Post Office to pay out Horizon victims after personal details leaked
Hundreds of former subpostmasters whose personal details were leaked on the Post Office website will receive compensation.
Names and addresses of the 555 victims of the Horizon IT scandal, including Sir Alan Bates, who won a High Court battle against the organisation were accidentally published online in June last year.
The Post Office has said individuals could receive initial payouts of up to £5,000, with the potential for more if impact on themselves or their family can be evidenced.
At the time, Nick Read, the then-Post Office chief executive, said the leak – which showed the victims' full names and home addresses – was a 'truly terrible error'.
In a statement to the BBC, the Post Office said victims would receive £5,000 or £3,500, depending on whether they were then living at the address published.
'We have written to all named individuals either directly, or via their solicitors,' it said.
'If there are any individuals whose name was impacted by last year's breach, but who have not received information about the payment for some reason, they can contact us or ask their solicitors if they have legal representation.'
Chris Head, a former subpostmaster, welcomed the Post Office taking accountability, but said it had still taken the company too long.
'Although this is welcomed by those affected, it took far too long to get here, almost a year,' he told The Telegraph.
'It was [as though] the Post Office had learnt nothing from its past actions and had to be threatened with new legal action before they agreed to make what I would say is a much fairer offer.
'However, the impact on some people may have been far greater than this sum compensates them for and it is right that these should be on an interim basis, which allows them to bring further claims should there be sufficient evidence.
'I hope after this further episode, and the terrible impact it has had on already damaged people, the Post Office will learn from this and never allow such a thing to happen again.'
Freeths, the law firm which acted on behalf of Sir Alan Bates and the other victims in the landmark High Court case, said it had secured the payouts on behalf of all those affected and their legal representatives.
Will Richmond-Coggan, a lawyer, said: 'We welcome the progress we have made with this case, but there is still a long way to go to recognise the devastating impact of this breach for those affected.'
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