The IPCA - Independent Panel for Casino and Bingo Arbitration

The Licensees fully support the objective detailed in the Gambling Act 2005 that gambling be conducted in a fair and open way.

Should you have a dispute about any gambling related decision, a member of the licensees management team should be able to settle the problem for you at the time.

However, should you not be satisfied with their decision, and all internal avenues have been exhausted you may refer the matter to the Independent Panel for Casino and Bingo Arbitration (IPCA).

The IPCA is tasked with reviewing gambling disputes relating to the land based casino and bingo industries that have failed to be settled internally.

Should all internal avenues have been exhausted and you are still not satisfied with the decision you may refer the matter in writing or by email to the Independent Panel for Casino Arbitration (IPCA) at the following address:

NCF-IPCA
Carlyle House
235 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London
SW1V 1EJ

info@ipca.org.uk

The ADR controller will assign an ADR official to investigate the complaint and notify all parties concerned.

2.The ADR official will request all relevant evidence and documentation from all concerned parties and inform all parties of their right to withdraw at any time from the process.

3.The ADR official upon receipt of the evidence will notify the parties that the evidence received constitutes a ‘complete complaint file’. An outcome (proposed decision/resolution) to the dispute will be met within 90 calendar days from the date the “complete complaint file” has been received (in “certain exceptional cases” in “highly complex disputes” the ADR official is free, at his/her own discretion, to extend the 90 calendar day deadline).

4.The ADR official will normally provide a draft report allowing reasonable time for comment from all parties. This may include any statements made and opinions given by experts.

5.The ADR official will consider any comments prior to completing the report.
6.The ADR official will provide a final report to the ADR controller outlining the outcomes and grounds on which the proposed decision/resolution is based.
7.When the ADR controller is satisfied that the process has been adhered to and the decision/resolution in the report is valid, the controller will forward the report to all parties concerned.

8.In accordance with the Gambling Commission’s expectation gambling operators will offer ADR which is binding on the operator (if accepted by the consumer) for disputes which would otherwise be taken to the small claims court (currently disputes of not more than £10,000). For disputes over £10,000, the ADR procedure need not be binding – this would allow, for example, that mediation could be employed for disputes of more than £10,000 or for adjudication decisions to be non-binding on the operator.

9.In accordance with consumer protections the customer is not legally bound to abide by any IPCA decision and therefore does not deny the consumer his or her UK statutory consumer protections.