Post Office welcomes Government announcement of optional £600,000 settlements for convictions overturned on basis of Horizon evidence

Post Office today welcomed the Government’s announcement that people whose convictions were overturned on the basis of Horizon evidence will be given the option of settling their claims for compensation for an up-front sum of £600,000, without the need to bring a formal claim.

Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read said: “Post Office is making good progress to pay compensation to those affected as quickly as possible and therefore welcomes the news that Government has found a way to provide the option of concluding settlements through their upfront offer. This will be an entirely voluntary choice and so claimants should obtain specific advice from their independent legal and professional representatives in considering whether it is suitable in their individual case.”

The offer is not expected to be appropriate in every case and anyone who does not want to accept it can continue with the existing process where each claim is fully assessed by reference to its specific facts and individual losses. Post Office will continue to process these claims as quickly as possible.

More than £21 million has been paid in compensation to date to people whose convictions have been overturned. All those eligible have received interim payments of a minimum of £163,000, and further payments have continued to be made towards concluding final settlements.

Overall, across all compensation arrangements, a total of more than £120 million has been paid to date to 2,600 individuals affected by the Horizon Scandal.

The Government’s announcement can be found here Government announces £600,000 of new compensation for every wrongfully convicted Postmaster - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)