UKGC Complaint Handling Guide Announced

UKGC issues guidance on operator complaint handling

The newly-published guidance comes after the UKGC has reviewed and demanded accountability from more than 34 licensed gambling operator complaints policies which cover a variety of factors, including ease of use and assessing their accessibility.

The UKGC research has concluded that 8% of gamblers have made a complaint in the past, with an additional 4% reporting they had wished to make a complaint but did not.

The research also concluded that the lengthy complaints processes and additionally licensed gambling operators are purposely challenging to contact in order to put off gamblers from taking the complaints further.

The UK Gambling Commission has, as a result, discovered that the majority of reviewed policies met only the basic standards. It has since gone on to highlight a number of areas that require a major improvement in order to make it easier for gamblers to make complaints.

One method of improving the complaint handling processes was to avoid any jargon and use short and transparent processes. Another one is to include clickable links and inform gamblers of the eight-week limit for resolving complaints or issuing final responses.

Ian Angus, the UK Gambling Commission’s Director of Policies: “Good complaints handling is vital in the gambling industry. We want consumers to be able to easily find and understand policies and be able to raise their complaints without any barriers.

“We know gambling businesses receive around 200,000 complaints every year, and while the Government’s review of the Gambling Act will consider where these can be escalated to, the majority will still need to go through the licensee’s complaints process first. We want to help them handle these well, to improve outcomes for both them and consumers.”

This latest review of the UK Gambling Act previously experienced a number of delays due to the opposition from senior Government members and the recent Conservative Party leadership content.

The UKGC also planned to introduce other changes to policies in September, which should also help protect players further.

Keep an eye here for more about the Gambling Commission and how it can change your gameplay.