{"id":5293,"date":"2020-09-07T15:20:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T15:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/?page_id=5293"},"modified":"2021-09-16T14:40:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T14:40:03","slug":"taking-betting-companies-to-court","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/articles\/taking-betting-companies-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Betting Companies to Court: Suing Bookmakers & Casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"
As gamblers, we like to think that online sportsbooks and casinos are sort of like our havens. They provide us with the games and sports betting opportunities that we enjoy participating in and, as such, we always expect to have fun at them. Of course, this isn\u2019t something that always happens, and there have been reports before of people having exceptionally bad experiences at their chosen platforms.<\/p>\n
At times, some bettors have experienced the site opting to withhold their withdrawal, resulting in unpaid winnings. Others have chosen to cancel players\u2019 bets with very little information given as to why they have taken that course of action and when the customer has tried to have the problem resolved, little has come of it.<\/p>\n
What happens when a problem has become so bad that the player needs to take the betting company to court? How is this process handled and what sort of cost does it involve? Are there any documented cases of disgruntled customers suing a betting company and winning?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re going to be taking an in-depth look at instances of betting companies being sued by players and finding out what went wrong to reach this outcome. Furthermore, we\u2019re going to find out exactly how lengthy the process is, what the most common cases have been about and much more.<\/p>\n
In any instance of a sportsbook or casino taking action against you that you believe to be unfair, your first course of action should be to contact the customer support team directly. They should be able to provide you with information upon why a problem has arisen, and what can be done about it.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s something like they are withholding your withdrawal, then it may just be that a site requires extra documents from you to confirm your identity. This is standard procedure when it comes to withdrawing from an online betting site. New rules<\/a> were brought in by the UK Gambling Commission in 2019 that require also licensed operators to pre-verify customers<\/a> who utilise their sites.<\/p>\n If the customer support team has provided all information but you\u2019re still not happy with the outcome, then you can proceed to take things further. The Independent Betting Adjudication Service<\/a> (IBAS) can be approached, as can the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) if it relates to an advertising realted issue.\u00a0 You can contact the Gambling Commission themselves, although they do not deal with individual customer complaints but if there if you think an operator has contravened the terms of their license then you can contact them.<\/p>\n IBAS operates as an impartial adjudicator for any disputes that occur between bettors and gambling operators. Within IBAS, an adjudication service is made up of a panel of experts, and they know both the law and the gambling industry exceptionally well. The terms and conditions listed by the operator will be scrutinised by the team, to ensure that everything adheres to the rules and laws of the Gambling Commission. Upon making a ruling on the situation, that will be binding for all parties. An operator should be registered with IBAS, and it\u2019s not recommended to sign up to one that isn\u2019t, as legal action won\u2019t be as easy.<\/p>\n One of the goals of IBAS is to ensure that parties do not have to enter into complex and expensive legal proceedings. Where the company cannot adjudicate, they must also direct consumers to the most appropriate course of action.<\/p>\n It is possible for IBAS to rule on cases that are worth up to \u00a310,000. Anything outside of this will need to be taken to court, and if there is no dispute settlement between the operator and consumer via IBAS, court will also usually be the outcome as well. Using IBAS is a free service, and the operator pays a registration fee every year, which binds them to the terms and conditions of the company, too.<\/p>\n Should any party be in disagreement with the final ruling of IBAS, they can request that it is reviewed. However, if things need to be taken further at this point, then a court date will usually be set. That requires you to get in touch with a solicitor and find out what your options are.<\/p>\n There are several legal companies that deal with gambling claims, and you\u2019ll need to reach out to one of them to see where you stand. It\u2019s also imperative to ensure that you are within your legal rights to sue the operator, and for this you need to ensure that you have read the terms and conditions effectively (something which IBAS also does).<\/p>\n Yet, it\u2019s also important to realise that most claims against betting companies do fail. It needs to be a very strong case against them to result in a win.<\/p>\n It is critical you read the terms and conditions that you signed up to before deciding if you have a legal case.\u00a0 Most cased fail because the operator has terms that you agreed to that cover them in some situations.\u00a0 You are unlikely to beat them on their own terms, unless you can prove those terms are unreasonable or cannot be applied in that case.<\/p>\n Most legal teams will review your case initially for a fixed charge, and this will allow them to provide you with options, recommendations and the next steps you need to take if they think you have a case. Sometimes, they will offer no win no fee funding as well, although this is not guaranteed. It is not always the case that your case will fail though, as some cases in the past are testament to.<\/p>\n Graham Calvert was a greyhound trainer who had experienced plenty of success with his dogs. At the same time, he was quite the enthusiastic gambler, and in 2006, he placed the largest golf bet ever recorded – \u00a3347,000 on America to win the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, Calvert lost that wager and a series of other bets. It was this that led to him closing his account at William Hill, also requesting that it not be opened again.<\/p>\n However, two weeks later, the betting company allowed him to re-open the account, and his losses escalated once again. Calvert requested that the bookmaker stopped taking his bets and also took advantage of the company\u2019s self-exclusion program, as well as those of other bookies. The employee who spoke to Calvert about it on the telephone though, did not implement the William Hill procedure, meaning that it continued to facilitate his gambling addiction when he opened a new account two months later. Between the period of June and December 2006, he was allowed to make bets equating to a total of \u00a33.5 million, and that resulted in a net loss of \u00a32.1 million.<\/p>\nIdentify Your Legal Standing<\/h2>\n
Graham Calvert Vs. William Hill<\/h3>\n