Betfred to pay £900,000 following gambling harm prevention failures

Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, the operator of Betfred’s online gambling business, has agreed to pay £900,000 ($1.19 million) after the UK Gambling Commission uncovered significant failings in its safer gambling controls. 

The decision emerged from a licence review published on 30 June 2026, following a compliance assessment conducted between May and June 2024.

What were the key findings? 

The Gambling Commission’s investigation identified critical deficiencies in Petfre’s automated monitoring and intervention systems aimed at protecting customers exhibiting signs of gambling-related harm.

The first was inadequate customer interaction systems. Petfre failed to comply with multiple sections of Social Responsibility Code Provision (SRCP) 3.4.3, which mandates remote operators to embed effective systems for identifying, acting on, and evaluating customer risk.

There was also insufficient automation in harm detection. According to the Gambling Commission, the operator lacked robust automated processes to flag key indicators. This included excessive spending, prolonged playtime, and behavioural patterns linked to harm. The Commission highlighted delays and reliance on manual procedures in Petfre’s safer-gambling practices.

A notable procedural flaw meant that once a customer account was flagged for review, it could not be flagged again for seven days. This resulted in delayed interventions, with one customer reportedly losing £17,900 within 24 hours without follow-up contact.

Finally, Petfre did not clearly define “strong indicators of harm” in its policies, nor did it implement automated responses to such indicators as required by SRCP 3.4.3(11).

‘Significant’ breaches

Following the Commission’s assessment, Petfre agreed to a payment in lieu of a financial penalty amounting to £900,000. The settlement also encompassed the publication of a statement of facts and a contribution towards the regulator’s investigative costs. 

All funds will be allocated to the government’s Consolidated Fund.

John Pierce, director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, characterised the breaches as “significant” in a statement on Tuesday. He emphasised: “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.

“While the gaps we identified were unacceptable, the licensee acted swiftly to implement interim mitigating controls to address our immediate concerns. They have since delivered an appropriate action plan and taken significant steps to assure the Commission that their current operating model meets our requirements,” he added.

The Commission acknowledged mitigating factors, including Petfre’s prompt action to rectify failings and full cooperation during the investigation.

However, aggravating elements such as the operator’s previous regulatory history and similar issues observed in other firms influenced the final settlement figure.

Past failures

Betfred was ordered to pay £825,000 in December 2025 over a series of failures relating to social responsibility and anti-money laundering in its betting shops in the UK. At the time, Betfred was flagged for not having an effective policy to identify players who might be subject to financial sanctions.

In addition, the commission said thresholds at which it made enquiries over users’ income sources were “not appropriately risk based”. Thresholds at the time were set at £15,000 losses and £125,000 stakes in 365 days.

This fresh enforcement action is part of an ongoing series by the Gambling Commission aimed at tightening supervision of online gambling operators’ safer-gambling frameworks.

Just last week, the Gambling Commission ordered Stakelogic BV to pay £122,835 following failures found in their slot games timings.