The Post Office is taking determined action to address the past and provide fair, full and final redress for victims of the Horizon Scandal.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme* is for current and former Postmasters who believe they experienced shortfalls related to previous versions of the Horizon system.
Please note: A Government announcement on 13 March 2024, includes extending its GLO Scheme £75k offer to eligible Horizon Shortfall Scheme claimants. Post Office is working closely with Government on implementing this change as soon as possible. The Government’s press release can be found here: Wrongful Post Office convictions to be quashed through landmark legislation: 13 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We expect to be in a position in the coming weeks to share more details about how this affects claimants in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme and when payment might be made. We will keep the Scheme’s website updated: The Horizon Shortfall Scheme | One Post Office
We are acutely aware that in some cases shortfalls caused severe impacts on postmasters’ lives. The Scheme provides for the human costs, such as personal injury, distress and inconvenience, harassment, loss of reputation and bankruptcy costs where these are directly related to shortfalls. The Scheme guide can be found here.
An Independent Advisory Panel of Experts assesses Scheme claims and recommends fair outcomes. The Panel has a discretion of fairness and may take into account any matters they consider will produce a fair result. Claimants who are unhappy with their offer can rightly dispute it, with independent legal advice reimbursed by Post Office and an interim payment of up to 100% of the proposed settlement. The dispute process also provides for free, independent mediation.
There are separate redress arrangements for people with Horizon-related convictions that have been overturned.
Specific information about progress of redress for Postmasters subject to bankruptcy orders can be found from the Insolvency Service.
Offers of more than £127m have been made through the Scheme. Please see the table below for more information.
Eligible late applications
In addition to applicants who are currently part of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, or who have already accepted offers, we are aware there are people who, for a variety of reasons and circumstances, were unable to apply to the Scheme while it was open in 2020.
To recognise this, we now accept eligible late applications into the Scheme. You can find information about eligible late applications on the Scheme website. Post Office is tracking the progress of claims accepted into the Scheme after October 2022. Please see table below.
We update the information below on a monthly basis. The data shown below is correct as of 28 March 2024.
*Please note: following feedback received, the name of the Scheme changed on 7 July 2023 to Horizon Shortfall Scheme. It is the same Scheme and there are no other changes. Therefore, current or former applicants do not need to do anything further or re-apply.
Progress of eligible claims made before October 2022
| Offers and Payments progress |
Number
|
| Number of eligible claims still awaiting an offer |
0
|
| Total number of settlement offers sent to date |
2,417
|
| Total value of settlement offers made to date |
£112.0m
|
| Total number of payments made to date |
2,053
|
| Total amount paid to applicants to date* |
£94.81m
|
| Claims going through dispute resolution** |
286
|
* Note: of £94.81m paid to applicants to date, £26.33m have been interim payments
** Includes 5 suspended outcomes where the applicant did not respond to Post Office’s requests for further information and has been advised no further chasers will be sent.
Progress of late applications
| Offers and Payments progress (Post October 2022 Applications) |
Number
|
| Number of eligible claims received to date |
556
|
| Total number of settlement offers sent to date |
275
|
| Total value of settlement offers made to date |
£15.40m
|
| Total number of payments made to date |
155
|
| Total amount paid to applicants to date* |
£8.59m
|
| Claims going through dispute resolution |
58
|
*Note: Of the £8.59m paid to date, £3.02m have been interim payments.