Horizon Shortfall Scheme – Post Office encourages current and former postmasters to apply

Post Office is writing to around 25,000 postmasters who have not yet applied to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.

The Scheme was established by Post Office in 2020, following the settlement of the High Court Group Litigation, to provide redress to current and former postmasters who suffered past losses related to previous versions of the Post Office’s Horizon computer system, in what has become known as the Horizon IT Scandal.

Post Office has started writing to those who may have been affected during the relevant period, from around 1999, but who have not yet applied to the Scheme.

The communications explain that there is a new voluntary option to apply for a £75k Fixed Sum Award or, if postmasters prefer, they can apply for a full assessment, which is undertaken by an Independent Advisory Panel.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We strongly encourage eligible former and current postmasters to come forward and claim redress. Post Office is committed to doing all it can to ensure that all victims of the scandal receive the financial redress they deserve and to providing this as quickly as possible.”

Any postmaster who was impacted and wishes to apply to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme does not need to wait to receive a letter. They can start their application by visiting: The Horizon Shortfall Scheme | One Post Office

£75,000 Fixed Sum Award

The Government announced on 13 March 2024 that the £75,000 Fixed Sum Award - originally for claimants in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme – would be extended to all eligible claimants in the HSS. This option is entirely voluntary and is recognised as not appropriate for every case.

Post Office has been making additional top-up offers and payments to eligible claimants who have already accepted an offer from the HSS and received a full and final settlement of less than £75,000, and the Fixed Sum Award offer is now being administered more broadly for postmasters with live applications still in the Scheme. 

As at 30 September 2024 more than £196 million had been paid to eligible postmasters within the Scheme, and offers and payments continue every week. The latest progress on payments can be found here.

The latest information on all the four main schemes for redress can be found on the Government’s website here.

Background:

Post Office continues to work alongside Government to get payments to people affected by the Horizon Scandal as quickly as possible. There are four main Schemes providing financial redress:

Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS): Post Office is administering the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, established in 2020 to provide redress for postmasters who were not claimants in the Group Litigation. To date, more than 4,000 postmasters have made claims through the Scheme. Post Office is currently writing (as above) to invite postmasters who have not yet applied to do so if they wish as the Scheme will close to new applicants at some point in the future.

Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is administering the GLO scheme, which provides ex-gratia redress for postmasters who were claimants in the Group Litigation and part of its settlement in 2019.

 Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS): DBT is also administering the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme which was recently opened to provide redress for people whose criminal convictions are overturned by legislation passed into law by the UK and Scottish Governments earlier this year.

Overturned Convictions Scheme: Post Office is administering redress for people whose Horizon-related criminal convictions have been overturned by the Courts, following appeals.

The latest data on the progress of payments through the four schemes can be found on the Government’s website here.