'Post Office compensation wait is taking its toll'

Two people caught up in the Post Office scandal have told how the wait for full compensation feels like it will never end.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT accounting system made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.

Keith Macaldowie and Myra Philp gave evidence to the public inquiry when it came to Glasgow in 2022 but both are still waiting for a final payout.

The Post Office said it was focused on paying redress as quickly as possible while the UK government said it had has taken significant action to increase the rate of redress payments.

Mr Macaldowie was accused of stealing money from his Greenock Post Office in Inverclyde in 2011.

He wasn't convicted but lost his livelihood and said the ordeal had a serious impact on his mental health.

Mr Macaldowie was part of a group which received a small payout in 2019.

But it has taken him years to gather evidence, such as forensic accounting reports and psychiatric evaluations, required to claim for full financial redress.

He told BBC Scotland News he submitted his claim on 15 August only to discover a few months later that it had gone missing.

Mr Macaldowie added: "It's certainly affecting my mental health because, again, it's another false dawn.

"You think it's all coming to an end and the general public seem to think it's coming to an end.

"I do have friends coming up to me saying 'It’s great this Post Office thing is over for you' - and I'm like 'It’s still ongoing'. It's tiring."

The scandal has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

Some sub-postmasters ended up going to prison, while many more were financially ruined and lost their livelihoods. Some died while waiting for justice.

Ms Philp’s mother Mary ran a post office in Auchtermuchty, Fife.

She said the family spent around £70,000 making good repeated shortfalls caused by the faulty Horizon system.

Her mother, a former police officer, was suspended in 2006 and never worked again.

She died in 2018 before the full extent of the Horizon scandal emerged.

Ms Philp said the Post Office had offered her about a quarter of what she had claimed.

She added: "You feel like you're hitting your head against a brick wall.

"My lawyers are having to do forensic reports into my mother's health, into our finances and it just feels like being put on trial by the Post Office."

Both Mr Macaldowie and Ms Philp wonder when it's going to come to an end.

They also shared their frustrations at the public perception that the compensation battle is all over.

There are four different redress schemes depending on people's circumstances and whether they were convicted.

Mr Macaldowie's compensation claim is being administered by the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade.

A DBT spokesperson said: "This government has taken significant action to increase the rate of redress payments to postmasters, but we apologise to Keith that an unacceptable clerical error means his offer has been delayed.

"We are doing everything we can to expedite his claim, and we will ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“We would also like to extend our sympathies to Myra for her loss.

"Anyone unhappy with their Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS) offer can dispute it, and there is funding for legal support available.”

Myra’s HSS claim is being administered by the Post Office.

It doesn’t comment on individual claims but a spokesperson said: "We apologise unreservedly to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal and today’s Post Office is focused, alongside government, on paying redress as quickly as possible so that people can move forward with their lives.

"To date, £438m has been paid to 3,100 people and we continue to listen to feedback to make improvements to the redress process for those affected."