NEWS
29 September 2020
Case of Betfred refusing £1.7m payment to customer going to summary judgment in October
By Tim Poole

In November 2018, solicitor Peter Coyle spoke exclusively to Gambling Insider about a case involving Betfred and his client Andy Green.

Green won £1.7m ($2.2m) playing one of Betfred's online casino games but the operator refused to pay out, claiming this was the result of a 'technical glitch.'

Betfred director Russell Young then offered Green £60,000 if he agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Green refused and supplier Playtech has since said evidence of the glitch was too confidential to be shared.

As such, Coyle has applied for a summary judgment that, if successful, would see Betfred pay Green £2m in total (including nearly three years' interest plus legal costs).

If this appeal is lost, however, Green will not lose his right to a full trial, where evidence of the alleged glitch will be analysed.

In quotes sent to Gambling Insider, Green said: “The last two and a half years have felt like hell on earth.

"You wouldn’t treat an animal like I’ve been treated by Betfred, but hopefully the judge will accept the arguments put forward by my legal team and this nightmare will be over next month."

Coyle said: "An application for summary judgment is a high-risk strategy because we have to satisfy the judge that Betfred has no chance at all of defending its position at a full trial.

"To do that, we have to accept Betfred’s case as it's been presented to the Court; namely that the blackjack game malfunctioned in some way.

"While 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 when the alleged glitch is within Playtech’s game and not Betfred’s own software.”