Spread betting FAQs

A leveraged way to speculate on rising or falling prices without owning the asset. You stake per point of movement. See the full explainer.

Legally it's structured as gambling (that's why profits escape CGT); practically it's leveraged trading and rewards the same risk discipline. The label matters less than the leverage — full honest answer here.

Profits are currently free of UK CGT and stamp duty for most retail traders; losses get no relief. Details and caveats in the tax guide.

Providers accept small deposits and 1p–£1 minimum stakes, but margin means even small stakes control large exposure. Start on a demo, then risk only money you can afford to lose.

UK retail clients have negative balance protection per FCA rules, so an account can't go below zero — but you can certainly lose everything in it, and faster than expected.

Tax (spread bets are CGT-free; CFDs aren't), currency (£/pt vs asset currency) and availability (spread betting is UK/Ireland only). Full comparison.

Over-leverage, no stops, overtrading and revenge trading. Every FCA-regulated provider publishes the share of its retail accounts that lose money — typically well over half. Risk management is the whole game.

Stick to FCA-regulated firms: client money is segregated and FSCS-protected up to £85,000. Check any firm on the FCA register before depositing.

Stops that always fill at your chosen level, even if the market gaps past it, for a wider spread or premium. The only true cap on worst-case loss in fast markets.

A bet with no expiry that rolls overnight, incurring a small financing charge each night. Cheaper for short holds; the charges add up over weeks.

FCA rules require client money to be held segregated from the firm's own, and the FSCS protects up to £85,000 per person per firm if an authorised provider fails. Neither protects against trading losses — only firm failure. Check any firm on the FCA register first.

Yes — rolling bets simply carry over (financing still accrues nightly). The risk is the weekend gap: markets can reopen far from Friday's close and ordinary stops fill at the reopened price. Guaranteed stops are the only hard cap across a weekend.

That's the FCA-required appropriateness test — firms must assess whether you understand leveraged products before letting you trade them. Answer honestly: it exists to protect you, and overstating experience only removes a safeguard.

Around the underlying market's mid-price, wrapped a little wider — that wrap is the provider's charge. Spreads widen out of hours, around news and in volatile or thin markets, so the headline one-point FTSE spread applies to calm daytime conditions. Compare spreads on the markets you trade.

No — spread bets aren't qualifying investments for either wrapper, and they don't need one: profits are already free of CGT under the gambling classification. For sheltered long-term investing, that's share dealing inside an ISA — a different tool for a different job.