Following months of inactivity, the website of the gambling company Football Index has returned online to allow the operator’s customers to withdraw the funds in their accounts that they previously were not able to access.
The company, which was supposed to process the funds of Football Index’s customers, has reversed a decision to stop making such payments. In June, a judge issued a ruling, according to which the gambling operator had to make the due payments to its customers.
At the beginning of the week, administrators said that Index Labs, which provides the platform processing the payments, would not continue to work with them to distribute the funds to the customers of Football Index. Without the support of Index Labs, however, the process was unable to begin.
Less than a day later, by Tuesday morning, Index Labs had made a U-turn from its last decision, with the gambling operator announcing that the payments were set to be processed later on July 13th.
The parent company of Football Index, BetIndex, had been engaged in quite extensive arguments with both the High Court of England and Wales and Begbies Traynor in regard to the ultimate date when the dividend payouts were supposed to be processed.
“Trust Deed Monies” Fund of the Gambling Operator Has £4.5 Million in It
According to the final decision of the High Court of England and Wales from June 8th, March 26th, 2021 – a little less than 3 weeks after the gambling company’s customers started abandoning the operator after it officially announced its decision to reduce its dividends from 14p to 3p per player – to be constituted as the ultimate cut off date for its dividend payouts.
On July 13th, administrators reached Football Index’s customers to inform them that the funds’ withdrawal process had not changed. According to the texting of the message, customers needed to log in to their accounts via the gambling operator’s website and then visit the Account section, where they could choose the option to withdraw their funds. The email also said that in case any adjustments of dividends had been made, customers would be able to see this in the history of their transactions.
A fund called “Trust Deed monies” was maintained by Football Index, with £4.5 million in it in case of a financial emergency. Previously, it became clear that the gambling operator’s customers were owed around £3.2 million, which would leave BetIndex with a surplus of £1.8 million from the fund. The Viscount of Jersey is holding client money bank account which has been maintained by the company for the benefit of its 280,000 customers as of June 2021.
As explained by the UK High Court judge, the administrators’ strategy was to allow the business to get back online by agreeing on some arrangements with Football Index’s existing creditors and securing new funding based on a different business model.
The customers will be able to withdraw their funds through the website of Football Index. The gambling operator’s application currently remains unavailable.
- Author
Olivia Cole
