The Post Office has announced that it will not be compensating subpostmasters for the loss of business and costs incurred during a recent Horizon system outage. The outage, which lasted nearly two hours on Thursday 17 July, affected over 11,000 branches due to a problem at a Fujitsu datacentre.
Despite demands for compensation from affected subpostmasters, the Post Office stated in a memo to its network that it would not be providing any financial assistance. The Post Office cited a limited impact on branches and stated that compensation would not be feasible.
During the downtime, customers were unable to complete transactions, potentially leading them to take their business elsewhere. Partner firms like Amazon, DPD, and Evri may have also sought alternative delivery options. Subpostmasters had to cover wages for staff who were unable to work.
The Post Office attributed the outage to a misconfigured command during a routine server restart procedure. It has since implemented network-wide amendments to prevent similar incidents and ensure operational effectiveness.
While the Post Office did not comment on potential charges against Fujitsu, it stated that additional controls would be put in place to prevent future occurrences. The Horizon system, supplied by Fujitsu, is set to be replaced following the Post Office scandal, with a different supplier to provide support.
Second class service
Richard Trinder, a subpostmaster and member of the Voice of the Postmaster campaign group, highlighted the financial losses experienced during the outage. He emphasized the impact on business when partners and customers seek alternatives due to service disruptions.
Subpostmasters are mandated to use the Horizon system, which has been under scrutiny following the Post Office scandal. A specialist investigation firm, Kroll, is currently reviewing the system’s integrity and processes to address discrepancies.
The Post Office scandal, initially exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, led to significant injustices faced by subpostmasters. The ongoing review of the Horizon system aims to address concerns raised by the scandal and ensure transparency moving forward.
