“We’ve listened to the independent advisory board and are working at speed to make sure postmasters receive financial redress as fairly and as quickly as possible,” said Post Office minister Gareth Thomas.
Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal who feel their financial settlement did not reflect the true extent of their losses and trauma will be able to appeal via a new independent process from the UK government.
As it stands, 2,280 victims have reached an agreement with the Post Office to settle their claim under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), with £144 million in compensation paid out so far.
Compensation via HSS is available for postmasters who were not convicted, or part of legal action against the Post Office, but who still suffered considerably due to Horizon failures. The scheme is run by the Post Office and funded by the UK government.
Affected postmasters have the option to receive a fixed sum payment of £75,000 through the scheme, or choose a full claim assessment route if their losses exceed that amount.
However, the independent Advisory Board overseeing the matter raised concerns that, when the HSS opened in 2020, some claimants were unable to set out their claim in full.
The UK government said that this new appeals process will provide postmasters with the opportunity to have their claim re-assessed with the benefit of new or additional information they can provide.
Further, it said that the Department for Business and Trade will establish this new process as “quickly as possible” and will provide further updates on eligibility and how to apply when the scheme is launched.
“Delivering justice and financial redress to postmasters is my number one priority,” commented Post Office minister Gareth Thomas on the new appeals system.
“We’ve listened to the independent advisory board and are working at speed to make sure postmasters receive financial redress as fairly and as quickly as possible.
“This new appeals process will give postmasters the opportunity to have their settlements independently reviewed by my department.”
The Horizon IT scandal has been called one of, if not the biggest, miscarriages of justice in the UK.
Dating back to the 1990s, it resulted in hundreds of post office operators being wrongfully prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting due to faulty software. In total, around 900 people have been prosecuted.
As of 30 August 2024, around £289 million has been paid out to over 2,800 claimants across four financial redress schemes. These schemes are for victims who were both wrongfully convicted, and impacted but not convicted.