Postmasters in Horizon scandal to receive £600,000 compensation each
Tuesday 19th September, 2023
Every post office operator whose wrongful conviction over the Horizon IT scandal has been overturned will receive £600,000 in compensation from the government, ministers have announced.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Too many Postmasters have suffered and for too long, which is why the Government remains committed to seeing this through to the end until it is resolved and ensuring this cannot ever happen again.”
Post Office began installing Horizon accounting software in the late 1990s, but faults in the software led to shortfalls in branches’ accounts. The Post Office demanded sub-postmasters cover the shortfalls, and in many cases wrongfully prosecuted them for false accounting or theft.
86 convictions have been overturned so far and £21 million has been paid in compensation to postmasters with overturned convictions.