IBAS - Independent Betting Adjudication Service Reviews 

I had a recent dispute with Betfair over a bet they voided over an hour after an incident had occurred in a big football tournament.

About 20 mins into a game I made a trade back bet and a lay bet later on to look to make a small profit as it is a trading platform.

Everything onscreen showed the transactions going through and the bet matching.

Shortly after the game finished they voided my lay bet which left my original back bet exposed. There was no indication on the betfair screens that there was any issue with the bet.

If there are incidents in a game, the market should be kept suspended until the outcomes have been settled and then the market is unsuspended. Betfair failed to do this for me and many other customers.

Betfair are leaving customers unaware that their trades despite showing correctly on the screen may be voided and left financially exposed if there is a game incident which the trading floors do not correct in play.

Betfair uses this to take retrospective action:

“If [the company] does not suspend a market on time for the occurrence of a Material
Event, [the company] reserves the right to void bets matched after the Material Event
has occurred. Voiding of these bets may take place during the event or
retrospectively once a game is completed"

It's the retrospective nature that makes betfair an unsafe trading platform.

I understand the need for a retrospective nature of a Sportsbook for instance if a favourite goalscorer like Harry Kane was given odds of 100 or 1000/1 instead of maybe a 4/1 price, this would be a clear and obvious error. But when there a game incident and the traders fail to do their job, the customer is left to take the fallout.

IBAS has in their terms that they promote fair and transparent business practice terms yet side with Betfair who don't promote this.

If a customer is completely unaware that they are financially exposed through no fault of their own and this is deemed fair and transparent, I have to wonder if IBAS is fit for purpose.

I know from betting forums and Betfairs own forum that lots of customers are experiencing this yet they are allowed to get away with it time and time again.

My name is Aaron and I think it is a disgrace how I only JUST got a response back from my complaint. Nearly a year after complaint. Of course in bed with the bookmaker!

2. The bets were as follows:
£600 on Iryna Shymanovich at odds of 4/9 to win game 2, set 1 of her match against
Caijsa Wilda Henneman
£310 on Iryna Shymanovich at 4/9 to win game 2, set 1 of her match against Caijsa
Wilda Henneman
£101 on Lavinia Tanasie at 4/1 to win game 5, set 3 of her match against Martina
Caregaro
£676 on Maileen Nuudi at 10/21 to win game 2, set 1 of her match against Enola
Chiesa

Corals response was.
5. The operator responds that because of a technical problem with their live feed,
markets on the above matches did not suspend on time, allowing bets to be placed
after the outcome was known.
6. The operator has supplied system data showing that the customer’s bets on
Shymanovich were late by 32sec and 56sec, the bet on Tanasie was late by 71sec
and the bet on Nuudi was late by 46sec

If there was a technical error then why wasnt the market cancelled? As a punter I can not tell that I am 1 minute or less late when placing a bet? If they have the market open then that means under UK gambling Act laws they are accepting the bet? i do not accept these findings and I want my £4,788.40 back! I am not even complaining about the odds I am complaining that they accepted my bet yet didnt close the market then they are saying seconds is the reason why it would invalid. Complete clowns!

EDIT!!!

They say both must have the opportunity to win?

Then why is it that I place a bet and they use seconds as an excuse for taking away my winnings. That does not give the punter an opportunity to win. I placed my money on markets that I thought was active and live to my knowledge. I only have the betting website as a guide. I do not have access to any other live sport feed. Coral does. Yet they still offered those odds and accepted the bet. This basically means that any markets they deem they can turn around and "void" or class as "late bets" or even hide behind palpable error. So it isnt palpable error or late if I lose my bets? The opportunity for the bookmaker to win exists when they draw up the odds! My opportunity is when I put my money on the line! IBAS can only be on the side of bookmakers! I did not have access to data on the exact second my bet was placed vs what coral says happened in real life when each point was won! That data I have not been shown.

All I could do was login and place my bets. I had no stream and no live data available. Just a market that I decided to bet on!

Please Please Never rely on IBAS they are in bed with the bookies.

Five stars for these guys. I had a dispute with a lesser known UK based online casino and sports bookie.

Long story short, they made my life hell to get a withdrawal by way of red tape.

When I went to IBAS, the bookie no longer contested the case and I received the withdrawal amount which I was entitled too.

I still feel like it was a total waste of time being on that site, but I wouldn't have got the cash back without IBAS so it would have been an even worse loss.

I would also extend a quick personal thanks to James and Ron at IBAS who handled my case. Very friendly, professional and they know what they're doing.

MC

IBAS garnish themselves with a 90-day turnaround time, so you would expect them to provide a reasonable level of detail in response to a complaint.

After 80+ days, my report contained no more than 10 bullet points altogether, each of which had incredibly limited scope or detail. Furthermore, the report itself had overlooked or ignored several aspects of the complaint that I had raised, the panel choosing instead to focus their measly 2 points of attention on elements that obviously looked favourable for the betting company (e.g., 'they have a line in their policy on their website').

The complaint that I submitted included multiple pieces of evidence, as well as pages of explanation, detail and rationale for the claim I was making against the betting company. IBAS' response to my arguments? 4 small bullet points, 1 of which was only to flippantly dismiss the level of education that I hold in the area of sports analysis.

For a service that is paid for by financial giants like the companies they supposedly hold to account, it doesn't half seem that they are far from 'independent', but their customer service is borderline non-existent. When it does appear however, it is sharp, rude, and totally unsympathetic.

The only credit that I can give to them is the simplicity of their online complaint system. Outside of this - they're not worth your time.

I wouldn't bother using them again - go straight to the small claims court if you have a fair complaint to raise.

i wasn’t sure what to expect
this was the best decision i made , from the start they have been polite and very helpful with everything from getting me my citizen photo ID to telling me what to do to get the final result after months and months of messing around
i really can’t thank IBAS enough i appreciate everything
if you’re needing help just like i did please contact IBAS
highly recommended

Had a great experience with Mr Ironside at IBAS. He assisted very professionally with my bets with Betfred. The Betfred Croydon area manager refused to pay me the higher odds when the bets were struck because the horse odds I wrote had drifted out and both won. There had been countless number of occasions where I had written the odds on the slip and the price have shortened and I have had to accept the lesser price.

The difference were £575, a large amount and thankfully Betfred came to their senses and paid out. The rule is that all odds taken on shop bets should be honoured if you take the price at the time when the bet is struck and not what odds you have written down or asked for which can differ. Not sure why the area manager decided to go against their rules.

Well done to IBAS for resolving my case!

I contacted IBAS to help me solve a dispute and Jim Cremin came to the rescue, i don’t think i would have received my winnings without his guidance. Thanks Jim! IBAS made a massive difference. If you have a grievance contact IBAS and copy them in on any emails you have with any gaming site who is reluctant to pay out. Worked for me

I had issues with multiple bookmakers all owned and run by Aspire Global. Horse racing bets across all my accounts were being affected by miscalculated Rule 4 deductions to the sum of over £3000. Aspire Global continued to ignore me, deny my claims and stall indefinitely.
After a year of waiting for Aspire Global to correct the bets I contacted IBAS who agreed to take my case and within 2 weeks they had instructed Aspire Global to correct the bets and pay me in full for the error.
I can't thank Mr Ironside enough, he has made this Christmas very special for my family. He even went out of his own way to assist in a withdrawal that Hopa were delaying for over a year, despite it being unrelated to my original claim.
I highly recommend seeking the help of IBAS, they are working for us, the people.

I had a dispute with BetFred over a bet I’d placed in one of their shops

The IBAS team responded quickly and professionally, and took time to fully understand and clarify any points I was making as part of my dispute

I was then informed the process can take up to 8 weeks (usually shorter with BetFred), but within 24 hours IBAS had secured as resolution in my favour

I simply could not have asked for more from their process

Currently have a case open with IBAS.
August 7th 2023 I won a lot with Mrvegas. I made 5 withdrawals in this order - £6000 , £178, £200, £300, £200.
They approved the £178 and £200 but bypassed the other 3. So my account was left at £6000, £300, £200 pending.
My account was fully verified - they then asked for for every document possible including proof of owner ship for mobile number. Over a week of sending documents they kept declining. Eventually they approved all and fully verified account once again.
Told me that it needed to be done due to having another account which they have removed. Fair enough - wasn’t aware of this other account.
Said my withdrawals would be processed manually because a large amount.
Few hours later my account was blocked. Could no longer access it! Had to communicate through resolver and askgamblers.
They then sent me £500 and said was confiscating the £6500 due to multiple accounts.
Now correct me if I’m wrong but why approve the other 2 withdrawals made after the big one.
Why tell me it took longer to verify as apparently had another account - they removed this and all was fine, nothing else requested and withdraws would be processed manually.
I’d had the account a while and made a number of withdrawals and never had an issue. All was fine until they seen a big withdrawal and BAM.. decided no, don’t want to pay. Let’s make her verify things they didn’t think I could as was asking for an old no number number I had from years ago.
But I had an old letter to verify it! If this was the case surely they’d of checked it upon all the other withdrawals and not just when they see a big one. Either way they addressed the fact I had “2 accounts” in an email and on trust pilot / resolver. Can’t confiscate £6500 for breach of terms and conditions which they were fully aware about? Told me had cancelled the other acc and one I won on a was perfectly fine.

It’s now been 11 weeks - IBAS have emailed a few days ago to say it’s gone to panel for ruling.

I have been hoping and preying that all the screenshots and evidence I sent them was enough to prove I should have got that money. Imagine how upsetting it is winning such a big amount to have it taken away before got it. Heartbroken.
It’s almost Christmas so I really hope the panel see’s I should have received it 11 weeks ago.
Hopefully not much longer. So upsetting that casinos are able to do this.

I have to say IBAS was outstanding in dealing with my complaint about non payment of a number bets with an online firm(Aspire Global) , from start to finish the due diligence shown in particular by James Ironside was concise & swift , needles to say IBAS instructed the gi to pay out , which the firm complied with .
I fully recommend anyone to use IBAS if having problems with any girm refusing to payout on legitimate bets .
Yours sincerely
Jason

they were extremely and no way would i have been able to get back which is rightfully mine without your help xthey were amazing

No stars it clear they work for bookmakers betting many years now and have no choice now go straight small claim court instead these
Glad they have no job soon with the industry looking doom them packages they get from bookmaker to close case looks good for awhile never win case with ibas with all information there and don’t come say anything ibas as we heard it all don’t state that as seen other been pay on same bet corrupt the word I will say so don’t try to fall public as when I place bet player to score days later change account minus so why is it minus ? As result was determined later ? Fall of rubbish u are can’t wait to use have no job

So I took my complaint to IBAS after placing £110 deposits on LeoVegas using my daughters card with permission.
They happily took all my deposits etc yet when it come to withdrawing the £3000 I won then the additional alleged checks were done.
After waiting 6 weeks with IBAS
and having to report Jim Cremin for his unprofessional and derogatory attitude, I then was left weeks without updates.
What a shock that they have sided with the operator. Do not be fooled by the positive reviews on here regarding a third party deposit clearly false reviews
Take in the negative reviews.
I'm now going to seek advice from a solicitor.
Avoid LeoVegas and absolutely avoid IBAS

No surprise that IBAS have such low-ratings. I made a genuine complaint about Ladbrokes, which was completely justified - Ladbrokes admitted an error on their part. I queried a free game at a specific time-slot which appeared glitchy and suspiciously my free games has been used - turns out Ladbrokes messed up on times so caused confusion, hence my query.

Ladbrokes had closed my account (which also lead to Coral closing my account - no comment from them or IBAS on this) so you would think that admitting an error would lead to them reversing their decision, but no they just stuck by it and lied about communication. IBAS confirmed and agreed with their pals at Ladbrokes, and made no investigation into the blatant lie from Ladbrokes and now ignore any queries.

Something very dodgy about this organisation. As no justification for the blatant lie, twisting of facts and strange decision to agree with a bookmaker who admitted fault, I am looking to take this further.

Reported a case against lottomart over 3 years ago . They don't respond to me messages , just ignore me inquiring about the case . Basically put a bet on and won , no bonus used at all. Refused to pay . Amazing when you think , if the bet lost would they give me the money back? I think lottomart might be paying ibas off . Something very wrong going on here.

Once again IBAS comes up trumps. I have referred three disputes with bookmakers to IBAS in the past year and a half and every time the bookmaker in question has paid out after I involved IBAS in the dispute. I have seen some nonsensical negative reviews of IBAS on Trustpilot recently and I would recommend people to totally ignore them. It would seem that half the people that write these negative reviews can't even spell properly so I don't think they should be taken too seriously. I cannot praise IBAS highly enough. It is an easy process to set up a dispute for adjudication on their website, they are very speedy in getting back in contact, practically instantaneous in fact and THEY GET RESULTS. Bookmakers only suggest to clients that they should contact IBAS when they know the client is in the wrong. They never mention IBAS when they know that they themselves are in the wrong. There is a worrying trend at the moment of bookmakers hiding behind affordability checks and money laundering checks in order to avoid paying out winnings. This has happened to me several times this year. On some occasions I have resolved the problem myself but on others I have needed IBAS and without their intervention I doubt I would have ever been paid. So I would advise anyone with a genuine dispute with a bookmaker to contact IBAS. But don't expect them to solve your problem if you are the one in the wrong and not the bookmaker. And a special mention for Ron Hearn who is very diligent and very effective.

Agree with every other negative review on this page, useless, funded by the bookies for the bookies, I can't be bothered to go into detail about my case but just as a quick summary the employees at coral, advised me to take my dispute further because they both yes 2 of them agreed how my bet was settled was unfair, they came with an unbiased position because let's be honest they are just working for a wage, but IBAS on the other hand need the bookies money to operate and funny enough decided in the bookies favour, don't waste your time with IBAS better of taking your claim to court to have any chance. Let's hope the government sort out the mess of an industry and shut down this money making bais machine.

Edit to response:

I feel like I have to edit this review to put some facts right. The fact that you say all SSBTs rules are that tennis matches are void when a retirement happens this isn't true, as I mentioned in my dispute, the new rules for "new" machines state that if the first set of a match is complete and the retirement happens after this the bet will be settled as a winner for the person who moves onto the next round. But due to the fact I placed my bet on a "old" machine these rules don't apply. I would suggest in your panels decision for future reference to actually look at how misleading customers should be taken into consideration as how the same company is allowed to have 2 different outcomes for tennis retirements is completely misleading and wrong. I would also massively challenge the fact that everyone would have received their money back because I for one if it was the other way round and Martic retired I would have assumed it was a loss due to the rules one of Corals tennis rules and the SSBTs. I am intrigued to know how the same company is allowed 2 different outcomes on a betting retirement due to an age of a machine please tell me how that isn't misleading? As far as I am aware you're not allowed to mislead customers. So this is exactly the reason why I find the outcome bias.

They seem to be working with bookies , Dr.bet cheated and owned me more than £3000 , contacted IBAS and they just said the same think than Dr cheating bets, useless company and worst bookies I ever done a bet with

Waste of space dont bother looking to these mugs for help they take back handers off the bookie