Legality of bookmaker inactivity fees??

As long as they have given you 28 days notice of any change in the terms and conditions then that would be deemed as reasonable. In the email, they will have offered you the opportunity to close your account if you do not wish to engage in these terms.

Who is the bookie and how much did they charge?

Betfair has inactivity fees too.

The amount was only a few quid, it is the principal that matters.

It seems absurd that an email that may or may not reach it's destination can now be accepted as a legally binding document?

eighteighteightsport.com I assume.

partybets been doing it for years

In law, an email is classed as served if sent. Similar to the fact that if someone says they have posted something, it is classed as served 2 business days later. No proof required.

Looking at a thread on Racing I suspect the bookie in question here is probably Ladcrooks

can they charge you if you dont have any money in the account?

Seems stupid to me. surely having accounts with money in them is a positive for them as they can make money from the interest

Also what about simply 'dormant' accounts that the user has no intention of returning to - surely it can't be legal to charge for that?
Was also wondering myself about the Betfair charges on this - I have two accounts but the possibility that I stop using one of them for some time, what was the limit before they would claim a charge from you?

the bookie i guess was gamebookers/partybets

From Betfair charges :

8) Inactive Account Fees

From 31 December 2010, we will begin charging you* a fee†^ (as indicated in the table below) per calendar month ("Inactive Account Fee") if:

(a) there has been no log in or log out recorded on your Betfair account for thirteen consecutive months or more (i.e. no "Account Activity"); and

(b) the main licence wallet of your Betfair account± is in credit.

The Inactive Account Fee will be withdrawn from the main licence wallet of your Betfair account (your "Main Wallet") on a monthly basis to the extent that the Main Wallet remains in credit and only for the period during which there remains no Account Activity after the initial thirteen month period has passed. If the Inactive Account Fee is due to be withdrawn from your account and the balance of your Main Wallet is less than €5 (or equivalent currency), the Inactive Account Fee shall comprise the remaining funds in your Main Wallet.

If at any time you engage in Account Activity after you have been subject to one or more Inactive Account Fee, we will reimburse you on request the amount charged, up to a maximum of six months’ Inactive Account Fee†.

For example: if your account is transacted in EUR, the last time you engaged in Account Activity was 28 February 2010, and your Main Wallet held funds of €25 as at 31 March 2011, then Betfair would charge its first Inactive Account Fee on or around 31 March 2011, and would continue to charge the Inactive Account Fee on a monthly basis thereafter. If you then placed a bet on 15 May 2011 and notified Betfair that you would like to be reimbursed, Betfair would reimburse you the €10 Inactive Account Fee imposed (€5 on 31 March and €5 on 30 April).

*Customers registered in Australia or New Zealand shall not be subject to the Inactive Account Fee. If your country of registration is outside the UK and you hold more than one Betfair account, you will only incur an Inactive Account Fee in respect of one account at any one time (meaning that you will never pay more than one Inactive Account Fee per month).

†If you are VAT registered and require a VAT invoice, this will be available on request from the Betfair Helpdesk.

^All charges quoted are inclusive of VAT.

±Funds in the Australian licence wallet, the Casino wallet and the Exchange Games wallet of your Betfair account shall not be affected by the Inactive Account Fee.





Currency in which Betfair account is transacted


Inactive Account Fee




AUS


5




CAD


5




DKK


30




EUR


5




GBP(for customers whose country of registration is outside the UK)


4




GBP(for customers whose country of registration is the UK)


5




HKD


30




NOK


30




SEK


30




SGD


5




USD


5

Guess it's just a way of slowly grave robbing deceased accounts, as usual the Aussie regulators won't have any of it.

Customers registered in Australia or New Zealand shall not be subject to the Inactive Account Fee.

Although to be fair it must cost them in the region of £60 a year to have money sitting in their ringfenced account earning interest.

Betfair haven't done anything wrong here (they should try to contact the customer to let them know they have funds in the account, don't know if they do that).

The other company is rubbish for treating the OP like that. Taking money from accounts that have been 'forgotten about' is fine, as long as it is reimbursed on request. Most of it isn't of course.

Betsson closed my account and confiscated my funds for failing to prove identity, even though I sent them the same documents I sent to about 20 other bookies where I have accounts. I then sent them documents verified by a solicitor, and got the response that they have 'closed the case, confiscated my funds and will not be discussing the matter further'!

I've been in touch with the Malta Lotteries and gaming commission to sort this out. Betsson are again claiming I haven't given them proof of ID. Truly dispicable behaviour

Investor contact sportsbookreview..if they are on Betbrain contact them too.

as well as bookmakersreview - more european orientated

I'm going back 9 years but I had money with a dodgy company called Betworld.  I knew I was in a fight to get the money out of the account and from the get go I copied Betbrain aswell as the Racing Post in on all my correspondence.  Betbrain wrote to me and wrote to the company and informed me that if I had any problems they would remove them from the odds comparison site.  The firm went bust a few months later and I reckon I must have been one of the very few people to actually get my money.