Post Office Horizon financial redress data: September 2023
Updated 2 December 2024
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The government is determined that postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal receive the financial redress that they deserve. As of 15 September 2023, £122 million has been paid to over 2,600 claimants across 3 schemes:
- Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS): £79 million
- Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme: £22 million total value of all payments including interim payments
- Overturned Convictions (OC) Scheme: 86 convictions have been overturned: £21 million total value of all payments including further interim payments
1. Claim data by scheme
| Scheme | Claims Received | Offer Made | Claims Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| OC initial interim payments | 85 | 82 | 82 |
| OC pecuniary | 21 | 10 | 5 |
| OC non-pecuniary | 73 | 70* | 59 |
| GLO scheme full and final | 20 | Withheld | Withheld |
| GLO scheme initial interim payment | Not applicable |
Not applicable |
473 |
| HSS eligible claims before deadline | 2,417 | 2,411 | 2,016 |
| HSS eligible late claim | 264 | 152 | 91 |
*Additional 3 have received a partial offer as part of the claim is still to be processed.
2. Notes for tables
- Information correct as of:
- OC – 31 August 2023
- GLO – 15 September 2023
- HSS – 5 September 2023
-
spend is rounded to nearest £1 million
-
some data are withheld by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for claimant privacy purposes
- data regarding the HSS and OC are sourced from Post Office Ltd which retains full responsibility for the data published on its website
2.1 Overturned Convictions (OC)
Initial interim payments are available to eligible postmasters upon getting their conviction overturned on the grounds that it was reliant on Horizon evidence
Non-pecuniary damages are personal damages, such as mental distress and loss of liberty. Pecuniary damages are financial damages, such as loss of earnings. A ‘full’ settlement comprises both elements of claim, however Post Office has been progressing non-pecuniary settlements first to get money to postmasters as quickly as possible.
For the purposes of this data publication, the numbers of claims received, offers made and claims settled do not necessarily correspond to the number of individuals who have received monies. A person may have received an interim payment, a non-pecuniary settlement and a pecuniary settlement, each of which would be counted as ‘one’ claim, offer and settlement.
2.2 Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLO)
There are 492 postmasters who are currently eligible for the Group Litigation Order Scheme.
The remaining 63 postmasters who were members of the Group Litigation Order have convictions and are therefore eligible to apply for financial redress once their conviction has been overturned.
473 of the 492 have received their share of the £19.5 million interim payment announced June 2022.
To note, 8 claimants in addition to the 473 have received 0 value payments.
Work continues on the remaining payments in complex categories such as those recently deceased and non-responders.
2.3 Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS)
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme is open to eligible claimants who suffered a Horizon-related shortfall.
Post Office received 2,417 eligible claims by March 2021.
The closure date for applications was 27 November 2020, but Post Office continued to accept applications for the original deadline group up to March 2021.
In October 2022, the government announced that additional funding would be provided so that eligible late claimants could receive financial redress, and the scheme reopened for applications.
Post Office has received 264 eligible late claims to date.
Interim payments on the HSS are available before and after claimants receive an offer of redress.
The £79 million paid out on the HSS includes £13.9 million in interim payments to original claimants and £0.3 million in interim payments to late applications.
3. Post Office data
This data is part of DBT’s Post Office Horizon financial redress data collection.
Post Office also publish updates on Overturned Convictions and financial redress, and the Horizon Shortfall Scheme on their website.