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Victims of the Post Office Horizon Scandal were requested to take legal action against the government for delays in the compensation.
In a post to victims seen by Sky News, champion Sir Alan Bates suggested that it be November 2027 before all the claims were settled based on the current progress rate.
He said they went to court “probably the fastest way to ensure fairness for everyone”.
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Hundreds of sub-post masters have been wrongly prosecuted for theft and false accounting after Fujitsu-made accounting software horizon inaccurate generated financial deficits, making it appear that money is missing in post offices in the UK.
Many other sub-post masters were bankrupt, had bad health and relationships due to the wrong generated deficits and how the Post Office, a state-owned company, answered.
‘Advocates who use every opportunity to challenge’
Compensation claims are processed by schemes administered by the Department of Industry and Trade (DBT).
Sir Alan said in particular one scheme: The Group Law command (believe) scheme for the 555 people who successfully took the legal action against the post office and exposed the scandal – was “a mess”.
“Advice on how to streamline and speed up the scheme presented by ourselves, your lawyers and even the DBT Select Committee to the DBT is ignored with the worst excuses,” he said.
The government disputed the prediction by Sir Alan that it would take until 2027 before all claims were settled, and said it was “faster claims than ever before”.
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Sir Alan assets accept chivalry
The problem was not unique to the Believer scheme, Sir Alan said that the administration and application problems influenced all four plans for victims in various ways through the miscarriage of justice.
The majority of applicants had ‘significantly undervalued offers’ of the government, Sir Alan said.
“It seems that the DBT advocates seize the opportunity to challenge figures when the DBT has already paid for your advocates to test and verify the claims before submitting it.
“It seems that the DBT will pay the smaller demands of about 60 to 80% of the value, but the larger, which forms most of the outstanding claims, is constantly fought by the advocates of DBT.”
Read more:
Sub-post masters are still going through hell, says chief Alan Bates, chief campaigner, says Sir Alan Bates
Sir Alan Bates tells PM ‘Clock Ticking’ on compensation for horizon victims
More information is regularly sought from the victim, which Sir Alan said it was “obviously not available” and delayed compensation offers.
“It also seems to reduce the offers by 50% where a spouse is involved, and it seems that they will use almost any other tactics to ensure that the DBT does not have to pay out what has already been verified before the claim has been filed.”
Referring to figures from the department, Sir Alan’s email said that 66 cases have been fully completed over the past six months, with 210 not yet completed.
The ‘fastest way to be fairness’
Sir Alan suggested that legal action is the ‘fastest way to ensure fairness for everyone’, although he acknowledged that ‘return to the courts may seem a long time’.
“There are perhaps other options, but the one mentioned repeatedly is a judicial overview, not just for the Believer Scheme, but to include all the schemes to ensure that there is parity in the way the victims are treated and treated,” the email says.
A new legal action may be suitable for people who have accepted offers, Sir Alan said: “A new legal action can be a way to have your claim reconsidered, this time by the courts.”
Victims of every scheme must come forward to enter into the campaign, Sir Alan said as he urged people to ‘act’.
A national fundraising campaign may be needed to cover the cost of this action, the email added, which Sir Alan said he could possibly help set up.
The government said in October 2023 that by August 2024 it was “determined” to deliver the Believer scheme and rejected a deadline of March 2025 last year for all payments to be finalized.
“We will be able to pay significant correction to the individuals by the end of March,” Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas told the Commons in December.
The government ‘does not accept a forecast’
In response to Sir Alan’s proposal, it would take until 2027 to resolve all claims, a government spokesman said: “We do not accept this forecast”.
“The facts show that we make nearly 90% of the initial believe offerings within 40 working days after receiving completed claims. From 31 March 76% of the group received full and final correction, or 80% of their offer.”
“As long as claimants respond fairly quickly, we would expect to settle all claims by the end of this year.
“We have drowned the number of payments under this government and settled the claims faster than ever before to give complete and fair correction.”
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