More than £1 billion in compensation paid to over 7,000 victims of Horizon IT scandal, government says

9 June 2025, 14:16 | Updated: 9 June 2025, 15:01

More than £1 billion has been paid in financial compensation to subpostmasters wronged by the Horizon IT scandal, the Government has said.

More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

Many are still awaiting compensation despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said money has now been paid out to more than 7,300 subpostmasters across all Horizon-related redress schemes.

The announcement comes just weeks after lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said the schemes had "turned into quasi-kangaroo courts".

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Sir Alan told the Sunday Times last month that DBT "sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses".

In figures published on Monday, DBT said £559 million has been paid out to 6,337 claimants from the Horizon shortfall scheme.

The group litigation order (GLO) scheme was set up to achieve redress for the 555 claimants who took the Post Office to the High Court along with Mr Bates between 2017 and 2019.

The data also says that of the 492 subpostmasters who were not convicted that took part in the legal claim, 488 have received £167 million between them.

Elsewhere, £245 million has been paid out to 463 subpostmasters who had their convictions quashed by legislation put in place last summer, and £68 million has been paid to those who have had their convictions quashed in the courts, DBT said.

But Sir Alan, who was portrayed by actor Toby Jones in ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, said promises that compensation schemes would be “non-legalistic” had turned out to be “worthless”.

It is understood that 80% of postmasters in Sir Alan’s group have accepted a full and final redress or been paid most of their offer.

Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said: "Since entering Government, it has been our priority to speed up the delivery of compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal and today's milestone shows how much progress has been made.

"We are settling cases every day and getting compensation out more quickly for the most complex cases, but the job isn't done until every postmaster has received fair and just redress."

Post Office chief executive Neil Brocklehurst said: "I welcome the news that over £1 billion has been paid to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal.

"Each week we are seeing more people receive their final settlements so they can begin to look beyond this painful chapter of their lives.

"However, I am also aware that more work remains to be done so that all victims receive full redress as quickly as possible and this is an absolute priority for the Post Office.

"And finally, to anyone else who thinks they may have been affected, I encourage you to come forward and apply for redress.”