Post Office is taking determined action to address the past and provide fair, full and final financial 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.
Total payments of more than £230m have been made through the Scheme as at 31 October 2024.
Postmasters who have not yet applied
We have started 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, as 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 below) 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.
£75,000 Fixed Sum Awards
The Government announced on 13 March 2024 that it is extending the £75,000 Fixed Sum Award - originally for Group Litigation Order (GLO) claimants - to all eligible claimants in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who have suffered a Horizon shortfall.
We have been making additional Top-Up offers and payments to eligible claimants who have already accepted an HSS Offer and received a full and final settlement of less than £75,000 and are now administering the fixed sum offer more broadly for those postmasters with live applications still within the Scheme.
We will continue to keep the Scheme’s website updated: The Horizon Shortfall Scheme. Please also see the tables below for information on progress of these payments.
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. 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.
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 here and please see the tables below for information on these payments.
Eligible late applications
In addition to claimants 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, eligible late applications are accepted into the Scheme. Post Office is tracking the progress of claims accepted into the Scheme after October 2022. Please see table below.
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: New independent appeals system for postmasters impacted by Horizon scandal - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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 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 31 October 2024.
*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. In addition, please note that following feedback, we now use the term ‘redress’ rather than ‘compensation’ when referring to payments made through the remediation Schemes being administered by Post Office. No offence was ever intended by use of the term ‘compensation’ and we apologise for any that was caused to participants in the Schemes.
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 (does not include the separate offers for tax top-up payments or offers for top-up payments to £75k for eligible claimants) |
£113.20m
|
| Total paid to claimants to date (includes all payments as detailed below) |
£196.84m
|
| Total number of final settlement payments made to date |
2,075
|
| Total value of final settlement payments made to date |
£71.06m
|
| Total value of interim payments made to date |
£31.59m
|
| Total number of Top-Up payments to £75k made to date |
1345
|
| Total value of Top-Up payments to £75k made to date |
£80.77m
|
| Total number of Tax Top-Up payments made to date |
1,798
|
| Total value of Tax Top-Up payments made to date |
£13.42m
|
| Claims going through dispute resolution |
226
|
** Includes 8 paused outcomes where the claimant did not respond to Post Office’s requests for further information and has been advised no further follow-up reminders will be sent.
Progress of late applications
| Offers and Payments progress (Post October 2022 Applications) |
Number
|
| Number of eligible claims received to date |
1,850
|
| Total number of settlement offers sent to date |
376
|
| Total value of settlement offers made to date (does not include the separate offers for tax top-up payments or offers for top-up payments to £75k for eligible claimants) |
£22.10m
|
| Total paid to claimants to date (includes all payments as detailed below) |
£33.16m
|
| Total number of final settlement payments made to date |
246
|
| Total value of final settlement payments made to date |
£9.41m
|
| Total value of interim payments made to date |
£6.41m
|
| Total number of fixed sum (£75k awards) paid to date |
125
|
| Total value of fixed sum(£75k awards) made to date |
£9.38m
|
| Total number of Top-Up payments to £75k made to date |
119
|
| Total value of Top-Up payments to £75k made to date |
£6.63m
|
| Total number of Tax Top-Up payments made to date |
181
|
| Total value of Tax Top-Up payments made to date |
£1.33m
|
| Claims going through dispute resolution |
82
|
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 31 October 2024.
| Head of loss | Offered (£m) |
Number of claimants offered |
Average (£) |
| Shortfall | 63.7 | 2,749 | 23,166 |
| Loss of Earnings | 40.3 | 408 | 98,895 |
| D&I | 7.1 | 1,472 | 4,816 |
| Personal Injury | 5.1 | 81 | 62,916 |
| Other | 15.6 | 385 | 40,539 |
| TOTAL | 131.8 | 2,776 | 47,487 |
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