Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal have said the compensation process is “cruel”, “never-ending” and designed to make them want to give up.
Former sub-postmasters told the BBC they are still waiting for final settlements to be agreed, years after hundreds of victims were accused of stealing money that found to be the fault of an accounting system.
A report from an official inquiry into the scandal said it had had a “disastrous” impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences.
Maria Lockwood, who ran a Post Office in Huddersfield, said compensation for victims could have been settled “a long time ago”, but instead it is a “cruel, cruel” process.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast to discuss the report, 10 former sub-postmasters and postmistresses all agreed that the compensation schemes feel designed to make them give up.
Tracy Felstead, who went to prison when she was 19 years old, said her claim has been in since February.
However, she said all she has had since then is more and more questions including a third request for a medical report.
“How many more medical reports do you need to prove what’s happened? They know what’s happened to us,” she said.
Former judge Sir Wyn Williams has been chairing a long-running inquiry into the Horizon scandal, and on Tuesday released a report looking at the impact on victims, as well as the fairness and speed of the compensation process.
Sir Wyn criticised the “formidable difficulties” around the delivery of financial redress for victims, which is currently organised around three different schemes.
He recommended:
- A mechanism to deliver redress “to persons who have been wronged by public bodies” should be established
- Free legal advice should be extended to claimants on one of the schemes – the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
- Close family members of people who have “been most adversely affected by Horizon” should be compensated
Sir Wyn estimates that there are currently 10,000 eligible claimants in three compensation schemes, and that number is likely to rise by at least hundreds, if not more.
Scott Darlington, who was sub-postmaster of Alderley Edge Post Office, was doubtful that the government will act on the report.
“Will they take any of the recommendations? They’re not obliged to, and their track record shows that they’ve tried to avoid things that they have to do.”