BETFAIR HAVE agreed to make ex gratia payments to a number of their customers that were affected by a technical error on the company’s website during a race at Leopardstown on December 28th.

The online betting exchange had originally voided all “in-play” bets on the race after an investigation found that a technical error had seen the winning horse, Voler La Vedette, matched at 28 to 1 when the market was suspended.

During the race, one bet was placed on the winner for over €25 million at odds of 28 to 1, leaving one customer with a maximum liability of over €700 million.

Following further investigations, Betfair say that “in the interests of fairness” that certain categories of the voided bets, believed to be taken in the first minute of the race, will now receive ex gratia payments. Customers with losing bets will not have to pay out.

According to a company statement released yesterday, the categories of bets that will be compensated are:

1) In-play winning positions in both the ‘win’ and the ‘to be placed’ markets which were achieved before the technology failure; and

2) In-play winning positions in the ‘to be placed’ market achieved at any time through to the completion of the race.

Bets matched in the ‘win’ market after the technology failure will remain void.