The Post Office is taking extensive action to ensure that miscarriages of justice are fully addressed through the Courts and that fair, full and final compensation is provided.
Convictions
Post Office has identified a total of 700 convictions in cases it prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 in which Horizon computer evidence might have featured.
The total number of all overturned convictions as of 2 November 2023 is 93. This includes five cases in which Post Office was not the prosecutor.
More than £22.4 million has been paid in compensation to date.
You can find more information about assistance for appealing convictions here.
Eligibility for compensation
Anyone who has a successfully appealed against a Horizon-related conviction can apply for compensation via arrangements Post Office has put in place for this. This includes administrators acting on behalf of estates for any person who has sadly passed away.
Support for legal costs
To ensure that people affected are advised and supported throughout the process, Post Office strongly recommends that they seek independent legal advice. Post Office pays all reasonable legal fees and expert fees (e.g. medical, accountancy or property valuation) separately to compensation.
Compensation payments
£22.4 million in compensation has been provided so far to people whose convictions have been overturned.
On 18 September 2023 the Government announced that anyone who was wrongly convicted and has had their conviction overturned as it was reliant on Horizon evidence, will be given the option of settling their claim for compensation for an up-front sum of £600,000, without the need to bring a formal claim to Post Office. This is an entirely voluntary choice and anyone who does not want to accept this offer can continue with the existing process where each claim is assessed on its specific facts and individual circumstances.
A minimum of £163,000 has been paid to all eligible claimants with an overturned conviction, who have applied for an interim payment or submitted a claim. In addition, partial settlement or further interim payment offers are made, based on information people are able to provide about their losses. This means money can be paid to people more quickly, ahead of reaching final settlements.
See the tables below for more detailed information about progress of appeals and compensation. These are updated monthly and the data shown is correct as of 2 November 2023.
Progress of Court appeals of convictions
As at 2 November 2023. Please refer to footnotes for further information.
| Total relevant convictions (1999 – 2015) [1] |
700
|
| Number of completed appeal cases [2] |
140
|
| Number of convictions overturned [3] |
88
|
| Number of convictions upheld/ cases refused permission to appeal or withdrawn from Court [4] |
52
|
| Number of cases currently with Appeal Courts [5] |
2
|
| Number of people with relevant convictions not yet contacted - so far unable to be located and require further tracing [6] |
26
|
Interim compensation payments
As of 2 November 2023, a total of £14,174,382 has been paid to 82 claimants via all Interim Payments (both initial and further payments).
Interim payments are made as quickly as possible after the overturning of convictions.
| Number of convictions overturned [7] |
93
|
| Number of claimants applying for interim payments [8] |
86
|
| Number of claimants who have interim payments [9] |
83
|
| Number of claims where offer not made [10] |
3
|
| Total amount of initial interim payments made to 31 August 2023 [11] |
£11,559,757
|
| Number of offers for further interim payments [12] |
131
|
| Number of further payments made |
109
|
| Total amount of further interim payments made |
£2,614,625
|
| Total amount of all interim payments (both initial and further payments) |
£14,174,382
|
Further payments
We are providing victims with compensation which reflects the human costs suffered as well as financial impacts.
To make sure money reaches victims as quickly as possible, we are paying compensation for personal (‘non-pecuniary’) damages to individuals – for example for distress, damage to reputation and personal injury - as soon as these parts of claims are settled, whilst the pecuniary parts (e.g. loss of earnings) are being progressed and completed. This is in addition to the interim payments (detailed above) of up to £163,000 made following the Court overturning of convictions based on Horizon evidence.
| Non-Pecuniary claims |
|
| Number of claims received for personal (non-pecuniary) damages [14] |
76
|
| Number of offers made for personal damages [15] |
76
|
| Number of settlements agreed for personal damages [16] |
60
|
| Additional payments made for personal damages [17] |
£7,212,510
|
| Pecuniary claims (financial losses) | |
| Number of claims received for pecuniary damages, including partial claims |
22
|
| Number of offers made for pecuniary damages |
10
|
| Number of settlements of pecuniary claims |
5
|
| Number of full and final settlements agreed and paid: i.e. includes both personal damages (non-pecuniary) and financial losses (pecuniary) [18] |
5
|
| Total of all compensation to date for people with Horizon-related overturned convictions (includes interim, partial and final payments) [19] |
£22.4m
|
References
[1] Convictions in cases prosecuted by Post Office, in which Horizon evidence may have featured. The total does not include prosecutions by other agencies, namely Crown Prosecution Service, Dept. for Work and Pensions, Procurator Fiscal in Scotland, Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland and Royal Mail Group. Post Office is engaged with other prosecutors and has shared the limited historical records it holds on such prosecutions. Please note the number has reduced from 704 previously reported on this site due to further information being received.
[2] Includes convictions overturned/ upheld, cases refused permission by the Court to appeal and cases formally withdrawn from the Court and those that Post Office is aware have not been referred for appeal by the CCRC.
[3] The total number of overturned convictions in cases prosecuted by Post Office. This number excludes five overturned convictions in which Post Office was not the prosecutor and the Crown Prosecution Service, Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPSNI), or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) was the appeal respondent.
[4] Includes convictions upheld by the Court, cases refused permission to appeal and cases formally withdrawn from the Court. Number includes cases that Post Office is aware have not been referred for appeal by the CCRC.
[5] Total number of cases at Southwark Crown Court and Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) awaiting Court hearings/determinations.
[6] Number of people, with relevant convictions, untraceable to date and who are subject to further tracing to contact them.
[7] Total number of convictions overturned by appeal Courts. This number includes five cases in which Post Office was not the prosecutor and the Crown Prosecution Service, Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland (PPSNI), or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) was the appeal respondent.
[8] Number of claimants who have submitted one or more applications to Post Office for interim payments.
[9] Number of claimants who have received one or more interim payments, prior to acceptance of settlement offer(s).
[10] The three cases where interim payment offers were not made related to Crown Court appeals where it did not appear that Horizon was essential to the prosecution. Post Office did not oppose those appeals because it was not in the public interest to re-try the individuals concerned (which is the procedure in Crown Court appeals), rather than on grounds connected to Horizon’s reliability. Although Post Office declined to make interim payments in those cases, these individuals were still able to make a claim for compensation with each case considered on its merits. Claims have been presented in all 3 cases and Post Office has fully settled 2 of the cases.
[11] Total amount of initial and top up interim payments made prior to Post Office receiving claims and/or making offers.
[12] Further interim payments comprise payments following submission of partial or additional claims. This includes Prosecution related shortfall payments, made in advance of submission of a full Pecuniary claim.
[14] Number of particularised claims received by Post Office for personal damages (such as injury or distress).
[15] Number of offers of compensation Post Office has made in respect of non-pecuniary claims
[16] Number of settlements agreed between Post Office and claimants for non-pecuniary compensation (includes the five cases where claimants have also agreed settlements for pecuniary losses and have therefore now reached and received final settlement).
[17] Total of all payments made for personal damages so far (includes the five cases where claimants have also agreed settlements for pecuniary losses and have therefore reached and received final settlement).
[18] Number of full and final settlements agreed and paid in respect of all parts of the claims.
[19] A claim for one individual who was prosecuted by Post Office but not convicted is currently within the compensation process. Compensation totals shown include the amounts paid out to date regarding that claim.