a tax return.

Which is better, 90-ball or 75-ball bingo?

Neither is better in absolute terms. 90-ball bingo is the traditional UK format with three lines and a full house, and games typically last three to five minutes. 75-ball bingo is faster and more common in US-style rooms. The house edge is broadly similar, so pick based on the pace you prefer.

Can I play online bingo on a credit card?

No. The Gambling Commission banned credit card gambling for UK consumers on 14 April 2020. Debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and bank transfers remain available. The ban was introduced to prevent players from gambling with money they did not have.

Online bingo in the UK is a regulated product with real protections, real complaint routes and real consequences for operators that get it wrong. The licence number in the footer is not decoration.

It is the thread that connects a bingo brand to a regulator that has fined the sector hundreds of millions of pounds and will suspend a licence when it has to.

Play with a licensed operator, set your limits before you deposit, and use GAMSTOP or the pline on 0808 8020 133 if play stops feeling like a choice. That is the whole system in one sentence.

One last thing worth flagging. The rules change. Remote Gaming Duty rises in April 2027, the Commission keeps tightening its customer interaction requirements, and operators keep merging. A brand that looks solid today may sit under a different licence holder in 18 months. Checking the footer takes ten seconds and tells you everything.