UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Sir Alan Bates urged Post Office victims to sue the government over delays in compensation, warning the process may stretch into 2027.
As reported by Sky News, campaigners urge justice through the courts as Post Office compensation remains painfully slow for Horizon victims.
What did Alan Bates say about delayed compensation in his email?
Campaigner Sir Bates, in an email to victims, warned that it could take until November 2027 for all compensation claims to be settled, citing the slow progress of the claims process.
He suggested that legal action may be the fastest way to achieve fairness for all victims.
Mr Bates described the GLO scheme for the 555 legal victors as a “mess,” highlighting its inefficiencies in addressing their claims.
He stated, “Advice on how to streamline and speed up the scheme which has been offered to the DBT by ourselves, your lawyers and even the DBT Select Committee is ignored out of hand with the feeblest of excuses.”
Mr Bates explained that administrative and application issues were mirrored across all four schemes, not just the GLO, affecting victims in different ways.
He stated that most applications have received “substantially undervalued offers” from the government.
The campaigner added, “The DBT lawyers appear to be taking every opportunity to challenge figures when the DBT has already paid for your lawyers to test and verify the claims before they are submitted.”
Mr Bates said, “It appears that the DBT will pay out the smaller claims of about 60 to 80% of value, but the larger, which form the bulk of the outstanding claims, are continually being fought by DBT’s lawyers.”
According to Sir Alan, the government’s repeated requests for more information from victims are causing delays, as much of it “is not available.”
He stated, “They also seem to be reducing offers by 50% where a spouse is involved, and it seems they will use almost any other tactic to ensure that the DBT does not have to pay out what has already been verified before the claim was submitted.”
According to his email, 66 cases have been resolved in the past six months, while 210 are still pending.
The email stated, “There may be other options, but the one which is repeatedly mentioned is a judicial review, not just for the GLO Scheme, but to include all of the schemes to ensure there is parity in the way victims have, and are, being treated.”
Sir Alan said, “A new legal action may well be a way of having your claim reassessed once more, this time by the courts.”
What did the government spokesperson say in response to Sir Alan Bates’ 2027 claims?
A government spokesperson countered Sir Alan Bates’ suggestion that it might take until 2027 to resolve all the compensation claims, stating, “We do not accept this forecast.”
They added, “The facts show we are making almost 90% of initial GLO offers within 40 working days of receiving completed claims. As of 31 March, 76% of the group had received full and final redress, or 80% of their offer. So long as claimants respond reasonably promptly, we would expect to settle all claims by the end of this year.”
The government representative added, “We have trebled the number of payments under this government and are settling claims at a faster rate than ever before to provide full and fair redress.”
Post Office GLO scheme claims status
- 555 people initially took part in the GLO; 492 are applying after 63 had convictions overturned.
- 282 of the 492 applicants have received “full and final redress” by 31 March.
- 210 applicants remain; 90 have challenged their final offer but received 80% as an interim payment.
- Two victims accepted the “full and final settlement” after receiving the 80% interim payment.
- 118 applicants are still pending.
- 37 survivors received an offer but have not responded yet.
- 19 claims were submitted, but are incomplete.
- 18 claims were not submitted by the deadline.
- 18 applicants have challenged the offer and are awaiting the 80% interim payment.
- 14 applicants are waiting for an offer after submitting their claim.
- 9 claims are still under review.
- 3 people are awaiting payment after agreeing to redress.