Taking on Novibet - an online bookie

[andrew3223]

Hi all,

Just trying to figure out how to sue this Bookie. Their website https://www.novibet.co.uk/ robbed me out of some winnings. I am confident in my case.

They are listed on companies House website as Novi Group in the UK, which is a dormant company:

Name & Registered Office: NOVI GROUP (UK) LIMITED THIRD FLOOR 207 REGENT STREET LONDON W1B 3HH Company No. 09340519

Status: Active Date of Incorporation: 04/12/2014 Country of Origin: United Kingdom Company Type: Private Limited Company Nature of Business (SIC): 63120 - Web portals Accounting Reference Date: 31/12 Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/12/2017 (DORMANT) Next Accounts Due: 30/09/2019 Last Confirmation Statement Date: 04/12/2017 Next Confirmation Statement Due: 18/12/2018 Mortgage: Number of charges: ( 0 outstanding / 0 satisfied / 0 part satisfied ) Last Members List: 04/12/2015

According to Resolver, they are owned by a UK company named Logflex:

Contact details Head Office address

Logflex Limited
1 Kings Avenue
London
N21 3NA Phone number: 0203 290 0310

And here that company is on Companies House, and they were previously names as Novibet:

Name & Registered Office: LOGFLEX LIMITED SUITE 609, CLARENDON ENTERPRISE CENTRE LTD RIVERBANK HOUSE, 4TH - 7TH FLOORS 1 PUTNEY BRIDGE APPROACH LONDON ENGLAND SW6 3BQ Company No. 06899081

Status: Active Date of Incorporation: 07/05/2009 Country of Origin: United Kingdom Company Type: Private Limited Company Nature of Business (SIC): 92000 - Gambling and betting activities Accounting Reference Date: 31/12 Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/12/2017 (TOTAL EXEMPTION FULL) Next Accounts Due: 30/09/2019 Last Confirmation Statement Date: 31/10/2018 Next Confirmation Statement Due: 14/11/2019 Mortgage: Number of charges: ( 0 outstanding / 0 satisfied / 0 part satisfied ) Last Members List: 24/04/2016 Previous Names: 30/03/2012 NOVIBET LIMITED 04/01/2012 LOGFLEX LIMITED

What do you think? Ideally, I would take Logflex on, I think?

[R0b]

You shouldn't claim against either to be honest, or face the risk of costs if the claim is set aside. The Novbibet website is run by Novibet Group Limited which is a company registered in Isle of Man which is also verified by their Gambling Commission number.



Oddly, their terms and conditions state that the United Kingdom is the governing law, but there's not an exclusive jurisdiction which means you can sue them in England and Wales or Scotland wherever your location is. There's also no such governing law as the United Kingdom so it seems to me that a non-lawyer has drafted these terms (or perhaps they've been copied, pasted and adapted).



So you need to sue the above company, not the ones you've mentioned. If you don't get the correct name of the company you are contracting with, then you deserve all costs against you. This is a typical and common mistake from litigants in person who think that because there are companies in the UK with similar names, they'll just sue whoever they want.

You can only sue the company whose name is on the terms and conditions and just FYI, most gambling companies are not usually operating or based out of countries such as Isle of Man or Jersey or some other tax haven place and where certain laws might be relaxed compared to the various laws in the UK.

[andrew3223]

So what address? Thanks for the save, btw, good looking out.

p.s. rob - if Isle of Man, will the hearing still be in my home Court?

[R0b]

The Isle of Man address

[andrew3223]

Thanks rob

[andrew3223]

rob - Moneyclaimonline is telling me that I cannot take a company to Court unless I use a Welsh or English postcode?

[Vitamin33]

Hi Andrew, If you've not already done so I suggest you google "Does a betting firm have to pay out on a winning bet?" as you will find a fair few tales with details that could be helpful. "Straight from the Horse's Mouth" by Keith Hughan is also worth a read before you proceed. You can buy it on Kindle for about £2 and it's not very long. I don't know the author. While it could do with a decent edit the story was gripping. The author ending up going to jail due to his illegal antics to get Ladbrokes to pay out. They apparently owed him £260K, but the author mentions an old gambling law (which I think is still in force) that he claims enabled them to get away with not honouring his win. Good luck. PS I just checked the book blurb and the old gambling law is The Gentleman's Agreement Act, 1845.

[andrew3223]

Hey rob sorry to keep hassling you, just a bit confused here...

[R0b]

Hi Andrew you cant issue a money claim online unless it's in the UK. You would need to submit you claim by paper form instead using N1 claim form.

You can use the link below and suggest you read the notes in it too. I would also screenshot or print their terms and condition in case they try to change them when they receive the claim.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...orm-cpr-part-7

[andrew3223]

rob Okay, got it, but there appears to be a different website/forms to complete to take legal action in Isle of Man?

https://www.courts.im/court-procedur...-small-claims/

I am assuming that you mean I can take them on using the claim forms you linked to, in my local Court?

[R0b]

The terms and conditions of Novibet suggest you can issue a claim in England and Wales as opposed to the Isle of Man. However, if you want to serve a claim to a party outside the jurisdiction of England and Wales then you need to follow the correct procedures, which is either you need permission from the court to serve the claim form, or under certain exceptions you don't need permission.

Afraid I don't have time to explain how it all works and sometimes it can be quite complex because there are several avenues for serving claim forms without permission. I would suggest you google "service of a claim form out of the jurisdiction" which will give you umpteen articles explaining when and how you can serve a claim form to a foreign entity.

Your other option is to issue a claim via Isle of Man jurisdiction but then your going to have to travel there to bring your case, unless there is another method of resolving it such as telephone.