Betfred fined £900,000 after UK probe

UK operator Betfred will pay £900,000 to the UK Gambling Commission after an investigation found failings in its social responsibility controls, including allowing a customer to lose nearly £18,000 within 24 hours without adequate intervention.

The probe centred on Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, which operates betfred.com, and concluded the company’s systems were not robust enough to detect and respond to signs of gambling harm. According to the regulator, customers showing risky behaviour “were not identified and interacted with promptly enough”.

The Commission highlighted shortcomings in automated safeguards, noting that indicators such as spending levels, time spent playing and gambling patterns did not consistently trigger timely action. It also found that once an account was flagged for review, it would not be reassessed for seven days, leaving gaps in monitoring.

In one case, these weaknesses allowed a customer to lose £17,900 in a single day without further contact from the operator.

John Pierce, director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, said: “The Commission found that Petfre didn’t have sufficiently effective procedures in place, meaning some customers displaying markers of harm were not contacted quickly enough.”

He added: “While the gaps we identified were unacceptable, the licensee acted swiftly to implement interim mitigating controls… We expect all operators to learn from this case.”

Betfred said it had cooperated fully. “We have agreed a settlement… and swiftly put in an action plan,” said Mark Pearson, adding the company is “committed to ensuring a safe gambling experience.”