The widow of a Post Office scandal victim, who received a compensation offer days after his death, has described the situation as an “utter disgrace”.
Janet Walters, 68, lost her husband Terry in February – a week before a letter arrived offering “less than half” of his original claim for financial redress.
Terry Walters – whose funeral is taking place today – was one of 555 sub-postmasters who won a legal battle against the Post Office in 2019.
Hundreds were falsely accused, and many wrongly convicted, of stealing from their branches between 1999 and 2015.
Janet has described the length of time many victims have had to wait for offers of compensation as another “scandal”.
“I’ve told them I will not accept [the offer],” Janet tells Sky News. “I think it’s an utter disgrace.
“Not when I look at him and I think, no, what you’ve been through – I won’t just take anything and go away.
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“It’s a scandal what they did with the Horizon system, it’s a scandal now because of the length of time it’s taken [on redress].”
Terry, who died aged 74, was part of the GLO (Group Litigation Order) Scheme established after the 2019 High Court win.
Its aim is to restore sub-postmasters to the financial position they would have been in had they not become victims of faulty Horizon software which caused false accounting shortfalls.
Terry had his Post Office contract terminated in 2008. He and Janet lost their business and then their family home.
They moved in to rented accommodation where they lived for the past 15 years.
Janet said Terry’s claim was put forward in February 2024 and it has taken a year to receive an offer for redress from the government.
“It should have been a 40-day turnaround of an offer,” she says. “And it’s taken 12 months to receive an offer, an offer which came after Terry had passed away.
“They wanted a stroke report back in September to drag it out a bit more, to see if it’s being caused by all the stress from the Post Office.”
“I think it contributed considerably to the whole state of him,” she added.
Postmasters should be given ‘the benefit of the doubt’, says campaigner
Lord Beamish, a prominent campaigner for justice for Post Office victims, says the redress offer process should “err on the side of the postmaster rather than the Post Office”.
“I think it has been bureaucratic in the past, and I think it’s been trying to get information which is difficult to actually obtain,” he says.
“I think in those cases the benefit of the doubt should be put on the postmaster.”
Lord Beamish is also critical of the 40-working-day turnaround for offers.
“I think individual cases should be dealt with on an individual basis,” he says.
“That 40 days shouldn’t be sacrosanct. If you think it can be turned around within two days or a day, do it.”
He also says “getting people around a table and trying to get a resolution should be the main aim… If it’s questioning about more information – that shouldn’t be a reason for undue delay.”
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More than 3,500 sub-postmasters still waiting for compensation
Lord Beamish also highlights concerns over the fact more than 60 victims are yet to submit any claims for redress because they are “very damaged by this process”.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said: “We are sorry to hear of Terry’s death and our thoughts are with Janet and the rest of his family and friends.”
They added they have now issued 407 offers to the 425 GLO claimants “who have submitted full claims” and are “making offers to 89% of GLO claimants within 40 working days of receipt of a full claim, with over half of eligible claimants having now settled their claim.”
The DBT also said it has “doubled” the amount of payments under the Labour government to “provide postmasters with full and fair redress”.
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The latest government data shows that out of the 425 GLO claimants, 265 have had their claims paid, with 160 waiting.
According to the figures for the HSS (Horizon Shortfall Scheme), 2,090 out of 2,417 eligible claims made before their original deadline in 2020 have been paid – leaving over 300 still waiting.
Out of the 4,665 “late” claims, 1,260 have been paid, with more than 3,400 now waiting.
