Allow 3-month window to accept Fixed Sum Offer after assessment
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report · Issued 8 July 2025 · Addressed to: Department for Business and Trade
Government responseDepartment for Business and Trade: Accepted (Oct 2025)
DeliveryCabinet Office says completed (Mar 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Any claimant who opts to have a claim assessed when the claim is submitted to the Post Office or the Department may decide to accept the Fixed Sum Offer at any time thereafter up to and including the date which is three calendar months following the receipt by the claimant of a first assessed offer. For the avoidance of any doubt, (1) this recommendation applies to all relevant schemes i.e. HSS, OCS/HCRS and GLOS and (2) once the time period specified in the first sentence hereof has expired, the claimant will have no right to accept the Fixed Sum Offer.
Post Office Horizon Inquiry, Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report · 8 Jul 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended a three-month window to accept a fixed sum offer after assessment. In a February 2026 update published in March 2026, the Cabinet Office stated that the recommendation was implemented on 9 October 2025 for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) and the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS), and that the Post Office was reviewing records to notify eligible claimants, while the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLOS) was not mentioned (Cabinet Office, Mar 2026). Earlier, in January 2026, the Business and Trade Select Committee noted the measure had been implemented for HSS and HCRS, and found that over 4,000 claimants across all schemes were still awaiting final settlement (Business and Trade Select Committee, Jan 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
About this summary
Government response
●Department for Business and Trade · Accepted · 9 Oct 2025
From 9 October, claimants to the HSS and HCRS will have 3 months from receipt of their first detailed offer to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer, should they wish. Any claimant who is already in receipt of a first offer but has not yet accepted this will also be eligible to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer within 3 months of today’s date. DBT is working with the Post Office and claimants’ representatives to ensure claimants are appropriately notified of this.
Extract from: Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1)
Delivery
●Cabinet Office says completed · 2 Mar 2026
This recommendation was implemented on 9 October 2025. Claimants to the HSS and HCRS will have 3 months from receipt of their first detailed offer to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer, should they wish. Any claimant who was already in receipt of a first offer but had not yet accepted this became eligible to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer within three months of 9 October 2025. Post Office are also reviewing their claimant records to ensure that any claimant who became eligible to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer has been written to, to inform them of this right.
From: Post Office (Horizon) Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, February 2026 (data file)
Published evidence
●Business and Trade Select Committee · 6 Jan 2026
Business and Trade Select Committee noted the 3-month window for claimants to revert to the Fixed Sum Offer had been implemented from 9 October 2025 in HSS and HCRS.
Read the finding in full
Business and Trade Committee held an evidence session on 6 January 2026 with witnesses from Fujitsu, the CCRC, DBT and MoJ. The CCRC revealed Horizon software may have been installed earlier than previously believed, potentially expanding the pool of eligible convictions. Over 4,000 claimants were still awaiting final settlement across all schemes at that date. Government accepted only 3 of 17 committee recommendations in full.Business and Trade Committee evidence session, 6 January 2026View source →
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