How to complain about a bonus

How to complain about a bonus: the short route

If a casino bonus has gone wrong (spins never arrived, winnings were removed, a deposit was locked behind wagering), the UK system gives you a fixed ladder to climb. You start with the casino, you escalate inside the casino, and only then do you go to an outside body. Skipping a rung usually gets your case bounced back, so the order matters as much as the wording.

The ladder looks like this. First, a quick query to customer support, because many bonus problems are fixed in one chat. Second, a formal complaint under the casino's published complaints procedure, which every operator licensed by the Gambling Commission (opens in a new tab) must have. Third, if eight weeks pass without a resolution, or the casino gives you a final response you don't accept, a free referral to an approved alternative dispute resolution provider. The full rules sit on our page about UK complaints and ADR rules, and the wider set of how-tos lives in our casino bonus guides.

Is it a bonus complaint or a quick fix?

A lot of what feels like a dispute is really a timing or set-up issue. Free spins that haven't appeared may simply not have been accepted yet; a matched bonus may need an opt-in tick you missed; a qualifying bet may not have settled. Before writing a formal complaint, run through our guide on why a bonus might not be credited and the common causes in why a bonus was not credited.

It becomes a real complaint when the casino's answer is a decision you think is wrong: it says you broke a term, it applied a cap you didn't know about, or it refuses to pay out. That is when the formal process, and the evidence you have kept, starts to matter.

• Probably a quick fix: spins not showing yet, bonus pending, opt-in missed by minutes, wrong slot opened for the spins.
• Probably a complaint: winnings voided for a rule you can't find in the terms, bonus removed after a withdrawal request, deposit balance blocked, account restricted after a win, terms that seem to have changed after you opted in.

Evidence to gather before you complain about a bonus

Bonus disputes are won on paper. The casino holds the account logs; you need your own record of what you were promised and what happened. Collect it now, while the details are fresh and the promotion page still exists.

• The terms as they were when you opted in: a screenshot or saved copy of the promotion page and its full terms, with the date visible.
• The significant terms box: the summary near the offer headline that lists deposit, wagering, expiry and exclusions (see significant terms).
• Transaction references: deposit and withdrawal IDs, dates, amounts and the payment method used.
• Game evidence: the game name, stake per spin, time of play and any round IDs shown in your game history.
• Every message: chat transcripts (most live chats offer an email copy), emails and the names or IDs of agents.
• Your balance view: screenshots showing the cash and bonus balances separately, which UK rules say must be displayed apart.

Common bonus disputes and what the rules say

Most bonus complaints fall into a handful of patterns. Knowing which one you are in tells you what to check and how strong your case is. The right-hand column draws on Gambling Commission guidance, the CMA's 2018 work on online gambling and the Consumer Rights Act rules on unfair terms.

Two of these deserve a closer look. On voided winnings, our guides on when a casino can void winnings and the casino bonus max bet rule explain how the clauses usually work. On deposits, the rule that you can always take out your own money is covered in can I withdraw my deposit with a bonus active.

How to complain about a bonus, step by step

1. Contact support and describe the problem in one or two sentences. Ask the agent to quote the specific term they are relying on.
2. If the answer doesn't fix it, ask for the casino's complaints procedure. It is usually linked in the help centre or the terms and conditions.
3. Send a formal written complaint (email or the casino's complaint form) using the structure below, with your evidence attached.
4. Note the date you sent it. The eight-week clock for the casino to resolve it starts when the business receives your complaint.
5. Reply promptly to any request for information, and keep every message.
6. When you get a final response, read it against the terms you saved. If you disagree, or eight weeks pass with no resolution, ask which ADR provider the casino uses.
7. Submit your case to that ADR provider with the casino's final response and your evidence. Do this within 12 months of the final response.

If you aren't sure who to contact at a particular casino, our page on how to contact support about a bonus sets out the usual channels, and where to complain about a casino covers the outside bodies.

Writing a bonus complaint the casino has to answer

A formal complaint should be short, factual and specific. The person reading it may not have seen your chat, so it needs to stand on its own. A clear structure also makes it easier for an ADR provider to follow later.

1. Subject line: 'Formal complaint: [promotion name], account [username]'.
2. What you were offered: the promotion name, the date you opted in and the key terms as you saw them.
3. What happened: dates, amounts and transaction IDs in order.
4. What the casino said: the reason given, with the agent name or chat date.
5. Why you disagree: point to the exact clause, or to its absence, and to the rule you think applies.
6. What you want: for example, the voided £42.60 restored to your cash balance, or your deposit released.
7. Attachments: list each file so nothing gets lost.

Keep the tone calm. Threats, abuse or repeated messages within the same hour rarely help, and some casinos treat abusive contact as a reason to close an account. Stick to what you can prove.

The eight-week deadline and the final response

Under the Gambling Commission's complaints rules, a licensed casino has eight weeks from receiving your complaint to resolve it. If the complaint is still open after that, the casino must offer to refer it to ADR. Many operators send a 'final response' or 'deadlock letter' sooner, which also opens the door to ADR.

These dates are an illustration of how the timeline works, not a record of any real case.

Taking a bonus complaint to ADR or IBAS

Alternative dispute resolution is an independent review of your complaint by a body that is neither you nor the casino. It is free for consumers, and you can only use it once the casino's own process is finished. The casino's terms or final response should tell you which provider it uses.

The Gambling Commission's list of approved ADR providers (opens in a new tab) names ADR Group, Pegasus ADR Service, Blexr Limited, CEDR, eCOGRA, IBAS, ProMediate and the Tattersalls Committee. The list can change, and the Commission has been amending its rules so that ADR refers to providers accredited under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, so check the current page before you file.

IBAS is the provider most people have heard of. It is free for consumers, and registered companies agree to be bound by its decisions up to £10,000. Its guide to raising a dispute (opens in a new tab) explains the form and what to attach. Providers can refuse late cases, but they must allow at least 12 months from the casino's final response.

Bonus terms are a real slice of ADR work. Published IBAS figures for October 2019 to September 2020 show that 8.2% of its 4,475 disputes concerned bonus or promotional offer terms, and that a large share of refused cases were sent back because the operator's own process hadn't finished. That old but telling figure is the best argument for completing stage two properly.

What the Gambling Commission and CMA can and can't do

The Gambling Commission does not rule on individual complaints, award money or reverse a casino's decision. What it does is set and enforce licence conditions, and it uses information from players to decide where to look. If you think a term is unfair or a casino isn't following its own complaints process, you can tell the Commission as well as pursuing ADR.

The rules it enforces matter to your complaint. Licence condition 7.1.1 requires terms to be fair and transparent within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and the Commission expects casinos to follow the principles the Competition and Markets Authority set after its online gambling investigation (opens in a new tab). Our page on the CMA undertakings from 2018 explains those principles, and operator fines for bonus failings shows how enforcement has gone. One example: Taichi Tech was fined £170,000 in July 2025, partly over a term that let it close accounts or forfeit winnings at its discretion.

Under the Consumer Rights Act, an unfair term is not binding on you, and an ambiguous term is read in the way most favourable to the consumer. Those two points often carry a bonus complaint, especially where a clause is vague. Our companion guide on how to spot unfair bonus terms goes into the tests in detail.

Three bonus complaints, worked through with numbers

1. The max bet breach that was in the terms

Say you claim a matched bonus whose terms cap stakes at £5 while the bonus is active, then place a £6 spin and land £180. If the £5 limit was in the significant terms beside the offer, a complaint is unlikely to get the £180 restored. You could still ask the casino to explain exactly which winnings were removed and why, which the Commission's guidance says it should do when winnings are forfeited.

2. The locked deposit

You deposit £40, receive a £20 bonus and decide after ten minutes that you'd rather stop. Your cash balance shows £34. If support says you must finish wagering first, that conflicts with Commission guidance: you can withdraw your deposit balance at any time, even with a bonus active, though you may lose the bonus itself. Here a complaint has strong footing.

3. The excluded payment method

You fund a deposit by an e-wallet and no spins arrive. If the offer listed that e-wallet as excluded, and the exclusion was shown clearly with the offer, the casino is applying its terms. Our explainer on how payment exclusions work covers why. If the exclusion was hidden deep in the full terms only, you can raise that: the ASA has ruled that an excluded payment method left in small print was not prominent enough.

Complaint contacts at our partner casinos

If your bonus complaint involves one of the casinos we list, these are the published support routes and licence holders. The licence holder's name is the one to use on any ADR form, and the account number lets you check the casino on the Commission's public register.

Each partner has its own complaints walkthrough on this site, for example Coral bonus complaints, Ladbrokes bonus complaints and PlayOJO bonus complaints. Check the casino's own terms for the name of its ADR provider, as we haven't listed those here.

Looking after yourself while a complaint is open

A disputed win can pull you into playing on, either to 'make back' what was removed or because the account still holds a balance. That is the moment to step back. Set a deposit limit or take a time-out while the complaint runs; it won't affect your case. Our safer gambling and bonuses page lists the tools, and the National Gambling Helpline (0808 8020 133, free, 24/7, run by GamCare (opens in a new tab)) is there if the situation is getting on top of you.

Don't open a second account to claim the offer again, and don't ask someone else to claim it for you. Both break the terms of every UK casino and can turn a winnable complaint into a lost one.

Partner offers and keeping a complaint-proof record

The offers shown below are the only ones we list. All are for new customers aged 18+, and terms apply. Coral gives 100 free spins at 10p each (£10 of spins) after you deposit and bet £10 on slots; the spins have no wagering, must be accepted within 48 hours and last 7 days, and Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards don't qualify. Ladbrokes gives 50 free spins a day for 10 days, up to 500 at 10p (up to £50 of spins), after you deposit and spend £10 on slots, with no wagering and several e-wallet and prepaid exclusions. PlayOJO gives 80 free spins at 10p on Big Bass Bonanza (£8 of spins) on a first deposit of at least £10, with winnings paid as cash; it excludes Northern Ireland.

Because two of these three exclude specific payment methods, payment is where most avoidable disputes start. Read the exclusions, save the page, and keep the deposit reference. Gambling costs money over time, and no bonus changes the house edge.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: set a budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.