Hundreds of former subpostmasters are to be compensated by the Post Office after it accidentally leaked their names and addresses online last year. The Post Office confirmed it has agreed to pay individuals either £5,000 or £3,500, depending on whether they were living at the address leaked at the time, while higher claims may be pursued in “special cases”.
The data breach was revealed last June when it emerged the personal details of 555 victims of the Horizon IT scandal had been published on the Post Office’s website.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched an investigation. A Post Office spokesman said: “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.
“In the meantime we remain in full co-operation with the ICO’s investigation, which was opened following our initial self-referral when the breach was discovered.”
The law firm acting for the subpostmasters, Freeths, said it has been told most of those affected will receive a “significant interim compensation payment”, and confirmed that 348 of its clients have already received an interim settlement.
Will Richmond-Coggan, the lawyer at Freeths leading the claim, said: “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. My team will continue to use our considerable expertise in matters like these to secure a final resolution to this situation which reflects the severity of the impact on our clients.”
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