Så i 2019 fik Ladbrokes Coral en bøde for fejl i hvidvaskning af penge og sikrere spil.
I 2022 blev de ramt med en rekordbøde for for anden gang at overtræde reglerne og ikke gøre spil sikrere og kriminalitetsfrit.
De fik pålagt yderligere licensbetingelser, og der blev iværksat en forbedringsplan, som skulle have forhindret gentagelser af de alvorlige fejl, som de havde begået.
Jeg har for nylig været offer for et brud på selvudelukkelse mine Ladbrokes (ingen proces omgået og de samme detaljer brugt), hvor de tillod registrering af en ny konto, da de lige havde bekræftet på live chat, at jeg var selvudelukket, så min gamle konto ikke ville blive åbnet og jeg burde registrere en ny. De bekræftede også, at jeg var SE hos et andet firma, som er inden for deres gruppe.
Da jeg undersøgte dette, da jeg SE fra foxy-mærket sidste år, skulle kontolukningen have været anvendt på tværs af hele deres Entain-gruppe, men var det ikke.
I 2020 opdagede jeg så, at jeg havde en konto hos BETDAQ (en del af Ladbrokes Group på det tidspunkt), som havde kontaktet mig for at sige, at et kontoproblem havde betydet, at jeg havde fået lov til at indbetale mere, end jeg burde have, og at jeg derfor udsteder mig en refusion. Kom ud af det blå, men var tydeligvis en velkommen gestus.
Jeg fortæller agenten via e-mail, at jeg har problemer, spiller for meget, for ofte og har en afhængighed. Dette får ham til at lukke BETDAQ-kontoen øjeblikkeligt på grund af de bekymringer, han havde. Hvis han havde så alvorlige bekymringer, ville det så være rimeligt at antage, at han skulle have anvendt handlingen på de andre mærker i koncernen?
Jeg siger derefter, at indbetalingsgrænserne bør være et kumulativt beløb på tværs af hele gruppen snarere end individuelle grænser for hvert websted. Dette ville naturligvis begrænse indbetalingsgrænserne, og jeg bekræftede, at denne proces er på plads hos andre grupper. Jeg lister specifikt "dine søsterselskaber, som inkluderer galla spins, galla bingo, galla casino og koraller". Agenten bekræfter, at min e-mail blev videregivet til compliance-teamet, som ville vende tilbage til mig i god tid. De reagerede ikke på mit rejste punkt vedrørende sikrere gambling.
Mit spørgsmål er, hvis BETDAQ i 2020 og eller Foxy i 2023 havde handlet på de informationer, der var tilgængelige for dem (med viden om en sårbar afhængig kunde) under sikkert spil, er det tilfældet, at SE'et skulle have været anvendt på alle konti under samme gruppe. Hvis oplysningerne er tilgængelige på systemet så meget, at de kan bekræfte, at SE er aktive på søsterkasinoer, er det min forståelse, at det skal anvendes på tværs af hele deres brands.
Jeg har SE med andre grupper tidligere, og det har altid set, at udelukkelsen har overført hele deres gruppe, så jeg tror, det er det, der skal ske.
Da Ladbrokes Coral blev idømt en bøde i 2022, ville det have været for sikrere spilfejl, der sandsynligvis fandt sted i 2020, da de undlod at reagere på mine kommentarer og beskytte mig.
At tillade en kendt sårbar og selvudelukket kunde (faktisk at instruere mig om det) at åbne en konto kan kun være en fejl under sikrere gambling. Da jeg har forelagt sagen til Ladbrokes, har de slet ikke kommenteret sagen, det ser ud til, at de er under instruktioner om at undgå klager, der vedrører sikkert spil, for at undgå muligheden for, at nogen indrømmer noget fra Ladbrokes del og efterlader dem blottede igen.
Med hensyn til deres klare fejl over for mig i 2020, 2023 og 2024, og at de får bøder og sandsynligvis skal kompensere eventuelle berørte kunder, er der en måde, hvorpå jeg kan fremsætte et krav mod deres uredelighed i 2020, der overtræder sikrere gambling, og søge kompensation for eventuelle indbetalinger, som jeg har fået lov til at foretage fra tidspunktet for kontolukningen til det tidspunkt, hvor jeg selv blev udelukket fra Entain-gruppen i denne uge. Ville jeg have sag, der skal kompenseres ved at bruge retssagen i 2020 som grundlag for at få refunderet alle indskud til ethvert selskab under koncernen?
So in 2019 Ladbrokes Coral got fined for failings in money laundering and safer gambling.
2022 they were hit with a record fine for falling foul of the rules for a second time and not making gambling safer and crime free.
They had additional licence conditions imposed on them and an improvement plan was put into place which should have prevented any repeats of the serious failings that had been carried out by them.
I have recently been victim to a self exclusion breach my Ladbrokes (no process circumvented and same details used) where they allowed registration of a new account when they had just confirmed on live chat that I was self excluded so my old account would not be opened and I should register a new one, They also confirmed I was SE at another firm which is within their group.
When I looked into this, when I SE from the foxy brand last year, the account closure should have been applied across their entire Entain Group but wasn’t.
In 2020 I then discover that I had an account with BETDAQ (part of the Ladbrokes Group at the time) who had contacted me to say that an account issue had meant that I had been allowed to deposit more than I should have and so were issuing me a refund. Came out the blue but was obviously a welcomed gesture.
I outline to the agent by email that I have problems, gamble too much, too often and have an addiction. This prompts him to close the BETDAQ account instant due to the concerns he had. If he had such serious concerns, would it be reasonable to assume he should have applied the action to the other brands within the group?
I then state that the deposit limits should be a cumulative amount across the whole group rather than individual limits for each site. Obviously this would limit depositing limits and I confirmed that this process is in place at other groups. I specifically list "your sister companies which include gala spins, gala bingo, gala casino and coral". The agent confirms my email was passed to the compliance team who would come back to me in due course. They did not respond to my point raised related to safer gambling.
My question being, if BETDAQ in 2020 and or Foxy in 2023 had acted on the information available to them (in knowledge of a vulnerable addicted Customer) under safe gambling is it the case that the SE should have been applied to all accounts under the same group. If the information is available on the system so much so that they can confirm SE are active at sister casinos, my understanding is that it should be applied across their entire brands.
I have SE with other groups previously and that has always seen that the exclusion has carried over their entire group so I believe it is what should happen.
When Ladbrokes Coral were fined in 2022 this would have been for safer gambling failings likely taking place in 2020 when they failed to act on my comments and protect me.
Allowing a known vulnerable and self excluded customer (in fact instructing me to) to open an account can only be a failing under safer gambling. When I’ve put the matter to Ladbrokes they haven’t commented on the matter at all, seems that they are under instructions to avoid any complaints made that relate to safe gambling to avoid the possibility of anyone admitting any from doing on Ladbrokes part and leaving them exposed again.
In terms of their clear failings to me in 2020, 2023 and 2024 and them being fined and likely having to compensate any affected customers, is there a way that I can make a claim against their misconduct in 2020 breaching safer gambling, and seek compensation for any deposits that I have been allowed to make from the point of the account closure up to the point of being self excluded from the Entain group this week. Would I have case to be compensated using the court case in 2020 as a basis for being refunded for all deposits made to any company under the group?