Betfred Operator Petfre to Pay £900,000 Settlement

A seven-day gap between reviews meant one customer lost £17,900 in 24 hours without further contact, the Gambling Commission found.

Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, which runs betfred.com, will pay £900,000 as part of a settlement with the Gambling Commission, announced on 30 June. The investigation followed a compliance assessment that found weaknesses in its safer gambling policies and procedures.

What the Commission found

Not enough automated processes to spot signs of harm such as spending, time spent gambling and patterns of spend.
No processes to make sure immediate, automated action was taken when strong signs of harm appeared.
Once an account had been flagged for a safer gambling review, it would not be flagged again for seven days. In one case a customer lost £17,900 within 24 hours without any further interaction.

John Pierce, the Commission’s Director of Enforcement, said the gaps were unacceptable but that the operator acted quickly to put interim controls in place and has since delivered an action plan the Commission is satisfied with.