Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS): applying for financial redress
Follow these steps to register for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and apply for your financial redress.
1. Register
Who can register
If you had a conviction that has been quashed by either:
you are eligible for financial redress. This means we will pay you for your losses.
You can still register if you think you’re eligible for the scheme but you’ve not got a letter.
If your conviction has been quashed
Your court and police records are being amended by His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Police.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is ensuring that records of your quashed convictions are removed from the Police National Computer (PNC). Since the PNC is the single national collection of convictions, this means that:
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there will no longer be a record of your quashed conviction available for day-to-day policing
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the quashed conviction will not be disclosed on any future criminal record check, such as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
2. Complete your ID checks
3. Apply for your preliminary payment
Once your identification documents have been verified, you and your solicitor will need to complete and send us the preliminary payment application form. This form also includes a fraud safeguard statement you’ll need to sign.
You will then receive a preliminary payment of £200,000.
This allows you time to consider whether to accept the £600,000 optional fixed settlement or request a detailed assessment.
If you live in the UK, you do not need to pay tax on any payments you get from the HCRS. They will not impact any benefits you receive.
You may need to read guidance on how a bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or a Debt Relief Order (DRO) affects your redress payment.
Complete the and email it to horizonconvictionsredress@businessandtrade.gov.uk to receive your £200,000 preliminary payment.
We’ll email you when we’ve processed your payment.
4. Read the assessment framework and your disclosure bundle
You and your solicitor should use the available documents to decide whether you’re going to take the optional fixed settlement of £600,000 or request a detailed assessment.
If you decide to accept the £600,000 optional fixed settlement, you will receive a final payment of £400,000. This amount when added to your £200,000 preliminary payment, will equal the £600,000 optional fixed settlement.
Assessment framework
The assessment framework sets out some examples of losses, and how much you might be owed in financial redress under the scheme for suffering them.
Read the assessment framework.
Disclosure bundle
If you were a postmaster, employed directly by the Post Office, you will receive a disclosure bundle.
Your disclosure bundle is a set of documents related to your work with the Post Office, and the events leading up to your conviction.
At this stage, your disclosure bundle will include the information we have on:
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your contract and remuneration with the Post Office
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whether you were eligible for the Royal Mail Share Plan
Your bundle will be uploaded to a secure portal, along with any other documents we share with you.
We’ll send you and your solicitor details on how to sign in to the secure portal.
If you were not employed by the Post Office, you will not receive a disclosure bundle. However, you can request more information from the Post Office by contacting us at horizonconvictionsredress@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
If you need your tax records
You can request your tax records if you wish. We recommend this step, as it will help you decide whether to take the £600,000 optional fixed settlement or request a detailed assessment. This will also make the process quicker.
If you need more information
If you need more information to make your decision, you can request it by contacting us at horizonconvictionsredress@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
We’ll let you know if this information is available and when it has been added to the portal.
5. Decide whether to take £600,000 or request a detailed assessment
Once we have confirmed your eligibility, we’ll send the 2 application forms to the contact details you have provided. You should complete and send us either the optional fixed settlement application form or the detailed assessment application form.
You should seek legal advice to help you, using our guidance on finding a solicitor.
There is no time limit for you to decide which option to take.
Option 1: take the £600,000 optional fixed settlement
If you decide to accept the £600,000 optional fixed settlement, you will receive a final payment of £400,000. This amount when added to your £200,000 preliminary payment, will equal the £600,000 optional fixed settlement.
If you accept the fixed sum settlement, you cannot get a detailed assessment at a later stage.
If you live in the UK, you do not need to pay tax on any payments you get from the HCRS. They will not impact any benefits you receive.
Complete the and email it to horizonconvictionsredress@businessandtrade.gov.uk to take the £600,000 optional fixed settlement.
Option 2: request a detailed assessment
If you request a detailed assessment:
- your detailed assessment settlement might be less than £600,000
- you won’t be able to take the optional fixed settlement of £600,000 at a later stage
You will need to provide evidence of your losses so you can receive the exact amount you lost.
This includes both financial damages (such as lost earnings) and personal damages (the impact on your life).
Submitting your evidence
You will need to submit your completed detailed assessment application form and evidence to the portal.
Use our guidance on how to request a detailed assessment.
After you have submitted your evidence
Once your detailed assessment application form and evidence has been submitted, you will receive a payment of £250,000 to bring your financial redress to £450,000.
Your case worker will contact you if they have any queries.
Receiving your detailed assessment offer
You will then receive a detailed assessment offer with an explanation on how the amount was calculated.
You and your solicitor then need to consider whether to accept the offer or not.
If you disagree with your offer, you can discuss your options with your case worker and solicitor.
If you cannot come to an agreement, read the guidance on appealing your offer.
Accepting your detailed assessment offer
Once you have accepted your detailed assessment offer, you will sign a settlement agreement to formalise this.
You should note:
- any payments you have already received will be deducted from the final settlement payment
- interest is generally payable on past financial damages. Interest will be paid at 3.45% compound from the date the loss was incurred, where relevant. Interest is not payable on non-financial damages
If you live in the UK, you do not need to pay tax on any payments you get from the HCRS. They will not impact any benefits you receive.
6. Appeal your offer (optional)
You can appeal your financial redress offer if both of the following apply:
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you do not agree with your offer
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you are unable to find an agreement with DBT
There are 2 ways you can appeal:
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stage 1 – external experts will mediate conversations between you and DBT until you find an agreement
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stage 2 – a panel of experts will assess your case and recommend a solution, the panel is made up of experts in:
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law
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medical
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accounts
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retail
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Updates to this page
Published 30 July 2024Last updated 1 November 2024 + show all updates
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Guidance on how a bankruptcy, IVA or DRO affects your redress payment added to '3. Apply for your preliminary payment' section.
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Updated the HCRS preliminary payment application form: 2 additional questions added on the ‘Linked Applications’ section - 'Have you received an offer or payment because of your application to any other Post Office scheme?' and 'If so, how much has been paid/offered?'; bankruptcy table expanded asking for more information up from if applicable; a new text box to fill in for debt relief orders.
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Preliminary payment application form updated to make bankruptcy section clearer for applicants.
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Preliminary payment form updated to include: a question asking for details of any linked applications, the email address that applicants must send the form to, the payment policy.
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First published.