The Post Office, like, totally agreed to compensate loads of former sub-postmasters after accidentally leaking their names and addresses on, like, its corporate website. The data breach was, like, revealed in June last year when it came out that the personal deets of 555 victims of the Horizon IT scandal had been, like, published. The company has now confirmed individual payouts of up to £5,000 with the potential for higher sums for those who wanna pursue a further claim. The Post Office has already said sorry and claimed it was working in “full co-operation” with the Information Commissioner’s Office, you know?
Details of the sub-postmasters were, like, published in a document on its website. At the time, then-Post Office chief executive Nick Read was all like, “whoopsies, that was a truly terrible error.” The law firm Freeths, which, like, acted for the 555 sub-postmasters when they sued the Post Office in a landmark High Court case in 2017, was, like, “yeah, we totally secured the payouts on behalf of all those affected and their legal representatives.” Of the 420 victims Freeths represents in the ongoing and separate battle for compensation from the scandal, 348 have, like, already received payouts for the breach.
Former sub-postmaster Chris Head was all like, “yeah, thanks for admitting the data breach mistake, but it, like, took far too long to right this wrong.” He was, like, “we can’t underestimate the level of pain, anxiety, stress, and worry that so many people have had to suffer through this new episode. Post Office didn’t seem to understand how much this impacted those people. They, like, appeared unwilling to engage in genuine discussions until further action was on the table.” He was, like, “the impact on myself and my family has been profound on top of an already traumatic past 10 years due to the Horizon scandal.”
The Post Office said victims would be paid either £5,000 or £3,500, depending on, like, whether the individual was also living at the address at the time. In a statement, it also confirmed it would consider any special cases if individuals believe they are, like, entitled to further amounts. “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, like, contact us or ask their solicitors if they have legal representation,” it said. The lawyer who led the case on behalf of the sub-postmasters was, like, “we totally 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,” said Will Richmond-Coggan, Freeths’ partner specialising in data breach litigation.
Yeah, so, like, the Post Office messed up big time by leaking all those names and addresses, but at least they’re trying to make it right now. It’s a good start, I guess.