The Post Office estimates that it spent about £36 million on subpostmasters between 1999 and 2015 to cover accounts shortfalls that were n’t actually present besides the flawed Horizon accounting system used in branches.
This figure will rise as the organization prepares to contact around 25, 000 current and previous subpostmasters in order to request monetary redress if they believe they suffered losses from Horizon.
Subpostmasters began reporting unexpected account shortfalls after Horizon was released in 1999, which they were answerable to cover because of the cruel Post Office contract. Some were convicted and sacked, and several more simply filled the accounting gaps with money they had already had. All of these organizations are owed monetary compensation.
Post Office CEO Nick Read revealed during his three-day appearance before the Post Office scandal open inquiry that the company currently estimates that employees who run branches repaid around £36 million in payments for the unfounded shortfalls during his three-day appearance.
When Sam Stein, KC representing the scandal’s victims, inquired as to where the money had been refunded to cover shortfalls, Read responded,” There have been physical forensic accountants looking at this particular problem, trying to determine what it is that has gone and where it has gone.” Between 1999 and 2015, the most recent piece of work on this subject has identified a figure there in the region of £36 million.
He claimed that the work was primarily based on the evaluation of the most recent redress scheme applications and that the figure “is certainly as clear” as [the Post Office ] would like it to be.
KPMG next examined the project to determine how much subpostmasters were paid up, according to Read, who added that “data going up a number of years is extremely difficult to identify, and that is our best endeavour in terms of where we have come.”
Stein brought the new YouGov report to Read’s attention. It revealed that many of the latest subpostmasters are also making their own money to cover unreported shortfalls. ” Those £10, £20 and £50]payments ] adds up to millions… your figure of £36m is growing”, said Stein.
According to the survey, commissioned by the public inquiry and carried out by YouGov, 57 % of current subpostmasters have experienced unexplained shortfalls, including 19 % reporting unexplained transactions, and 14 % having had transactions go missing. 69 % of those surveyed  have had an unresolved discrepancy in the Horizon system since January 2020 total. Almost half of the respondents claimed to have used their personal branch money to resolve issues or to cover up discrepancies.
According to Read, during a recent public inquiry hearing regarding the slow progress of payments to Post Office scandal victims, about 25 000 additional mails will be sent to recipients of the Horizon Shortfalls Scheme ( HSS) in addition.
The Post Office said that it has also been writing to those currently in the HSS, following the government’s introduction of a fixed-sum option of £75, 000 in March 2024.
It stated that” we have been making top-up offers and payments to eligible subpostmasters who have already accepted an HSS offer and received a full and final settlement of less than £75, 000, and we are now administering the fixed-sum offer more broadly for those postmasters with life applications still in the scheme.”
The Post Office scandal, which was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealed the accounts of seven subpostmasters and the issues they encountered as a result of Horizon accounting software, which caused the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history ( see below list of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009 ).
• Even read:  , What you need to know about the Horizon scandal , •
• Even watch:  , ITV’s documentary – , Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The true story , •
• Even read:  , Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means big taxpayers ‘ bill , •
