An expert has revealed why some sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal have only been given £15.75 in compensation. Tax Policy Associates said there was a “very serious problem” with the application process.
It has accused the Post Office of adopting “a strategy to minimise compensation for the worst miscarriage of justice in British history”. The scandal, which was the focus of ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office drama, saw thousands of postmasters falsely accused of theft by the Post Office between 2000 and 2017.
Prosecutions were undertaken on the basis of financial discrepancies reported by the faulty computer system Horizon. Since the ITV drama, more than 70 further victims of the scandal have come forward, with experts suggesting many had only made low claims, with one only amounting to £15.75.
The financial experts said the Post Office was “minimising the initial claim postmasters are making” so that it could then point to all the procedures in place to ensure claims are handled fairly, but it said that unfairness had “happened right at the start”.
Tax Policy Associates said the Post Office had used “every trick in the book” to draw out postmaster’s compensation claims, with many aged in their 70s and 80s who have since died.
Experts said the Post Office made postmasters go through a “complex legal process” rather than issuing “pre-complete” forms based on the data it had.
They said another issue was the Post Office ensured postmasters did not seek legal advice when completing the form by providing “no cover for legal costs in completing the form” and not even suggesting they should receive legal advice before filling it out.
They said the compensation form was also written to “prevent claims for damage to reputation” by not explaining what “consequential” loss was adding that the form was also written to “minimise compensation for stress” by using legal jargon which those who are not experts would be unlikely to understand.
It added that the form went on to use similar tactics to “prevent exemplary damages claims”.
Tax Policy Associates said the Post Office had “intimidated” postmasters into silence by stopping them from discussing their claims with friends, family and the media. A line in the form said it was “confidential” and should not be shared unless both parties agreed.
The Post Office responded to the complaint by saying: “While we do not agree with your conclusions, we do not believe it is appropriate to enter into legal argument exchanges in responses for an article.”
Tax Policy Associates added the Post Office was also running “every possible argument to minimise payouts” accusing it of “taking advantage of unrepresented officials”
It said that once a draft settlement agreement had been reached, the Post Office then offered a “token amount” to pay for a lawyer, but experts said this was “too late”.
Experts finished by adding that postmasters “ended up losing far too much of their compensation in tax” as a result of being placed in a “complex tax position”.
