Financial redress factsheet: Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill
Updated 30 April 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-office-horizon-system-offences-bill-supporting-documents/financial-redress-factsheet-post-office-horizon-system-offences-bill
Compensation scheme overview
Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme
In 2016 a group of 555 postmasters took the Post Office to the High Court in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) case. The claimants agreed an out-of-court settlement with Post Office in December 2019 including a payment of £42.5 million plus costs. The postmasters had to pay around £31 million of this sum to the company which had funded their action.
Following the introduction of the Overturned Convictions scheme (see below), the unconvicted members of the GLO group were left as the less generously compensated than other postmasters in similar circumstances. The government announced in March 2022 that it would run a compensation scheme (“the GLO Scheme”) to provide these people with financial redress on a similar basis to other postmasters.
Read more about the GLO scheme.
Horizon Shortfall scheme
As part of the settlement of the GLO case, the Post Office agreed to set up what became the Horizon Shortfall scheme.
Current and former postmasters who were not part of the GLO and who did not have a criminal conviction were eligible for the scheme.
The Post Office launched the scheme in May 2020 and it was originally open until November 2020. The government announced in October 2022 that it would provide funding to Post Office so that late applications could be accepted into the scheme.
The scheme received 2,417 applications before November 2020, all of whom 100% have now received an offer. A further 447 late claims have since been submitted. As of 1 March 2024, £107 million had been paid out.
Read more about the Horizon Shortfall scheme.
Overturned Convictions scheme (via courts)
Government is providing funding for Post Office to reach settlements with postmasters with overturned convictions. As of 24 April 2024, 103 convictions had been overturned, with over £42 million paid out.
Amounts of financial redress are settled by the Post Office engaging with individual claimants or their representatives. These claims will be carefully examined so that postmasters receive fair financial redress and the payments that they deserve.
Following comments from the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, Post Office introduced a remediation process for resolving compensation claims according to pecuniary principles with the use of an Independent Panel chaired by Sir Gary Hickinbottom.
Government has provided funding for an optional upfront offer of £600,000 for those with overturned Horizon convictions. This is a straightforward route to settlement. Alternatively, people can choose to submit a full claim.
Government is providing funding for Post Office to make interim payments of up to £163,000 per eligible postmaster whose conviction has been overturned.
To encourage early submission of claims, for claimants who have not opted for the £600,000 fixed offer, once the Post Office receives a full claim from someone with an overturned conviction, it will top up their interim redress to £450,000.
Post Office will pay all reasonable legal fees and expert fees (for example, medical, accountancy or property valuation) separately to financial redress.
Read more about the Overturned Convictions scheme (via courts).
Overturned Convictions scheme (via legislation)
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly convicted after shortfalls of money appeared in their branches, due to faults with Horizon software. To quash these wrongful convictions as quickly as possible the government is introducing exceptional, new primary legislation. This will be followed by the provision of a route to rapid financial redress on a similar basis to the Overturned Convictions scheme described above.
Summary table
| Scheme | Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) | Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme | Overturned Convictions scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery body | Post Office | Department for Business and Trade | Post Office |
| Purpose of scheme | A scheme for non-convicted postmasters who were not part of the Group Litigation Order case. | A scheme to top up redress from High Court Group Litigation Order case | A scheme to provide financial redress to those who were wrongfully convicted of Horizon-related offences, once their convictions have been overturned |
| How are schemes accessed | Claims are assessed by an Independent Panel, comprising legal, forensic accounting and retail experts. The Panel assesses claims against established legal principles but is also able to exercise its discretion where the postmaster is unable to provide documentary evidence. | Claims are assessed by the DBT, with advice from Addleshaw Goddard. Claims are assessed in line with the scheme’s published guidance and principles, which have been modelled on the HSS and reviewed by Sir Ross Cranston during their development. | Claims assessed by Post Office, with oversight by DBT. Non-pecuniary claims assessed in line with framework provided by retired Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson, in his Early Neutral Evaluation. Pecuniary claims assessed in line with pecuniary principles, developed with claimant legal representatives. |
| Up front offers | Yes, £75,000 | Yes, £75,000 | Yes, £600,000 |
| Interim Payments | Yes, on request. Up to 100% of an offer that has been made, where this is possible. | Yes, interim payments have been made throughout the duration of the scheme. | Yes, £163,000 available upon overturn, and top up to £450,000 (less any payments already received) available upon receipt of full claim, subject to light touch assessment. |
| Independent Panel | The Independent Panel assesses each claim under the HSS before an offer is made. There have not been any cases where Post Office have made a lower award than the amount recommended by the Panel. | An independent panel comprising a legal specialist, a forensic accounting specialist and either a retail specialist or a medical specialist, depending on the specifics of the case, can review disputed cases where the parties are unable to reach agreement. | Independent panel of experts chaired by Sir Gary Hickinbottom to review disputed offers. |
| Appeal Process | There is a Post Office run Dispute Resolution Process. Where a postmaster is unhappy with their offer, they can dispute it with the aid of legal support. There is a team in place in Post Office to support with any queries or wider concerns. Where new evidence is provided by the postmaster or their representative, the claim will re-flow to the Independent Panel for a further assessment. If the postmaster does not accept a revised offer, they can go to an independent mediator. | The Independent Panel provides an initial mechanism for appeal, however following the independent panel, DBT or the claimant can refer the claim to the independent reviewer, Sir Ross Cranston, if the Panel have made a manifest error or if the Panel’s final assessment is substantially inconsistent with the Guidance and Principles. | Applicants will have the right to continued appeal through the courts |
| Legal Fees | Government provides funding for reasonable legal costs at the offer stage. | Government provides funding for reasonable legal costs, which are defined by an agreed tariff. | Government provides funding for reasonable legal costs. |
Latest figures for claims submitted, offers made and payments
The department publishes a monthly report on the progress of the Post Office compensation schemes.
Financial redress
The passage of legislation to overturn hundreds of wrongful convictions will be followed by the provision of a route to rapid financial redress.
Families of deceased postmasters
Where a postmaster has sadly passed away, their estate can apply for and receive financial redress on their behalf under any of the schemes.
Compensation schemes
Postmasters’ eligibility for the various compensation schemes will depend on their individual circumstances, and postmasters will not receive financial redress through multiple schemes.
The Overturned Convictions Scheme is open to postmasters whose Horizon-related convictions have been quashed, or to postmasters who were prosecuted but not convicted and who were not part of the 2019 Group Litigation Order and did not have a direct contract with the Post Office.
The HSS scheme is open to postmasters who were not part of the 2019 Group Litigation Order and were not convicted but did suffer as a result of Horizon shortfalls.
The GLO scheme is open to postmasters who were part of the 2019 Group Litigation Order and who were not convicted.
Availability of financial redress for family members
Many of the impacts experienced by family members will already be compensated for under the various Horizon-related compensation schemes. For example, there will be full financial redress paid to the affected postmaster for joint losses such as where a family home has been lost, and this will take account of the financial impacts on family members.
Cost of financial redress
The final cost of Horizon financial redress will depend on the circumstances set out in individual claims. We are promising fair and equal treatment of postmasters, not a set amount of money. The amount we spend will depend on the claims which are submitted.
The government has to date made available a maximum of just over £1 billion to ensure postmasters receive financial redress fairly. That is not a forecast: it is an estimate of the maximum government funding which could be needed for financial redress, which we have made in response to our obligation to make subsidies transparent.
Timescales
There is no time limit on financial redress for the Overturned Convictions scheme.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme is still open to applications. Post Office will continue to process claims as quickly as possible.
There is no time limit on financial redress for the GLO Scheme, however it remains the ambition for all claims to be considered by August 2024.