Green takes Betfred to High Court after being denied £1.7m payout
Andy Green, 53, from Lincolnshire, hit the jackpot in January 2018 playing the Betfred Frankie Dettori Magic Seven Blackjack game from bookmaker Betfred on his smartphone but was refused a payout of £1.7m after his online betting company account was credited with the money is taking his case to the High Court. When he tried to withdraw the request was declined. After placing some more bets with his winnings he took a screenshot to prove what had happened.
A Betfred director called him to say there had been a “ software error” and was rejecting his claim and offered to pay £30, 000 as a goodwill gesture and even increased its offer to £60, 000 which was rejected by Mr. Green.
After over two years he is heading to the High Court to sue Betfred and its parent company, Gibraltar – based in Petfre for £2m, including interest he would have earned from the win.
Betfred claims there was a software error and the company’s terms and conditions meant it could withhold the payment.
The legal argument is on the 49 pages of terms and conditions and game rules which Mr. Green ticked when signing up for Betfred, which includes a clause that all “pays and plays” would be void in the event of a “malfunction”, and Betfred argues that by ticking the box, Mr. Green was agreeing, but Peter Coyle, Mr. Green’s lawyers disagree and said, “ Whilst Betfred’s betting terms and conditions are incredibly complicated and span across numerous different documents, we are confident that on their proper construction, the terms simply don’t allow for Betfred to withhold payment.”
Mr. Coyle further said if “ all pays and plays” were void, then Betfred would have refunded other customers, but the company had produced no evidence that had happened. It only wanted to withhold Mr. Green’s enormous win”.
Betfred licences the software for its online games from another company Playtech, which has refused to confirm the nature of the software glitch. By law, Playtech has to notify the Gambling Commission of Great Britain of the fault, known as a “key event” Mr. Doyle says the description of what happened is only four lines long and does not describe the nature of the problem.
If the court rules in Mr. Green’s favour, other gamblers denied their winnings due to technical problems could be able to make similar claims.
Betfred spokesman declined to comment as the case is currently progressing at court.