Casino Won't Pay Out? Your Rights and the Route to IBAS

Gold and sapphire scales of justice: the contract behind every casino bet

The legal floor under every bet

For most of British history, one could not sue for a gambling debt. The Gambling Act 2005 changed this with one sentence, and everything else on this page relates back to it.

"The fact that a contract relates to gambling shall not prevent its enforcement."

Gambling Act 2005, section 335(1), in force from 1 September 2007

The Gambling Commission's advisory guide for players comes to the same conclusion: "When you place a bet with a licensed gambling business, you enter into a legally enforceable contract with that business." A casino that refuses to pay a valid win is refusing to honour a contract, and the available remedies are the same as for other contracts: the operator's own complaints process, an adjudicator, and ultimately the courts.

There are two limits. The same guide says "a gambling business is also free to decide who they accept bets from, and on what terms", and "there is no statutory right to bet". In these cases, the contract is the terms you agreed to, and the argument is always about what those terms say and whether they are fair. The licence establishes a starting point of fairness: social responsibility code 5.1.1 requires terms for any incentive to be "clear, transparent, and fair and readily accessible", and the Competition and Markets Authority spent 2017 and 2018 forcing operators to remove terms that blocked withdrawals. In its summary of the 2018 undertakings from Ladbrokes, William Hill and PT Entertainment, the CMA stated that "Players can now be sure that they can withdraw their own money when they play as part of a bonus promotion."

There is one more section of the Act that is often misquoted. Section 336 allows the Commission to void a bet which it believes is "substantially unfair". However, it only applies to bets taken under betting licences, only within "six months beginning with the day on which the result of the bet is determined", and only on the grounds of "insufficient, false or misleading information" or cheating. It does not apply to a spin on a slot machine or a roll of a roulette wheel.

Four reasons a casino withholds a win

Check the ten casinos' terms against each other and every refusal to pay falls into only four categories. Which box you are in decides whether it is a dispute at all.

1. A check is outstanding The commonest, and usually not a refusal at all. Monopoly's enhanced verification page: "we reserve the right to withhold deposits and/or winnings until we are able to satisfactorily complete the enhanced verification process". The Commission's limit on this is timing: a casino "can't ask you to prove your age and identity as a condition of withdrawing your money if they could have asked you at an earlier point".

2. A term you are said to have broken Duplicate accounts, self-exclusion breaches, prohibited activities, irregular bonus play. Sky's terms: for a duplicate account it may "void winnings, and retain the positive balance on Your duplicate Account(s)". Coral's, for prohibited activity: "cancelling/voiding your bets, and/or withholding winnings." These are disputes, and the casino has to show the breach.

3. A malfunction or error Sky: "If as a result of a Malfunction, Your Account is credited with winnings that You would not have received were it not for that Malfunction, we will have the right to void the relevant transaction and withhold the relevant winnings." Coral's terms let it hold a withdrawal while an investigation "into an Error, Interruption or Malfunction" is open. Contested, but real.

4. A published cap Sky Vegas: maximum winnings of "£250,000" for "any one wager or gameplay transaction" outside progressive jackpots. BetVictor: "£25,000 per day" as "the maximum real cash benefit" from bonuses. NetBet's daily wheel: £10, or £50 on the top prizes. Betfred's Prize Reel: £10. A cap in the terms at the time of the win is enforceable. One added afterwards is not.

The first box is a wait, and our withdrawal pending guide explains how long withdrawals take. The others are what this page is about. The questions the adjudicator will ask in all of them are the same: what did the terms say when the bet was made, and was that term enforced fairly?

When a bonus win becomes real money

The majority of complaints regarding "refusal to pay out" are related to bonus winnings, and the majority of those turn on a wagering requirement that was in the terms all along. The licence now limits what those terms may demand.

Since 19 January 2026, social responsibility code 5.1.1 states that licensees must not apply "wagering requirements, which requires a customer to play through bonus funds, over a maximum of 10 times", and provides a definition of the term: "A wagering requirement is where a customer is required to make wagers totalling a particular value for funds to become withdrawable." Until you have wagered that value, the funds are not considered yours, and the casinos state this in identical terms:

BetVictor: "All casino bonuses and any winnings derived from them will be locked until the wagering/play-through requirement has been met. If the wagering/play-through requirement has not been met by the expiry date, any remaining bonus funds, including bonus winnings, will be forfeit."
NetBet: when a bonus is active and you withdraw, "The initial bonus amount and any winnings from the bonus will be deducted from your account". Conversely, deposited money is "withdrawable at all times".
Coral: "Free Spins winnings are paid out as a Casino withdrawal restricted bonus", and "In case you don't use them in time, you'll lose any Free Spin winnings and any spins remaining."
BetMGM: "Cash winnings: These funds do not have a wagering requirement and are available for withdrawal at any time." Bonus winnings become cash winnings only when the offer's requirement is met.

The line every adjudicator draws is between money you deposited, which the CMA undertakings say must always be withdrawable, and money a promotion created, which the promotion's terms govern. Our guide to withdrawing free spins winnings reads those terms casino by casino, and the offers on our no-wagering bonus list are the ones where the distinction never arises because winnings are paid as cash from the first spin.

The eight-week clock

A complaint is not a customer-service chat. It is a defined process with a licence condition behind it, and the eight weeks start when the casino receives it.

"Licensees must ensure that they have arrangements in place for customers to be able to refer any dispute to an ADR entity in a timely manner if not resolved to the customer's satisfaction by use of their complaints procedure within eight weeks of receiving the complaint, and where the customer cooperates with the complaints process in a timely manner. The services of any such ADR entity must be free of charge to the customer."

Gambling Commission, LCCP social responsibility code 6.1.1

The same code forbids terms that "restrict, or purport to restrict, the customer's right to bring proceedings against the licensee in any court", so no casino here can make an adjudicator the end of the road. The Commission's own advice on the process is short and worth following to the letter:

Check the terms first. "Check any terms and conditions that are linked to your account or your gambling transaction." Find the clause the casino is relying on and the date it was published.
Write a complaint to the casino. "Tell the gambling business all the information about your complaint, including dates, times and amounts of money. Share any evidence you have to support your complaint. Make sure you keep a copy of everything that you tell them." Use the word "complaint" and use the address that the casino publishes for this purpose.
Take the steps that the casino has. Every casino in this list has two or three levels, listed in the table below, and every adjudicator will refuse to hear a case that has not gone through the levels. BetVictor has you "request a referral number from us first".
Wait for the final response or for the eight weeks. "The gambling business has 8 weeks to resolve your complaint from when they receive it." A final response given inside that time, also known as a deadlock letter, opens the door to the adjudicator at once. The time for an answer is short, as NetBet states that a seven day silence allows it to "stop the clock".
Refer the case to the named adjudicator. This is a free, written referral, with the casino's reference. The court is still open after this, and the Commission advises that you seek "independent legal advice" before the small claims route.

Resolver is a free complaints tool that the Commission links to. BetMGM, BetVictor and LiveScore all name it. The Commission states as a caveat that "it is not mandatory for gambling businesses to have the Resolver tool in place".

IBAS and eCOGRA: the two adjudicators

Eight of the ten casinos direct to IBAS, two direct to eCOGRA. Both are free and both begin once the casino's process completes, but they differ in how they decide and what binds them.

Point	IBAS	eCOGRA
Used by	Betfred, BetMGM, BetVictor, Coral, MrQ, NetBet, Paddy Power, Sky Vegas	LiveScore Vegas and Monopoly Casino
How it decides	"Our Adjudication Panel reviews written submissions from both parties instead of conducting face-to-face hearings." Decisions "are based on the facts of the case, not the quality or style of presentation."	A mediation service that "will communicate with the operator and you within 30 days" and "inform both parties of a result within 90 days", in LiveScore's description
Time	"Typically, it takes us 8-10 weeks to reach a decision on a claim after it's been submitted."	Up to 90 days from acceptance
Who is bound	"The Gambling Commission requires that gambling businesses must follow our rulings up to £10,000." Rulings "are not legally binding on customers", so you keep the court option.	"The decision of the independent ADR provider is final", per LiveScore; eCOGRA notes this "does not restrict your right to bring proceedings against the Operator in any court".
Will not take	Claims of being "allowed to gamble excessively/irresponsibly" without a contractual element, self-exclusion failures, customer service, cheating allegations, refused bets and closed accounts, "unless bets or transactions that have previously been accepted have later been cancelled unfairly"	Game fairness: "The fairness of games is considered a regulatory issue and does not fall within the remit of an ADR service provider and should therefore be raised as a complaint with the regulator."
Cost	Free: "a legal requirement for all Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services as of 2015"	Free, as 6.1.1 requires

The advice to claimants by IBAS is the most insightful on how to win a case. It advises players to "Check the company's rules and terms. If you think they haven't followed them, make a note and include this in your submission", to keep "records of all information related to the dispute", and that "If you need evidence from the business, ask for it in writing." It also notes that "Abusive or threatening behaviour may result in the discontinuation of your complaint".

Casino won't pay out: the complaints route at all ten

Each row is read from the casino's own complaints page or terms. The timings are the casinos' published targets, and ultimately, every row ends at a free adjudicator, after no more than eight weeks.

Casino	Steps	Published timings	Adjudicator
Betfred	Help pages, then Customer Services, then a Case Review Manager	Reply within 24 hours, review within 72 hours, full answer within 8 weeks	IBAS
BetMGM	Live chat, then email to support@betmgm.co.uk, then "our Complaints Specialist for a final review"	Email acknowledged within 24 hours; final position or 8 weeks	IBAS: "this service is free"
BetVictor	resolution@betvictor.com, then complaintsmanagement@betvictor.com, then Senior Management at the same address	"acknowledgment to your complaint within 24 hours and we aim to resolve all complaints within 8 weeks"	IBAS, after "a referral number from us first"
Coral	Stage 1 with a Customer Services agent, stage 2 escalation, then stage 3 by emailing complaints@coral.co.uk, where a payout question "will be recorded as either a 'complaint', or where the matter relates to a betting or gaming transaction, a 'dispute'"	The Coral Complaints Team's response "represents the final stage of the Internal Complaints and Disputes procedure"; eight weeks, as the licence requires	"our approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider", with IBAS linked from its footer for GB customers
LiveScore Vegas	A Shift Manager by chat or support@livescorebet.com, then the licensed operator at step2@livescorebet.com, then the managing director's office	72 hours for the first reply; "a full response within 14 working days" at step two	eCOGRA
Monopoly Casino	Support, then support@monopolycasino.com, then Gamesys Operations at complaints@monopolycasino.com; may ask for "enhanced verification documentation" first	Complaints team within 5 working days; Managing Director's Office within 10 working days; "the entire process within eight weeks"; paused if you go quiet for seven days	eCOGRA, for residents of Great Britain
MrQ	Player Experience by chat or support@mrq.com, then a Player Complaints Executive	"acknowledge your complaint within 24 - 48 hours"; "a full review can take up to 8 weeks"	IBAS
NetBet	Customer Services, then complaint@netbet.co.uk with account ID, dates and any reference	Acknowledged within 24 hours; outcome within 8 weeks; must be raised "within six (6) months of the event"	IBAS
Paddy Power	Customer Services, then the Complaints Team under its published Complaints Code	"automated receipt within 24 hours"; "initial response within 5 working days"; "8-weeks for UK and Isle of Man Customers"	IBAS
Sky Vegas	Customer Care Team, then "our dedicated Complaints team"	"within 10 days from the date on which the complaint was received", extendable "up to 8 weeks at our discretion"	IBAS: "You have the free right of access to this ADR function"

Sky's terms state one line that is important in any dispute over a bet: "If a dispute arises in relation to a bet or wager placed, our transactions database will be the ultimate authority in such dispute." Because of this, the first thing that should be protected is your own record of the session, timestamps, and screenshots of the game round ID.

What weakens a claim

The vast majority of lost cases were lost in the first hour, before any complaint was submitted.

Sapphire treasure chest with gold coins: the balance you should leave untouched during a dispute

Playing on with the disputed balance If the win is still in the account, leave it there. A balance you wager away cannot be paid out later, and IBAS notes that "collecting a sum less than what I expected" is a question claimants raise. Ask for the sum in dispute to be frozen and confirmed in writing.

Arguing on live chat only Chat transcripts vanish unless you save them. The Commission says to "keep a copy of everything", and every casino here publishes an email address for complaints. One clear email with dates, amounts and the clause in question beats ten chats.

Opening a second account to "test" the casino. That is a breach of terms at every single casino, and it voids the original win.
Charging back the deposit. BetVictor's withdrawal terms state that "All deposits must be confirmed and not charged back, reversed, or cancelled". A chargeback transforms a payout dispute into a fraud investigation.
Failing to report a malfunction in due course. Sky requires customers to "cease Your use of the relevant Service(s) immediately" and report the issue. Continuing to play a game you believe is broken hands the casino its defence.
Failing to meet the time constraints put in place by the casino. NetBet's six months, Monopoly's seven-day pause, NetBet's stop the clock. The eight weeks only run "where the customer cooperates with the complaints process in a timely manner".

What the Commission does, and does not do

Players are under the impression that the regulator will order a payout. It never does, and it says so.

The Commission's complaints guide opens with: "We do not resolve or make decisions on complaints regarding gambling-related transactions." In response, IBAS explains that the Commission "does not conduct an investigation in the same way as IBAS (i.e. with a published final decision) nor does it ever make financial awards to customers." In the end, the Commission takes the regulatory complaint, and IBAS lists what belongs there: self-exclusion breaches, cheating, unfair games and underage gambling. IBAS advises customers to "be clear you are making a regulatory complaint rather than lodging a dispute, otherwise you may be referred back to IBAS."

While they may appear to be of little consequence to the customer, regulatory complaints can draw serious responses from operators. In 2026, the Commission's news page reports that, on 30 June, Betfred (Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited) agreed to pay £900,000 for social responsibility failures, on 20 August, QuinnBet agreed to pay £609,104 for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures, and on 18 August, an adult gaming centre operator was fined £150,000 for "failing to comply with a self-exclusion requirement". In each of these cases, complaints were made by customers. A complaint regarding a £400 bet is resolved by IBAS, while the pattern behind that complaint is referred to Birmingham.

Prize disputes: the daily free game version

Daily prizes draw their own class of "won't pay out" complaints, and most are answered by a term published by the casino before the spin.

"I spun and got nothing." Most wheels say so. LiveScore: "With the daily free game designed as a reward tool, a win can never be guaranteed." Betfred's Prize Reel has a "Sorry, you haven't won today" segment. BetVictor's, however, has a prize on every spin.
"The prize was capped." NetBet's wheel pays cash, capped at £10, or £50 on the top prizes; Betfred's Prize Reel spins have "max winnings GBP 10". MrQ: "If your free spins had a maximum win cap, they'll stop once that cap is reached." A written cap in the terms is enforceable; check it was there when you spun.
"I never claimed it." Sky: "To ensure that your Free Spins are credited correctly to your account you must click 'claim prize' after being presented with your winning spin", and spins expire after seven days. Betfred wants the Prize Reel claimed by 23:59 the same day.
"A text told me I had won." BetMGM: if it didn't come from noreply@betmgm.co.uk, "the message you received is likely from one of our partners promoting our Welcome Offer". Nothing is owed on a marketing text.

If a prize was awarded and then taken back, that would be a cancelled transaction that is within the jurisdiction of IBAS. If a prize was never awarded because a published term stated it would not be, that would not be a case. Our existing-customer offers list captures the cap and expiry on every daily prize scheme that we cover, which should be the first reference when drafting the complaint.

Sources for this guide

Every figure is attributed to at least one of the documents. Casinos and regulators change them without warning, so be sure to check the live page before using the figures.

Gambling Act 2005, section 335 and section 336, legislation.gov.uk.
Gambling Commission: Status of a bet as a contract, Complain about a gambling business, How to complain, Taking your complaint to an ADR provider and Age, ID and financial verification.
Gambling Commission, LCCP social responsibility code 6.1.1: Complaints and disputes and code 5.1.1: Rewards and bonuses.
Gambling Commission news: the 2026 enforcement announcements on Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, QuinnBet (Gibraltar) Limited and Holland Park Leisure Limited.
IBAS: How IBAS works, How to raise a dispute, What IBAS does not cover and Consumer FAQs.
eCOGRA, Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Competition and Markets Authority, Online gambling: the 2018 undertakings.
Betfred, Complaints; BetMGM help centre, How do I make a complaint?, Does my balance have a wagering requirement? and How to claim your prize after receiving a text or email.
BetVictor help centre, Complaints and disputes: UK, General Offers Terms and Conditions: UK customers and Withdrawal issues.
Coral help, General Terms and Conditions (UK) and Free Spins.
LiveScore Bet help centre, Making a complaint, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform and Daily Free Game.
Monopoly Casino help centre, How do I make a complaint? and Enhanced Verification Process.
MrQ help centre, How do I make a complaint? and Where are the rest of my free spins?
NetBet, Terms and Conditions, section 15, and the help centre article Are bonuses withdrawable?
Paddy Power help centre, Paddy Power's Complaints Procedure.
Sky Vegas, Sky Betting and Gaming General Terms and Conditions, sections 4, 10, 11, 16 and 30, and Prize Machine FAQs.

18+

A withheld win is infuriating, and chasing it can turn into chasing losses. If the dispute is one you cannot afford to lose, that is a sign the stake was too high to begin with, and GamCare will talk that through without judgement while the complaint runs.

GamCare, 0808 8020 133 GambleAware GAMSTOP Our safer gambling page

Casino won't pay out: what the law and licence say