Post Office knowledge leak: loads of Horizon sufferers introduced as much as £5,000 reimbursement

Hundreds of former publish place of business operators will reportedly be compensated by way of the Post Office after it by chance leaked their names and addresses in June 2024.

According to the BBC, the Post Office has showed that exact payouts shall be capped at £5,000, even though upper claims might nonetheless be pursued.

It comes nearly a 12 months after 555 sufferers of the Horizon IT scandal had their non-public main points revealed at the Post Office’s company website online.

The Post Office stated sufferers would obtain £5,000 or £3,500 relying on whether or not the deal with revealed was once present.

In a commentary, it stated: “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.”

The legislation company Freeths instructed the BBC that 348 shoppers, out of the overall 420 it represented, who had their knowledge breached had already won fee.

“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,” stated Will Richmond-Coggan, a attorney at Freeths.

Chris Head, a former publish place of business operator, instructed the BBC that whilst he welcomed the Post Office admitting the knowledge breach error, it had taken “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,” he instructed the broadcaster. “The impact on myself and my family has been profound on top of an already traumatic past 10 years due to the Horizon scandal.”

News of the knowledge breach first emerged in June ultimate 12 months. The Post Office apologised on the time and stated it was once operating in cooperation with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the regulator for knowledge coverage and data rights.

Nick Read, who was once leader govt of the Post Office, stated on the time that the leak was once a “truly terrible error”.

The incident has angered publish place of business operators, lots of whom suffered hardship after greater than 900 had been wrongly prosecuted in what has been described because the worst miscarriage of justice in British criminal historical past.

Last October, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, stated in her debut finances that the federal government had put aside £1.8bn to hide all reimbursement claims. The govt is the only real shareholder of the Post Office and is subsequently accountable for paying out. Compensation bills have to this point have ranged from £10,000 to greater than £1m.

The Post Office was once contacted for remark by way of PA Media.