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Wales Online
20-05-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Post Office data breach victims to get up to £5k in compensation
Post Office data breach victims to get up to £5k in compensation The Post Office is set to compensate many former sub-postmasters after unintentionally revealing their names and addresses on its official website Over 700 subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of fraud, theft and false accounting following shortfalls at their branches (Image: Getty ) The Post Office is set to compensate hundreds of former sub-postmasters after their names and addresses were accidentally leaked last June. As reported by the BBC, the Post Office has said that every victim's compensation will be limited to £5,000, although there may be opportunities for higher claims. This announcement comes nearly a year after a data breach exposed the personal information of 555 victims involved in the Horizon IT scandal on a public website. In a statement to the BBC, the Post Office mentioned that those affected would receive either £5,000 or £3,500, depending on whether their published address was current at the time of the breach. The statement reads: "We have written to all named individuals either directly or via their solicitors. If there are any individuals whose names were 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." According to law firm Freeths, 348 clients whose data was compromised have already received compensation. Lawyer Will Richmond-Coggan 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." Chris Head, a former sub-postmaster, approved of the Post Office's acknowledgement of the data breach error, but he said that it took "far too long to right this wrong." He added: "We cannot underestimate the level of pain, anxiety, stress and worry that so many people have had to suffer through this new episode. Article continues below Subsequent investigation, known as the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, showed that the discrepancies were actually due to errors in the Post Office Horizon accounting software. "Post Office did not seem to understand how much this impacted those people. They appeared unwilling to engage in genuine discussions until further action was on the table. The impact on myself and my family has been profound on top of an already traumatic past 10 years due to the Horizon scandal." Earlier this year, the Post Office announced that it would cut about 100 jobs as part of plans to boost payouts to thousands of its subpostmasters. Senior managers were told that they would be affected after acting chief executive Neil Brocklehurst sent a note to all staff, which the PA news agency saw. Article continues below At the time, he wrote: "The intention behind these proposed changes remains to create a more efficient team that can effectively deliver a sustainable future for the network, for postmasters and their communities. The intention is to rebase our costs to help fund the upcoming transformative change which aims to leave the Post Office on a more sustainable financial footing. It is critical that we continue to make progress in resetting Post Office for the future." The cuts were part of a major reform initiated by chairman Nigel Railton in November, who announced a £250 million increase in subpostmaster pay over the next five years. The Post Office also disclosed plans to divest 115 of its directly-owned branches from its network of 11,500.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
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.'
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Post Office data breach: Hundreds of victims to get compensation
The Post Office has agreed compensation for hundreds of former sub-postmasters after accidentally leaking their names and addresses on its corporate data breach was revealed in June last year when it emerged the personal details of 555 victims of the Horizon IT scandal had been company has now confirmed individual payouts of up to £5,000 with the potential for higher sums for those who want to pursue a further Post Office has already apologised and said it was working in "full co-operation" with the Information Commissioner's Office. The sub-postmasters' details were published in a document on its the time, then-Post Office chief executive Nick Read said the leak was a "truly terrible error".The law firm Freeths, which acted for the 555 sub-postmasters when they sued the Post Office in a landmark High Court case in 2017, said it had secured the payouts on behalf of all those affected and their legal the 420 victims Freeths represents in the ongoing and separate battle for compensation from the scandal, 348 have already received payouts for the sub-postmaster Chris Head welcomed the Post Office admitting the data breach mistake, but said they took "far too long to right this wrong"."We cannot underestimate the level of pain, anxiety, stress and worry that so many people have had to suffer through this new episode. Post Office did not seem to understand how much this impacted those people. They appeared unwilling to engage in genuine discussions until further action was on the table."The impact on myself and my family has been profound on top of an already traumatic past 10 years due to the Horizon scandal."The Post Office said victims would be paid either £5,000 or £3,500, depending on whether the individual was also living at the address at the a statement it also confirmed it would consider any special cases if individuals believe they are entitled to further amounts."We have written to all named individuals either directly, or via their solicitors. 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," it lawyer who led the case on behalf of the sub-postmasters said the agreement was struck without the need for any claims to be submitted but also allowed victims the opportunity to pursue further action. "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," said Will Richmond-Coggan, Freeths' partner specialising in data breach litigation.
