New betrayal of the postmasters

‘Shameful’ Post Office gives blameless victims an average of just £10,000 in compensation

‘This is an appalling case’

HuNDREDS of victims of the Post Office IT scandal have been awarded an average of just £10,000 in compensation, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The payouts, which compare with six-figure losses suffered by many postmasters, were last night labelled ‘absolutely disgraceful’ by politicians.

The figure relates to the scheme to compensate postmasters who lost out financially but were not prosecuted.

MPs also hit out at the separate negotiations for hundreds of victims convicted of crimes as well as suffering monetary loss – claiming the approach there is also leading to low payouts.

Campaigners blamed the Post Office and ministers for adopting ‘shameful and miserly’ tactics. Lord Falconer, a top barrister and former minister, criticised the ‘persistent refusal’ to face up to paying ‘proper compensation’.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said compensation must reflect that postmasters were ‘taken from a position of trust and labelled as thieves’.

Tory peer Lord Arbuthnot said: ‘Given the Post Office’s behaviour, compensation must be more than realistic, it must be generous.’

Thirty-three postmasters have died waiting for justice, including four who killed themselves. Now the Mail can reveal:

■ Fewer than half the claims under the official scheme have been settled two years after it was launched;

■ The application form is flawed, and fails to help victims understand the large sums they could be owed;

■ Postmasters have been offered ‘inadequate’ or no funding for legal fees to pursue their claims;

■ Victims claim ministers are trying to ‘grind us down until we accept anything’;

■ Postmasters wrongly convicted of crimes have been given ‘derisory offers’ which have seen their claims ‘cut in half’.

Between 2000 and 2015, more than 3,500 postmasters were prosecuted, sacked or forced to pay back money after funds went ‘missing’ from their accounts. It later turned out dozens of glitches in the computer system, called Horizon, were to blame.

The Mail has spoken to more than a dozen postmasters, legal representatives and campaigners.

They say the Post Office, and the ministers who hold the purse strings, have sought to minimise the bill for the scandal.

The first method of winning compensation is a scheme for postmasters who lost out financially, but were not convicted, called the Historical Shortfall Scheme.

As of the start of May, £9.4 million had been paid out to the first 933 postmasters – an average of £10,075 each. Neil Hudgell, who is representing dozens of postmasters, said: ‘This seems a surprisingly low number. Many feel strongly that their ongoing suffering continues to be used as a lever to make derisory settlement offers.’

Most victims have accepted offers without legal advice, while those in complex cases have been offered just a few hours of lawyers’ time. There are also major concerns over the second route to compensation – damages to postmasters who were wrongly convicted of crimes or ‘maliciously’ prosecuted.

Post Office lawyers have commissioned legal advice from a QC to justify compensation of just £100 a week for the terrifying experience of being sent to jail, and the shame of a conviction.

Postmasters have demanded as much as five times what has been offered, between £200,000 and £500,000 in total, on top of compensation for their financial losses.

Lord Falconer labelled the tactics ‘absolutely disgraceful’.

He said: ‘These people are entitled to proper compensation. The Post Office will never get rid of the problem until they do. The Government appears not to be willing to fund what this requires. The more they fiddle around to reduce damages, the more they will go up. It is an appalling case.’

Mr Bridgen said: ‘The impact on postmasters is enormous – they were taken from a position of trust and honesty, as pillars of the community, and labelled as thieves. The compensation needs to reflect that.’ A Post Office spokesman said: ‘It is our priority to ensure there is appropriate, meaningful compensation for victims.’

Asked if the Government was doing enough to properly compensate victims, a Department of Business spokesman said: ‘The impact the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is utterly horrendous.

‘That is why we are providing compensation for those affected, and have launched a statutory inquiry into the scandal to get to the bottom of what went wrong.’