Betfred to pay £900,000 after Gambling Commission finds safer gambling failings

Betfred's online gambling operator has agreed to pay £900,000 after the UK Gambling Commission uncovered significant weaknesses in its safer gambling controls during a licence review.

Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, which operates Betfred's online business, reached the regulatory settlement following a compliance assessment. This was carried out between May and June 2024. The Commission concluded found shortcomings in the operator's monitoring systems. This meant some customers that were displaying signs of gambling-related harm were not identified or contacted quickly enough.

The payment will be made instead of a financial penalty. It will be paid into the Government's Consolidated Fund. There will also be a contribution towards the Commission's investigation costs.

Delays left vulnerable customers exposed

The Gambling Commission found that  Petfre breached several elements of Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP) 3.4.3. This requires remote gambling operators to have effective systems for identifying customers at risk of gambling harm and intervening appropriately.

According to the regulator, the operator relied too heavily on manual processes. They didn’t use automated monitoring to identify concerning behaviour like excessive spending, lengthy gambling sessions and other markers associated with gambling harm.

One of the most significant failings involved the operator's account monitoring process. Once a customer's account had been flagged for review, it could not be flagged again for seven days. This was regardless of any further risky behaviour they displayed.

As a result, one customer was able to lose £17,900 within 24 hours. They didn’t get any additional follow-up contact from the operator.

The Commission also found that Petfre had failed to clearly define what constituted "strong indicators of harm" within its internal policies. It had not implemented the automated responses required under the licensing conditions.

"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." — John Pierce, Director of Enforcement, Gambling Commission

Regulator acknowledges improvements

Despite describing the breaches as significant, the Gambling Commission acknowledged that Petfre responded quickly once the issues had been identified.

John Pierce, the Commission's Director of Enforcement, said the operator had introduced interim safeguards immediately. They then implemented a broader action plan to bring its systems into line with regulatory expectations.

The regulator also cited Petfre's full cooperation throughout the investigation as a mitigating factor when determining the outcome.

However, the Commission said the size of the settlement reflected aggravating factors. These included Betfred's previous compliance history and the wider need to reinforce safer gambling standards across the industry.

Latest action follows previous Betfred enforcement

This is not the first time Betfred has faced regulatory action.

In December 2025, the operator was ordered to pay £825,000. This was after the Gambling Commission identified failures relating to both anti-money laundering controls and social responsibility measures within its retail betting shops.

At that time, inspectors found weaknesses in financial sanctions screening. They concluded that the operator's affordability thresholds were not sufficiently risk-based. Customer checks only began after losses of £15,000 or stakes of £125,000 over a 365-day period.

The latest case continues the Gambling Commission's recent focus on strengthening consumer protection across the regulated gambling sector. It follows last week's enforcement action against Stakelogic BV, which agreed to pay £122,835. This happened after several of its online slot games were found to operate faster than permitted under the Commission's technical standards.