You opened an account two years ago, played for a few weeks, then stopped. Thirty or forty euros were still sitting on it. You never thought about it again.
Does that money still exist? The answer depends entirely on the operator holding the inactive account, and the gap is considerable: at one it is still waiting for you, at another it vanished over a year ago.
I read the terms and conditions of the seven Belgian casinos I have audited, article by article. Seven public documents, available to anyone, and seven different answers to the same question.
How long before a casino account becomes inactive
No two operators use the same period before declaring a casino account inactive, and the range runs from the modest to the non-existent.
| Operator | Period before closure | Warning | What becomes of the balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ladbrokes | 21 months (12 + 9) | none | Acquired by the operator |
| Fortuna | 15 months | at 12 months | Reverts to the operator |
| Golden Palace | 13 months | at 12 months | Reverts to the operator |
| Oria | 13 months | at 12 months | Reverts to the operator |
| PlayOne | 12 months | none | Right of retention |
| Madison | 12 months | none | €5 in fees per month |
| BeCasino | no clause at all | — | Stays on the account |
One player, one forgotten balance, and seven different outcomes depending on where the account was opened.
Why the inactivity period is nothing to do with regulation
You might assume these durations come from a common rule. The comparison proves otherwise, and quite plainly.
Fortuna, Golden Palace and Oria share the same publisher, and therefore the same model contract. Their article 4.1 is identical word for word: the same opening sentence, the same warning announced in conditional terms after a year, the same conclusion on the fate of the credits.
Only the numbers change. Golden Palace and Oria settle on thirteen months in total, with one month of grace after the warning. Fortuna settles on fifteen months, with three months of grace.
In other words the contract leaves a blank to fill in, and each operator writes in whatever figure suits it. The same publisher supplies several brands on the Belgian market, which makes those gaps all the more visible.
None of the seven contracts presents that period as a legal obligation, either. What makes a Belgian casino legal lies elsewhere: a licence from the Gaming Commission, not the lifespan of an account.
The Belgian casino that closes no inactive account
This is the finding that surprised me most while reading these documents.
BeCasino has no inactivity clause whatsoever. Its article 6.3 lists eleven grounds for closure: breach of the terms, fraud, hacking, missing documents, gambling ban, collusion. Inactivity is not among them.
There, a forgotten account stays open, and the balance stays on it.
This is not a drafting oversight: its article 6.1 opens exactly like Golden Palace’s, with the same sentence on indefinite duration. The contractual model is the same; the inactivity clause simply was not added.
What becomes of the money, and that changes everything
The period is only half the answer. The other half lies in what happens to the balance, and there the practices diverge sharply.
At Golden Palace, Oria and Fortuna the wording is identical and unambiguous: closure is automatic, and whatever sat on the account becomes the operator’s property. Forty forgotten euros are forty lost euros.
Ladbrokes goes the same way, in firmer language still. Once the period has passed, the remaining funds are “definitively acquired by the Operator”.
Madison proceeds differently: the account closes at twelve months, but the money remains claimable. In exchange, five euros in administrative fees are deducted each month for as long as the player stays silent. On a forty-euro balance, eight months are enough to absorb the lot.
PlayOne, finally, reserves a right of retention over the sums on the account to cover any administrative costs. The amount of those costs is nowhere quantified in its terms.
That spread matches what I see elsewhere: two operators sitting next to each other in the ranking can diverge completely on one specific point, and my review of each Belgian casino, criterion by criterion, sets out those gaps in detail.
The inactivity warning lands where you will not read it
Three operators warn before closing, and that is to their credit. But the way they warn deserves a closer look.
Golden Palace, Oria and Fortuna send an email after a year, to the address held in the player’s profile. Their texts use conditional wording: the player “might” receive it, which is not a commitment.
Yet someone who has not opened their account for a year has often changed address, or no longer reads the one used at registration. The warning goes out, but nothing guarantees it arrives.
The other four do not warn at all. Ladbrokes states explicitly that deactivation happens “without prior notice”, and PlayOne that closure occurs “without notice or compensation”.
Deactivated then closed: the two-stage mechanism at Ladbrokes
The only A+ licence holder in my set built its clause differently from the other six, and that is worth spelling out.
After twelve months without play the account is deactivated, not closed. It becomes what the terms call an “inactive account”. The player then has nine further months to make contact and recover the funds.
That brings the total to twenty-one months, the longest on the audited market. But the initiative rests entirely with the player: the operator does not return anything, it is for the account holder to ask, without having been told the account was deactivated.
One detail shows how carefully that text was drafted: where nothing is left on a deactivated account, six months are enough to close it. Money therefore prolongs the life of the account, and Ladbrokes is the only one to draw that distinction.
Closing your account yourself: what you get back
The deliberate route gives far better results than forgetfulness, and two operators set it down in writing.
BeCasino states that remaining funds are paid to the registered bank account, barring a verification obstacle: identity not confirmed, payment account not validated, enhanced review under way. Playing without ID verification has not been possible since May 2025, and that step governs every withdrawal.
Ladbrokes likewise states that remaining sums are returned to the player. It adds one reservation: deposits not played through in full are not refundable, a restriction it attributes to Belgian law.
I note in passing that a comparable requirement appears at three other operators, in a different form. Two separate technical platforms therefore apply the same rule, and one of them attributes it to Belgian law. I report here what the document says, without checking the legal basis for that claim.
One last practical point: Madison and BeCasino both impose seven days’ wait before an account can be reopened after a voluntary closure.
Keeping a casino account from going inactive
Three habits are enough, and none takes any particular effort.
Empty the account rather than abandon it. A single withdrawal, even of twenty euros, puts the money beyond reach and costs nothing at the operators I examined. The open question is which casinos pay out fast: times vary widely from one site to another, but none charges for the operation.
Keep your email address current for as long as the account exists. It is the only channel through which a warning can reach you, where one exists at all.
Close the account explicitly if you stop. It takes a few minutes, triggers the refund at those who commit to one, and removes any question about the fate of the balance. It is nothing like a protective measure, however, since closing an account does not stop you opening one elsewhere, unlike an exclusion on the EPIS register.
An account does not always go quiet after a decision. An interrupted round, a disputed result, and you put off opening the site again. There too the terms differ from one operator to the next: I recorded what happens to your stake when the connection drops.
What I could not verify
This record covers contractual documents, not observed practice.
I do not know whether operators actually apply these clauses, nor how strictly. A site may provide for closure at thirteen months and never carry it out, or return a balance on simple request well past the deadline.
Nor do I know how much money sleeps this way on the Belgian market. No operator publishes that figure, and the regulator does not collect it publicly.
What I assert is limited to what the seven documents say. For your own situation, it is your operator’s contract that governs, and nothing else.
That line-by-line reading is the same one behind the comparison of online casinos in Belgium: what the operator publishes, not what it promises.
Frequently asked questions
Is my money lost if my casino account has been closed?
It depends on the operator. Three brands provide that credits revert to them automatically, a fourth declares them definitively acquired after twenty-one months. A fifth keeps them subject to monthly fees. Write to customer services: nothing stops you asking.
Can a casino close my account without telling me?
Yes, and four of the seven operators examined reserve that right. The terms say so, which is legally sufficient since you accepted them on registering.
How long does a casino account stay open without activity?
From twelve to twenty-one months depending on the site, and with no limit at one operator that provides no clause at all. Logging in does not always count: some texts speak of no participation in games, not of no connection.
What happens if I close my account myself?
The operators that address the case provide for the balance to be paid to your registered bank account. Identity verification must be complete, and certain unplayed deposits may be excluded from the refund.
Can I reopen an account after a closure?
Yes, but not straight away. Two operators impose a seven-day wait. An account closed for problem gambling or fraud, on the other hand, cannot be reopened with them at all.
Must casinos flag inactive accounts?
Nothing explicitly obliges them to. Three of the seven send a warning email, and their terms use conditional wording rather than a firm commitment.
Sources
- Ladbrokes terms and conditions, articles 13.1 to 13.7, consulted 21 September 2026
- Fortuna, Golden Palace and Oria terms and conditions, article 4.1, consulted 21 September 2026
- PlayOne terms and conditions, article 15.1, and BeCasino, articles 6.1 to 6.3
- Madison terms and conditions, article 4, English version
Operators may amend their terms without notice: check the document on your own site before taking any step. This article describes published contractual clauses, not observed practice, and does not constitute legal advice. The periods quoted run from the last activity as each operator defines it, and those definitions are not identical.
Three years in iGaming, focused on licensed casinos in Belgium. I write every CasinAudit page myself and check each figure against an official source.