Post Office is taking determined action to pay full, fair and final financial redress for victims of the Horizon Scandal. We must address the past and put things right, as far as that is possible, so that people can move forward with their lives.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) is for current and former postmasters who believe they experienced shortfalls related to previous versions of the Horizon system. Information on how to apply is available on the scheme website. This page provides background information and progress data on payments that have been made.
Total payments of more than £373m have been made through the Scheme as at 28 February 2025. You can access the latest redress figures here.
£75,000 Fixed Sum Award
The Government announced, on 13 March 2024, that a £75,000 Fixed Sum Award would be available, subject to eligibility and the confirmation of a Horizon shortfall, as a voluntary option, to individuals in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. Individuals can choose to accept the £75,000 Fixed Sum Award instead of the full assessment process. Those who don’t wish to choose this option can opt for a full assessment by an independent panel.
Those who have previously settled their claims for less than the Fixed Sum Award have had their redress topped up to £75,000. We are now administering this top up to £75,000 for those postmasters with live applications within the Scheme.
We will continue to keep the Scheme’s website updated. Please also see the tables below for information on progress of these payments.
Postmasters who have not yet applied
We are writing to current and former postmasters who have not yet applied to the Scheme.
This invites postmasters to apply if they wish to but haven’t yet done so, because there will be a closing date for the Scheme in future. It also explains the new option to apply for a £75,000 Fixed Sum Award (see above) instead of applying for full assessment by the Scheme, which includes assessment by an Independent Advisory Panel, if the postmaster prefers.
Both options are included in the application form for the postmaster to choose their preference. We will continue to keep the Scheme’s website updated with information.
Post-October 2022 applications (‘late applications’)
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme was originally open for applications in 2020. However, we allowed further applications beyond the original end date of November 2020 because we became aware that there were people who, for a variety of reasons and circumstances, were unable to apply for the HSS when it was originally open.
It remains open for applications and we encourage anyone who thinks they may be eligible to get in touch.
HSS data is therefore broken down into ‘original applications’ and ‘post-October 2022 applications’ or sometimes called ‘late applications’. Data on progress and payments for these two cohorts is available in two tables below.
Human costs
We are acutely aware that in some cases shortfalls caused severe impacts on postmasters’ lives. The Scheme provides redress 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.
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. The Government made an important announcement about redress for people with overturned convictions on 3 March 2025, and more information can be found here and in the Government’s announcement here.
Specific information about progress of redress for postmasters subject to bankruptcy orders can be found from the Insolvency Service.
Tax Top-Up payments
Following a Government announcement on 19 June 2023, postmasters who have settled their claims in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) receive individual Tax Top-Up payments to ensure the amount of redress they have been paid is not unduly reduced by tax. There is further information on the Scheme website and please see the tables below for information on these payments.
Independent appeals process
On 9 September 2024 the Government announced a new independent appeals process for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. Their news release can be found here.
This welcome announcement further supports our shared commitment to ensuring full and fair redress. It will mean postmasters who feel their financial settlement did not reflect the true extent of their losses and trauma will be able to apply for the new independent appeals process, which will be overseen by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
We will keep this website updated with further information and details from DBT when these are available.
We update the information below on a monthly basis. The data shown below is correct as at 28 February 2025.
All Horizon Shortfall Scheme Applications
The table below shows the total number of eligible claims that Post Office has received to date, the number of offers that have been made to claimants, and the total value of payments that have been made as part of this scheme. This table covers both Fixed Sum Award applications and fully assessed applications, data for these two groups is split out in the tables below.
| All Horizon Shortfall Scheme Applications | Volume | Value |
| Eligible claims received to date | 8,567 | |
| Offers made to date | 5,246 | |
| Payments made to date | £373.68m |
Fixed Sum Awards
As set out above, individuals can apply for a £75,000 Fixed Sum Award through the HSS, without the need to have their case fully assessed. The table below shows the number of individuals who have applied for the £75,000 Fixed Sum Award directly, the number of offers that have been made to eligible applicants, and the value of payments which have been made through this mechanism.
| Fixed Sum Awards* | Volume | Value |
| Eligible £75k fixed sum claims received to date | 3,906 | |
| £75k fixed sum offers made to date | 1,617 | |
| £75k fixed sum payments made to date | 1,023 | £76.73m |
*This table does not include those applicants who originally applied for the full assessment option, but later moved over into the Fixed Sum Award category.
Offers & Payment progress
| Offers and Payments progress (late/post-October 2022 applications) |
Volume
|
Value
|
| Eligible claims received to date |
2,244
|
|
| Full assessment settlement offers sent to date |
547
|
|
| Fixed sum award settlement offers sent to date |
665
|
|
| Total paid to applicants to date (includes all payments as detailed below) |
£82.82m
|
|
| Full assessment final settlements paid to date |
346
|
£17.23m
|
| Interim payments paid to date |
120
|
£8.68m
|
| £75k fixed sum awards paid to date |
589
|
£44.14m
|
| £75k Top-Ups paid to date |
187
|
£10.48m
|
| Tax Top-Ups paid to date |
258
|
£2.29m
|
| Offers and Payments progress (original applications) |
Volume
|
Value
|
| Eligible claims still awaiting an offer |
0
|
|
| Settlement offers sent to date |
2,417
|
|
| Total paid to applicants to date (includes all payments as detailed below) |
665
|
£214.13m |
| Final settlement payments paid to date | 2,100 |
£74.59m
|
| Interim payments paid to date | 462 | £33.48m |
| Top-up payments to £75k paid to date | 1,530 | £91.63m |
| Tax top-up payments paid to date | 1,867 | £14.43m |
Heads of loss
The table below represents amounts offered for both pre-October 2022 and late applications post October-2022 by main heads of loss claimed, as at 28 February 2025.
| Head of loss | Number of claimants offered |
Average |
| Shortfall | 2,775 | £23,549 |
| Loss of Earnings | 412 | £101,207 |
| D&I | 1,514 | £4,850 |
| Personal Injury | 88 | £60,761 |
| Other | 389 | £41,273 |
Note 1: The above amounts include compensatory interest.
Note 2: The above amounts exclude top ups paid in respect of tax and the £75k fixed sum.
HSS Fixed Sum Award Process
Post Office is committed to reporting redress data as clearly and helpfully as possible. The following charts are designed to indicate how long the Horizon Shortfall Scheme process may take; from the time the application is received by Post Office through to the payment being made to the applicant.
There are two charts, the first details the Fixed Sum Award process and the second applies to the assessed claim process, both within the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The charts show a) the key stages in the process, b) how many claims are at each stage, and c) how long on average an application takes to process.
We will update these charts monthly.
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The difference between offers issued and offers paid is either the cases awaiting payment, offers under query, or have not yet accepted their offer.
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Time to offer is measured in calendar days, and time to payment in business days.
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For processing to commence, certain documentation may be required. For example, for an acceptance to be processed we require a signed and dated acceptance with bank account details, in some instances we also require a verified bank statement.
HSS Assessed Claims Process
The data in this chart includes both the ‘original’ (i.e. pre-October 2022) and ‘late’ (i.e. post-October 2022) applications to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
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The difference between offers issued and offers paid is either the cases awaiting payment, offers under query, or have not yet accepted their offer.
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All days are calendar days (not business days).
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For processing to commence, certain documentation may be required. For example, for an acceptance to be processed we require a signed and dated acceptance with bank account details, in some instances we also require a verified bank statement.