Poor communication by the Gambling Commission when it dealt with a complaint about the National Lottery

What happened

Mr G complained to Camelot about a retailer who he believed had defrauded him out of a high-value win on the Lottery. Camelot's investigation found that there had been no large wins in the area where Mr G had bought his Lottery ticket.

Mr G remained convinced that he had won, and asked the Gambling Commission to investigate. The Gambling Commission carried out an investigation to check that Camelot had investigated Mr G's complaint properly. At the end of this, the Gambling Commission told Mr G that it had found no evidence that a high-value prize had been claimed at the retailer in question.

What we found

As the regulator of the Lottery, the Gambling Commission did not have the power to resolve Mr G's consumer complaint or change the outcome. Although the Gambling Commission could investigate Mr G's complaint, it could only do so as a regulator in order to make sure that the Lottery is properly run.

The Commission did not clearly explain its limited role as a regulator, and its communications led Mr G to believe that it could resolve his complaint. This raised his expectations unrealistically.

Putting it right

The Commission agreed to apologise to Mr G and to pay him £50 to recognise the effect of its poor communication with him.