Capture IT system: Compensation scheme opens for sub-postmasters

The government has launched a scheme to compensate former sub-postmasters and their families who were made to repay shortfalls caused by the Capture branch IT system.

That system was in place from 1992 to 2000, and was the predecessor of the Horizon IT system which was also beset by scandal.

A pilot version of the scheme opens for 150 applicants on Wednesday. Affected sub-postmasters will receive £10,000 when their eligibility is confirmed.

An independent panel will then assess them for a final award of up to £300,000, with the possibility of higher payments for “exceptional” cases.

Post Office Minister Blair McDougall said: “After over two decades of fighting for justice, postmasters and their families will finally receive recognition and recompense for the lives and livelihoods that Capture destroyed.

“We can’t make up for everything they have lost, but today we begin restoring some of the dignity so cruelly taken away by this scandal.”

Capture was replaced by the Horizon IT system, which was rolled out from 1999 onwards and is still in place today.

Sub-postmasters were blamed and in many cases convicted of theft and false accounting after Horizon accounting errors made it seem that money had disappeared from their branches.

At the end of September, Horizon redress schemes had paid out over £1.2bn to more than 9,000 victims.

Last year a report from the forensic accountants Kroll Associates concluded that there was a “reasonable likelihood” that faults with Capture had resulted in shortfalls in Post Office branches in a similar way to Horizon.

The Capture compensation scheme was first announced by the Department for Business and Trade in June. It is being launched on a pilot basis to ensure it is “fair and accessible” before a wider implementation.

The final award will be decided by an independent panel, separate from government. In cases which are “particularly severe and supported by detailed evidence”, the panel can award more than the £300,000 limit.

Families of deceased sub-postmasters or those who lack capacity to apply themselves can apply on their behalf.

The Capture compensation scheme is not open to those with criminal convictions. They will have to pursue their claims through the Criminal Cases Review Commission or its Scottish equivalent.

All Horizon-related convictions were quashed in 2024 by the Westminster and Scottish parliaments – but Capture cases were not covered.

Hudgell Solicitors, which represents a number of the victims, said in June that it had 24 cases of sub-postmasters convicted because of faults with Capture.