IBAS - Independent Betting Adjudication Service Reviews 

Although the process took a while, IBAS investigated my complaint in detail, and gave a full and fair explanation at the end of the process. Both sides were given time to explain their side of things, and although the outcome wasn't the one I was hoping for, I feel that my case was taken seriously, rather than being fobbed off.

Limited hassle to report a claim, dealt with professionally and efficiently. Hats off to James for dealing with my case against Betfair. Without IBAS, normal punters like me with a case and a shoddy complaints team at Betfair, we would be screwed.

I made a deposit using my husband card on a uk casino .
I won a bit and the casino withheld my winnings and gave me only my deposits
Do I have a case to get my winnings ?

In 2019 I used IBAS and was sceptical simply on the bases that they are funded by bookmakers and their resolution team whether intentional or otherwise are bound to form working relationships with individuals at a bookmaker and this may lead to bias and unbalanced decision, especially if the bookmaker on previous cases has built up credibility with IBAS.

In my experience I found the fastest way to resolve a bet dispute and get your money is to firstly understand the bookmakers rules so that you can objectively challenge them. If you have acted honestly and not breached them, take them to court. Remember many bookmakers may have unfair terms, which have not been tested in court. The Gambling Commission is a regulatory body by the way and do not investigate disputes but you should let them know if a bookmaker has stolen your funds, as this will be a black mark against them.

I have taken a Bookmaker to Court twice and succeeded on both occasions. A word of warning you do need to know what you are doing as they always have legal representation. In both my cases they defended the case in the hope I would drop the case. The process can be complicated as after issuing a MoneyClaim (a simple process). If the case ends up in a hearing even fast track, you need to be able to prepare multiple documents including a court bundle. You must be prepared to cross examine their witnesses and be cross examined yourself based only on the evidence in the court bundle. This isn’t for the faint hearted as the case might be scheduled for 1/2 or even 1 day.

IBAS may be useful in less complex cases but where funds and winnings have been confiscated (stolen) (which wasn’t the situation in any of my cases) I really would go straight to court. If you are unable to prepare for the case I would strongly suggest you appoint a specialist solicitor familiar with gambling law. If you win their costs are likely to be awarded but you must realise that if you lose in court you may end up paying the bookmakers costs.

The moral is:- the more people that become court savvy and the more cases brought to court the better chance bookmakers will rethink their stance. Their legal team cost money, and if they lose what savings are they making.

My best bit of advice is all bets placed online take clear photographs as you place them with the bet ID time and date. If multiples as the winners come in take further photographs. Also regularly download your transaction history so that you are able to prove a long history. Most importantly a photo of your account settings. A/C no, name and address and that your account has been validated.

Record everything online or on the phone and don’t resort to insults as a court will not look on this very favourably.

Helped me get my £2700 back from dodgy betfred. 10/10

Dear IBAS Team,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to your organisation for the assistance and professional support you provided in resolving my dispute with BoyleSports.

Thanks to your involvement and objective review of the case, the bookmaker has paid the full amount of my winnings in full. I highly appreciate your work, attention to detail, and effective approach in protecting customer rights.

Thank you for your support and contribution. Your work plays an important role in ensuring fairness and trust within the betting industry.

Disgustingly biased in the casinos favour. Got it completely wrong and I now have to waste my time taking a company to court.

I've suffered pretty much the exact same issues as all the other 1 star reviewers.

I do wonder if it is simply incompetence or something more sinister?

The top man Richard Hayler has close industry ties however. He's on or was on the board of the SP Committee, an organisation which has allowed margins to increase which is detrimental to punters. And he judges at the Betting Shop Manager of the year awards to boot...

You then have the so called expert panel. They seem to remain anonymous, but like to send condescending messages when they have no right due to their quite outstanding lack of knowledge.

My most recent case was the best. It was regarding the Breeders Cup and they, along with the Bookmaker I appealed against, seemed to be blissfully unaware of the reserve system and max fields.

Then we have the gopher, the head of adjudication Brian Wright, the go between. He seems to try his best, but when you don't know the difference between a French bred horse and a French trained one, it's hard to take him seriously. Could also be a politician as seems to dodge any relevant point which exposes previous inconsistent decision making.

One can only dream in the future of an actual impartial and fair betting ombudsman.

The only advice for anyone is to explore the small claims court option if you have a solid case. Yes, you shouldn't have to resort to this and yes it is hassle, but at least a judge never takes into account the Ibas decision. Odd that don't you think?

* Just an update, I have now been banned by Ibas because of this review. It appears they can't handle the truth. They can dish it out, but not take it.

* I'd like to reply to Jim as there are a few points I believe need clearing up.

Yes, Ibas is a free service to customers like myself, but gambling operators have to pay a fee, well it says so on your website anyway. I believe that is how you are funded.

In any case, I'd rather pay for a service that was better, one which was actually fair, impartial and unbiased, but I'm left with no choice and now I'm deprived of even this due to having the temerity to question the integrity and competence of supposed expert panel members.

You claim I'm being abusive and insulting, yet it's seemingly fine for your staff to use antagonistic and condescending language. I wouldn't mind if this was coming from genuine experts, but instead it's from anonymous people who would believe anything a betting operator would tell them and don't understand basics such as the reserve system at the Breeders Cup.

Clearly double standards are at play here. And it appears you have been showing bias against myself purely because I question clearly incorrect decisions, some of which I've had retrospectively overturned.

It's also concerning that this is your best work and your staff take great pride in being wrong, but I guess that aptly sums up Ibas an organisation. And it's a lazy cop out saying there is a legal alternative. Punters shouldn't be forced into this unnecessarily because you can't do your job properly.

Any review naming an advisor at IBAS is fake (majority of the 5* ones I suspect) as all correspondence is done virtually, you can’t speak to an employee within the company (I tried multiple times) and decisions are allegedly made by a panel.
I supplied loads of evidence, proved that I won a jackpot while the casino provided no supporting evidence at all
IBAS are not independent and also not worthy. Let’s hope we soon get an independent body or ombudsman as these are simply not fit for purpose

I contacted IBAS after the Postcode Lottery (PCL) demonstrated clear discrimination by making titles mandatory and refusing to offer inclusive options like 'Mx.' The PCL failed to offer any reasonable solution for this exclusionary policy.

My subsequent experience with IBAS was equally appalling.

Failure of Governance: Instead of intervening to remove discrimination—which is the expected standard of a governing body—IBAS simply redirected me back to the Postcode Lottery. This action is totally futile and a complete waste of my time, as the PCL had already refused to resolve the issue.

It is clear that IBAS is complicit in this matter. A governing body should ensure discrimination is removed from the organisations it oversees. It appears IBAS has no better standards for inclusivity than the organisation they are meant to regulate. Discrimination is NEVER acceptable.

Not independant, clearly on the bookies payroll and as fraudulant as the bookies themselves. Staff are slow, arrogant and rude. Pointless contacting them and trying to resolve anything. Just tell bookies are allowed the lie, cheat and steal.

I filed a complaint with IBAS in 2021. They responded with a ruling on a completely different matter, nothing to do with me. I pointed this out to them, and they ignored me.

The bet was a long term one, and finally became a winner in 2025. So I went back to IBAS. They apologised and said they would get back to me by the end of the week, then asked for more time. In spite of repeated reminders they have not got back to me with a ruling, nine months later. Don't waste your time with them - go straight to court if you can.

Really happy with IBAS. Super easy to deal with, kept me updated, and genuinely helpful.

James at IBAS took onboard all the evidence I provided and managed to overturn my bet settlement with a betting firm.

IBAS also ensured that all future bets in the same situation would not be settled wrongly again by changing the process Opta deals with multiple in play subs.

I would highly recommend IBAS to anyone.

From the start of my case, IBAS handled the matter with professionalism, patience, and diligence.

My dispute with Paddy Power had been going nowhere despite multiple attempts to resolve it directly. The IBAS team took my case seriously, communicated clearly at every stage, and ultimately secured the exact outcome I had initially hoped for — something Paddy Power staff were unable or unwilling to provide.

I’m extremely grateful for their persistence and fairness in dealing with my case. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend IBAS to anyone facing a betting-related dispute.

Helped me every step of the way, clear instructions and steps to resolve my issue. Despite many complications from the betting site I was having a dispute with.

IBAS did everything possible in a very professional approach in looking into all details as to determine the verdict of my case. Whether it is a verdict in favour of any party, operator or player, I sincerely trust the job done by IBAS is totally unbias and whatever the outcome has to be accepted. To all those who had reviewed IBAS badly have the courtesy to write a review to apologise. Please note IBAS is a free service working so hard to be fair and trusted by both operator and player, so please accept and respect the outcome whether win or lose. I personally is most grateful to IBAS, not just because they were in favour of my case but every step they took to handle the reasoning of the case. Finally, a big THANK YOU IBAS

Like another person said how can they…
Like another person said how can they deliver fairness if they paid from cassino sites. Not interested and defefanitly not fit for purpose same as gam

Absolutely pointless. I won £750 with Coral on their free horse racing game. All of sudden I withdraw it and they suspended the account saying they needed bank documents and other information. Ok fine, so I send it in and all is verified and account will be back in action in 24 hours time. 24 hours pass and another email comes through saying that I’ve got an open account that’s currently in self exclusion bare in mind I’ve already withdrawn from this account 2 months previous with no complications. So I have a telephone conversation with the safer gambling team who confirm that apperently there was a ladbrokes account self excluded from 5 years ago that just need opening back up after the period had passed so again I was compliant even though I was confused and explained I never had a ladbrokes account they insisted and said that after this my funds will be available and the account finally back up and running. So again the same process follows I wait 24 hours for them again for third time to come back and say that there was another Ladbrokes account still in self exclusion and wasn’t up until April 2025. I had no option and just had to sit and wait. Well here we are a year later with still no money and also no account anymore as a ‘business decision’ closed the account and the funds weren’t available because I played with a self exclusion active. This is where IBAS come in pretty much did absolutely nothing. I sent emails, telephone conversations, screenshots of conversations with corals customer service team and they come back to me saying that coral are in the right and that if a player plays with a self exclusion the funds can’t be given. As stated to them first time around I had never had a self excluded ladbrokes account and never had an issue withdrawing funds before.

If you’re thinking about going through IBAS honestly don’t waste your time. Not a single piece of my evidence was even looked at just corals statement was enough for them to wash away my case. They always say the bookies always win and that’s solid proof right there. IBAS are in the back pockets of them bookies for sure.

Stole my winnings and then accused me of submitting fake documents