The government has Monday announced a new independent appeals process for postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
This 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.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme is run by Post Office Limited and funded by the government who have ultimate oversight of the scheme.
“Delivering justice and financial redress to postmasters is my number one priority,” Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said.
“We’ve listened to the independent advisory board and are working at speed to make sure postmasters receive financial redress as fairly and as quickly as possible. This new appeals process will give postmasters the opportunity to have their settlements independently reviewed by my department.”
To date, 2,280 individuals have reached an agreement with the Post Office to settle their claim under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, with £144m in compensation paid out, the government has revealed.
The new appeals system follows concerns raised by the independent Advisory Board that some claimants were unable to set out their claim in full when the Horizon Shortfall Scheme opened in 2020.
The government said this new appeals process will provide postmasters with the opportunity to have their claim re-assessed with the benefit of new or additional information they can provide.
The Department for Business and Trade will establish this process as quickly as possible and will provide further updates on eligibility and how to apply when the scheme is launched. It will seek input from the Advisory Board, postmasters and their representatives in designing the process.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme is available for postmasters who were not convicted, or part of legal action against the Post Office, but who still suffered considerably due to Horizon failures.
These postmasters have the option to receive a fixed sum payment of £75,000 or choose a full claim assessment route if they believe their losses exceed that amount.
As of 30 August 2024, approximately £289m has been paid to over 2,800 claimants across four schemes:
- Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS): £144 million
- Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme: £87 million total value of all payments including interim payments
- Overturned Convictions (OC): £56 million total value of all payments including further interim payments
- Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS): £1 million total value of all payments including interim payments
