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POH-IR1-5

Seek court directions to resolve the DBT and Moore UK difference on bankrupt applicants

Post Office Horizon Inquiry · First Interim Report: Compensation · Issued 17 July 2023 · Addressed to: Department for Business and Trade

Government responseDepartment for Business and Trade: Accepted (Oct 2023)

DeliveryNo statement from Department for Business and Trade found

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

DBT shall take such steps as are necessary within 28 days of the date hereof, to seek appropriate directions under section 306 Insolvency Act 1986 so as to enable a court to resolve the difference of view between DBT and Moore UK and/or it shall take all appropriate steps (including providing appropriate legal funding) so as to enable a sub-postmaster to seek appropriate directions under that section.

Post Office Horizon Inquiry, First Interim Report: Compensation · 17 Jul 2023 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry asked the Department for Business and Trade to seek directions regarding bankrupt applicants. In October 2023, the department stated that it had instructed counsel to apply for expedited court directions resolving its dispute with Moore UK, and that it would ask for an affected postmaster to be named as an interested party (Department for Business and Trade response, Oct 2023). Its response did not mention providing legal funding for a postmaster to seek directions (Department for Business and Trade response, Oct 2023).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

Government response

●Department for Business and Trade · Accepted · 26 Oct 2023

Words of: Department for Business and Trade, DBT response to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry's first interim report: compensation, published on GOV.UK 26 October 2023

The department and the inquiry share the view that none of the group litigation order (GLO) compensation payable to bankrupt claimants should be diverted to insolvency practitioners to meet their costs and creditors. Most insolvency practitioners have accepted this, but Moore UK, which is the trustee in bankruptcy in respect of 9 GLO bankrupt claimants, have not. The department has instructed counsel to submit an application on its behalf for a direction from the court and has asked for this to be expedited. The department will be asking one postmaster affected by Moore’s stance to be named as an interested party without the need to participate in proceedings themselves. The department has written to affected postmasters to inform them about the actions it is taking and reassure them that they will be fully compensated.

Extract from: DBT response to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry's first interim report: compensation

Site note: The Department for Business and Trade's response to the Inquiry's first interim report. The page prints no date; GOV.UK records it as first published on 26 October 2023, the date the site uses.

Delivery

No statement on delivery from Department for Business and Trade has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.