The long road to justice for subpostmasters wronged in the Post Office Horizon scandal is far from over, with legal experts warning that full compensation may take up to "three more years to complete", lawyers have warned, a day ahead of first report of a long-running public inquiry's report come out on Tuesday (July 8).
Despite more than £1 billion already paid out by the government across over 7,300 claims, lawyers say the redress process remains riddled with bureaucracy and inconsistency.
Hudgell Solicitors, a key firm representing victims, still has more than 700 unresolved cases on its books.
Solicitor Neil Hudgell described the process as “over-engineered and over-legalistic,” with multiple schemes creating confusion and hardship for those seeking compensation.
“It’s retraumatising people who’ve already endured so much,” he said. “Some are dying before seeing justice.”
Addressing how long it could take for all claims to be settled, the solicitor added, “At the current speed, we are looking at another two to three years.”
“It has been a painful process for all, and ended with a new appeals process being confirmed earlier this year, in recognition that many people had been under-compensated," he added.
Campaigners have also criticised the Department for Business and Trade for moving the goalposts and failing to apply a victim-first approach.
Subpostmasters continue to report dramatic discrepancies in offer amounts, one client’s compensation jumping from £50,000 to £500,000 upon challenge, highlighting the scheme’s flaws.
Post Office scandal victims are calling for redress schemes to be taken away from the government completely, ahead of the public inquiry publishing its first findings.
"Take (them) off the government completely," says Jo Hamilton OBE, a high-profile campaigner and former sub-postmistress, who was convicted of stealing from her branch in 2008.
"It's like the fox in charge of the hen house," she adds, "because they were the only shareholders of Post Office".
So they're in it up to their necks... So why should they be in charge of giving us financial redress?"
Jo and others are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chairman of the public statutory inquiry, will make recommendations for an independent body to take control of redress schemes.
At the moment, the Department for Business and Trade administers most of the redress schemes including the Horizon Conviction Redress Scheme and the Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme.
The Post Office is still responsible for the Horizon Shortfall scheme.