Terms & Conditions

 

VERNONS.CO.UK TERMS AND CONDITIONS

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCEPTING THEM

PLEASE PRINT OUT A COPY OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR YOUR RECORDS ALONG WITH ALL CONFIRMATION EMAILS, SPECIFIC TERMS, TRANSACTION DATA, RULES AND PAYMENT METHODS RELEVANT TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE AT WWW.VERNONS.CO.UK

These Terms and Conditions were last updated on 21st July 2009.

Vernons is the trade name of Littlewoods Promotions Ltd.

AGREEING TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1.1 These Terms and Conditions apply to, and govern your use of, www.vernons.co.uk ("Website"), including all services, functionality, software and games made available via the Website ("Services"). By registering on the Website and accepting these Terms and Conditions, you are entering into a legally binding agreement which incorporates our Privacy Policy and the rules for each individual game available via the Website . You may be asked to agree to further terms and conditions when using specific Services (for example, in relation to a particular promotion or bet) and these terms will also be incorporated into the Terms and Conditions once accepted by you. .

1.2 Please note that the terms and conditions for specific Services (including, without limitation, the rules for the football pools games available via the Website) shall prevail in the event of any conflict between such terms and the Terms and Conditions.

PARTIES

2.1 These Terms and Conditions are a binding legal agreement between you and Littlewoods Promotions Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 00545018) with its registered office at Walton House, 55 Charnock Road, Liverpool, Merseyside L67 1AA. For further contact details please see the end of these Terms and Conditions.

2.2 References in these Terms and Conditions to " us ", " our " or " we " are references to Littlewoods Promotions Limited and references to " you " and " your " are to you as the end user of the Website and/or the Services.

2.3 Littlewoods Promotions Limited is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission (licence number: 000-001689-R-104110-001).

CHANGES TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

3.1 These Terms and Conditions govern your use of the Website and the Services and supersede any and all prior agreements between you and us in respect of the same.

3.2 We may change these Terms and Conditions at any time. We will publish any changes on the Website and we will give you at least seven (7) days' advance notice (by, at our sole discretion, emailing you and/or providing a prompt on the Website and/or publishing a notice and the revised terms and conditions on the Website). Your continued use of the Website following notification or, as the case may be, such seven (7) day period will be deemed binding acceptance of the modification. If any such change is unacceptable to you, you should not continue to use the Website.

3.3 It is your sole responsibility to review the Terms and Conditions and any amendments to them each time you use the Website and/or the Services.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

4.1 You acknowledge and agree that all copyright, trade marks and other intellectual property rights in all material or content supplied or made available by us via the Website or otherwise to you shall remain at all times vested in us or our licensors. You are permitted to use this material only as expressly authorised by us or our licensors.

4.2 You acknowledge and agree that the material and content contained within the Website and utilised in the provision of the Services is made available by us to you for your own personal non-commercial use only. Any other use of such material and content is strictly prohibited. You agree not to (and agree not to assist or facilitate any third party to) copy, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, distribute, commercially exploit, tamper with or create derivative works of such material and content.

4.3 The names, images and logos identifying us, other companies in the Sportech plc group, our partners or other third parties and our/their products and services contained on the Website are proprietary marks and may not be reproduced or otherwise used without express permission.

4.4 The UK fixtures lists (excluding non-league) and official player, match and performance data available on the Website are the copyright and database right of The Football Association Premier League Ltd / The Football League Ltd / The Scottish Premier League Ltd / The Scottish Football League, which reserve all of their rights. No part of this data may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means) without the written permission of the copyright/database right owner. Applications for written permission should be addressed c/o Football DataCo Ltd, 30 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8PL.

COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS

5.1 Access to certain Services may not be legal for some or all residents of, or persons present in, certain countries. We do not intend that the Website and/or the Services be used by persons in countries in which such activities are illegal. The Website and/or the Services do not constitute an offer, solicitation or invitation by us for the use of, or registration for, betting or other services in any jurisdiction in which such activities are prohibited by law. In particular, residents of the USA, the Netherlands, Australia, Turkey, Germany or Hong Kong must not use the Website and/or the Services.

5.2 It is your responsibility to determine the law that applies in the location in which you are present. You should ensure that you are acting legally in that jurisdiction in registering as our customer and/or betting via the Website and/or the Services.

5.3 We accept no liability if use of the Website and/or the Services and/or placing a bet is in contravention of the law of your home country or the country in which you are present. However, if at any time we believe your use/participation is in contravention of such law, we shall be entitled to exclude you from using the Website and/or the Services as we see fit and declare void any bets placed by you, in which event no winnings will be paid in relation to such bets.

5.4 You are responsible for reporting your winnings and losses, if such reporting is required by your local law or tax authorities. It is your responsibility to pay any tax or levy due on any winnings paid to you by us.

5.5 You must be at least 18 years old to use the Website and/or the Services and to place a bet. By opening an account with us (" Player Account ") you confirm that you are aged 18 or older. Underage gambling is a criminal offence.

5.6 By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions you authorise us to check with a third party the details you provide when registering with the Website or changing your Player Account details. This may include supplying the details that you have provided to authorised credit reference agencies. In particular, we may verify that you are 18 years old or over, that you are resident in the country you say you are a resident in and/or that you are the owner of the sums that you deposit in your Player Account. To help us combat fraud efficiently, in certain circumstances we may ask you to provide physical copies of your personal identification documents in order to verify your registration details.

5.7 No winnings can be withdrawn from your Player Account until age verification has been successfully completed. In any event, if we have not been able to verify your age within 72 hours of you registering with us and depositing money in your Player Account then your Player Account will be frozen and no further gambling will be permitted until age verification has been successfully completed.

5.8 If age verification reveals that you are not 18 years old or over then all deposits will be returned to you, no winnings will be paid and your Player Account will be closed.

5.9 A record of the age verification search may be retained and this information may be used in the future by other companies within the Sportech plc group. Any such company shall be fully aware of its obligations to keep your details confidential as required by data protection regulations and will always act in accordance with these provisions. For further information about the collection and use of your personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy .

LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

6.1 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions will:

6.1.1 exclude or limit our liability for fraud or for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence;

6.1.2 restrict your statutory rights (statutory rights include, for example, that we will provide the Website and the Services to a reasonable standard and within a reasonable time).

6.2 Except under paragraph 6.1 above and save in respect of any winnings lawfully due to you in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, our maximum liability to you under these Terms and Conditions in relation any one incident or series of related incidents is limited to the greater of: (a) any net losses incurred by you during the three (3) month period prior to any claim; or (b) two thousand pounds (£2,000).

6.3 Subject always to paragraph 6.1 above, we will not be liable under these Terms and Conditions for any loss that could not have been reasonably expected by you and us at the time you register on the Website or at the time you enter into a transaction with us (for example, any loss of income, business or profits or any information which is lost or corrupted) and, in any event, we will not be liable for any damage or loss suffered or incurred by you as a result of:

6.3.1 any use of the Website and/or the Services in breach of these Terms and Conditions (including any use of the Website and/or the Services for commercial or business purposes);

6.3.2 failures caused by the equipment you use to access the Website and/or the Services or failures in any network including failures by your internet service provider;

6.3.3 damage to your computer or for any loss of data that results from your use of the Website and/or the Services and we cannot and do not guarantee that any files that you download are free from viruses, contamination or destructive features; or

6.3.4 our cancellation or suspension of the Services in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

6.4 We do not guarantee which Services will be available on the Website. The Services and the Website are provided on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis. We cannot promise that the Website and the Services will be free from errors or omissions nor that they will be available uninterrupted and in a fully operating condition. We will provide the Services with the reasonable skill and care described in these Terms and Conditions. We do not make any other promises about how the Services will be provided to you or about your access to the Website.

6.5 The Website may contain links to third party websites and services through advertising or otherwise. These links are provided for your ease of reference and convenience only. We have no control over those third party websites or services and are not responsible for their content. We do not endorse the material contained on their websites or services, and have no association with their operators. You agree that we will not be party to any transaction or contract with a third party that you may enter into and we will not be liable to you for any loss or damage which you may suffer by using those third party websites and services. You agree that you will not involve us in any dispute you may have with such third party websites and services.

6.6 We are not responsible for any events beyond our reasonable control. Such events might include network failures, war, terrorist activity, riots, malicious damage, fire, flood, storm, nuclear accident or compliance with any new law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction.

6.7 We may suspend the Website and/or the Services or any part of them if, despite making reasonable efforts to do so, we are not able to provide that part of the Services and/or Website to you as a result of events beyond our reasonable control. However, if we suspend all or any part of the Services and/or the Website because of one of these events, we may refund to you any monies that you stake where the product for which such monies were staked is not available as a result of such an event.

6.8 You agree to compensate us in respect of any damages suffered by us or any of our losses resulting from any claim made by a third party in each case in respect of any matter arising from your use of the Website and/or the Services in breach of these Terms and Conditions or from your breach of any applicable law or regulation.

TERMINATION

7.1 We reserve the right at our absolute discretion, and without any obligation to provide you with a reason, to immediately terminate these Terms and Conditions and/or withhold your Player Account balance and/or suspend your Player Account and/or close your Player Account and/or recover from your Player Account the amount of any affected pay-outs, bonuses and winnings. Examples of situations where we may take any of the above actions include, but are not limited to, where:

7.1.1 you are in breach of an important provision of these Terms and Conditions;

7.1.2 we become aware that you have used or attempted to use the Website and/or the Services for the purposes of fraud, collusion or unlawful or improper activity;

7.1.3 we become aware through an official source that you have played at any other online gambling site or services and, in connection with the same, are suspected of fraud, collusion (including in relation to charge-backs) or unlawful or improper activity; or

7.1.4 you become bankrupt, do not make payment of a court judgment on time, make an arrangement with your creditors or any of your assets are the subject of any form of seizure, or analogous proceedings are brought in relation to you anywhere in the world.

7.2 Subject to paragraph 7.4 below, you are entitled to close your Player Account and terminate these Terms and Conditions on notice to us by email, telephone or post using the details on the Website. We will respond within a reasonable time. You remain responsible for activities using your Player Account until it is closed. You will be required to withdraw any outstanding balance in your Player Account (if any) on termination of these Terms and Conditions.

7.3 Subject to paragraph 7.4 below, we are entitled to close your Player Account and terminate these Terms and Conditions on notice by us to the email address you notified to us in relation to your Player Account and you will no longer be able to access the Services other than to withdraw any outstanding balances in your Player Account (if applicable).

7.4 With the exception of termination in accordance with paragraph 7.1 above, termination shall be effective from the date on which all outstanding bets made by you via your Player Account as at that date on which notice to close your Player Account was sent are settled and such notice of termination of these Terms and Conditions will not affect any outstanding bets provided they are valid and not in breach of these Terms and Conditions.

YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE

8.1 We reserve the right to suspend, modify, remove and/or add to the Services and/or to the Website at our sole discretion with immediate effect and without notice.

8.2 We will not tolerate fraudulent activity. If, in our reasonable determination, you are found to have attempted to defraud us, any other user of the Website or any person in any way, including but not limited to payment fraud, or if we suspect you of fraudulent payment, including use of stolen credit cards, or any other fraudulent activity or prohibited transaction (including but not limited to money laundering), we reserve the right to suspend and/or close your Player Account, withhold any or all winnings and share information (together with your identity) with the police and other such appropriate authorities. Please see our Privacy Policy for further details.

8.3 You must not misuse the Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to: the Website; the servers on which the Website is stored; or any server, computer or database connected to the Website or used to provide the Services. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, we may close your Player Account and terminate these Terms and Conditions pursuant to paragraph 7.1 above.

8.4 You agree that you will not use the Website and/or Services in any way that may lead to the encouragement, procurement or carrying out of any criminal or unlawful activity, or cause distress, harm or inconvenience to any other person.

8.5 You agree not to give any indication that you have any commercial relationship with us or that you are our agent.

REMOTE GAMBLING

9.1 You are betting or gaming via an electronic form of communication and consequently you acknowledge that:

9.1.1 you may be using a connection or equipment which is slower than the equipment used by others and this may affect your performance in time critical events offered via the Website; and

9.1.2 you may encounter system flaws, faults, errors or service interruption caused by unexpected flaws, faults or errors in the software, hardware or networks used to provide the Services and the Website. Where such flaws, faults or errors cause a Service to be interrupted or in circumstances where it cannot be restarted from exactly the same position without any detriment to you we will take all reasonable steps to treat you in a fair manner.

9.2 The Services may be suspended temporarily and without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons reasonably beyond our control. We will not be liable to you or to any other person in the event that all or any part of the Services are discontinued, modified or changed in any way.

9.3 In the event of systems or communications errors relating to the generation of random numbers, bet settlement, match results or other element of the Services, we will not be liable to you as a result of any such errors and we reserve the right to void all bets on the draws or matches (as applicable) in question.

CONTACTING US

10.1 If you have a complaint or any enquiries or otherwise need to contact us in any way, you can do so by email, telephone or post using the details set out in the "Contacting Us and Dispute Resolution" section below.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

11.1 These Terms and Conditions are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales (or the laws of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there).

11.2 Disputes arising in connection with these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales (unless you choose the jurisdiction of your home in Scotland or Northern Ireland).

RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING

12.1 Whilst you are, and shall remain, responsible for any losses you incur as a result of your use of the Website and the Services, we take our commitment to responsible gambling seriously. Further to this, if, in our reasonable opinion, you are at risk of developing a problem controlling your gambling, we reserve the right to suspend and/or close your Player Account.

12.2 Please see the section entitled "Play Responsibly" on the Website for information on how to gamble responsibly, how to receive help in respect of problem gambling and our self-exclusion procedures.

REGISTERING WITH THE VERNONS AND YOUR PLAYER ACCOUNT

13.1 To use our range of Services you need to open a Player Account. You can open a Player Account by following the " Open An Account " link on the Website and following the instructions.

13.2 When you open a Player Account, you will be asked to provide personal information, including, but not limited to, your first and last name, address, email address and date of birth. It is your responsibility to ensure that the details provided at registration are accurate and kept up-to-date (especially your email address). You can change the details you provide at registration at any time by editing your Player Account preferences or contacting customer services using the details below. For further information about the collection and use of your personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy .

13.3 When you open your Player Account, you will be able to choose a unique username and password. After opening your Player Account, you must keep the username and password secret. We recommend that you regularly change the password.

13.4 All transactions where your username and password have been entered correctly will be regarded as valid, whether or not authorised by you, and we shall not be liable for any claims in the event that you disclose them to anyone. It is your sole responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your password and you are responsible for all activity that occurs under your username and password. You should notify us of any unauthorised use of your password and any breach of security as soon as you become aware of it.

13.5 If you lose or forget your username or password please follow the password recovery instructions on the Website or contact our customer services team using the details on the Website. It is your responsibility to contact our customer services team immediately to request a replacement password.

13.6 We retain the right to void any transactions or suspend your Player Account where you have provided incorrect details. In such a situation, all stakes or bets made will be returned to you and any winnings accrued at such time shall be forfeited by you.

DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS

14.1 To deposit funds, you will need to access your Player Account and click on the "View Your Account" link. You will then need to click on the link which says "'Deposit" and will be redirected to "Card Registration", where you will need to enter your credit or debit card details. Once you have registered your credit or debit card, you can deposit money. Only one debit or credit card may be registered to your Player Account. If you wish to change the debit or credit card registered to your Player Account then please follow the online instructions or contact our customer services team.

14.2 You can make payments into your Player Account using VISA or MasterCard credit cards and Switch/Maestro, Delta, Electron and Solo debit cards. We reserve the right to limit the maximum weekly amount which can be paid in.

14.3 When making payments into your Player Account, the name and address of the cardholder must be the same as that of the account holder. To help us combat fraud efficiently, it may be necessary for us to request personal identification from you in order to verify your registration details

14.4 We will credit your Player Account with your deposits and winnings. We are not a bank and monies deposited with us are held in a normal bank account in the name of Littlewoods Promotions Limited. We do not provide particular protection for the monies deposited in your Player Account in the event of our insolvency and such monies are not subject to special trust arrangements.

14.5 The minimum deposit is £5 and you can only bet up to the amount available in your Player Account. Funds in your Player Account do not bear interest and are deemed to be advance payments for intended bets.

14.6 You may make withdrawals from your Player Account to the debit or credit card which you have registered with us.

14.7 Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to us, we may at any time set off any positive balance in your Player Account against any amount owed to us by you.

14.8 We operate in secure mode using Thawte 128bit encryption certification, so any personal and financial details that you provide to us are encrypted during transmission.

ACCEPTANCE AND VALIDATION OF BETS

15.1 Bets should only be placed by you as the account holder. Monies will be deducted from your Player Account at the time of placing your bet, no matter when the result is determined.

15.2 In order for a bet placed via the Website to be valid, you must receive confirmation from us that the bet has been received. The bet is deemed confirmed when it registers on your account details page, accessed via the "View Your Account" button at the top of the screen. Once a bet has been confirmed, it cannot be cancelled, amended or reversed.

15.3 Please check your bet details carefully before submitting your bet to us. You may receive a message other than the confirmation message at paragraph 15.2 above, stating that the bet has not been accepted. We do not accept bets sent by email or other data transmission.

15.4 We reserve the right to accept or decline all, or part, of any bet.

15.5 Despite every effort to ensure total accuracy, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in respect of information provided on the Website.

15.6 If an error is made in the prices or conditions published, we reserve the right to correct any mistakes and to settle any bets already laid at the correct price.

15.7 Where we believe that match-rigging has taken place, either as a result of the size or volume of bets received, or from other evidence, or where the integrity of an individual event is called to question, we reserve the right to withhold payment and ultimately to declare bets on that event void.

15.8 Any bet accepted in error for an event that has already taken place, or where betting has been suspended, will be void.

PAYMENT OF WINNINGS

16.1 Subject to paragraph 17 below, returns due on your bets will be added to the balance of your Player Account once the relevant bet has been settled. You will be contacted by email for winnings over the maximum withdrawal limit asking for your instructions regarding method of payment.

16.2 Monies will remain in your Player Account unless you submit an online request for the outstanding balance to be transferred to your debit or credit card. Details of the "withdraw" option can be found via the "View Your Account" button at the top of the screen.

16.3 Once you have submitted an online request, you will receive a confirmation message that the transfer has been actioned and the balance of your Player Account will then clear to zero or the balance of the amount not withdrawn. If you reduce the balance of your Player Account down to zero, to place any further entries you will need to transfer a minimum deposit of £5 into your Player Account.

16.4 Where funds are transferred they will leave us at the close of business on the working day on which such transfer was requested and will be credited to the debit or credit card that you have registered with us. These funds will be subject to a clearance period determined by the card issuing bank (normally 3-5 working days).

MAXIMUM WINNINGS

The Website has maximum winnings of £250,000 per Player Account in any one 24-hour period, save for pool-based competitions where the jackpot is expressly stated to exceed £250,000.

CONTACTING US AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Any complaint that you have will be dealt with quickly and fairly as set out below.

Stage One

Contact our customer services team on 0800 993 995or by e-mail on help@vernons.co.uk. The team will look into your complaint and examine the relevant bet. The reference will be your email address if using that means of communication. The team will come back to you as soon as possible with a solution. It is particularly important that you give as many points of contact as possible (e.g. postal address, email address, fax number, etc). If you are not satisfied with the answer given under this Stage One, having informed us that this is the case you should proceed as below.

Stage Two

You can contact the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS), whose contact details are given below, and once your complaint has been submitted it will ask us to provide appropriate information. The dispute will then be placed before an independent panel of betting experts who will recommend what they believe is a fair settlement. IBAS will only deal with complaints about the bet itself and will examine disputes concerning the correct return for a bet or whether it has been correctly struck. IBAS cannot deal with complaints about service, which is a matter for our customer service team. IBAS requires that you have already had a complaint looked at by our customer services before it will adjudicate.

IBAS
PO Box 62639
London
EC3P 3AS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7347 5883
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7347 5882
email: adjudication@ibas-uk.co.uk
website: www.ibas-uk.com