Sir Alan Bates has agreed a multi-million-pound settlement from the UK Post Office, more than 20 years after he began fighting for victims of the Horizon scandal, sources have told the BBC.
The payout follows landmark legal action by 555 sub-postmasters, after the Post Office’s Horizon IT system incorrectly flagged shortfalls in branch accounts.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office - Watch the series on TVNZ+
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted. Many went to prison for accounting and theft, while others were left financially ruined and made to dip into their own savings to cover alleged losses.
As a result, marriages broke down, families reported serious health issues and some believe stress from the prosecutions contributed to premature deaths.
Sir Alan Bates led the campaign charge against the Post Office and was subsequently knighted for his contributions.
“We pay tribute to Sir Alan Bates for his long record of campaigning on behalf of victims. We can confirm that Sir Alan’s claim has reached the end of the scheme process and been settled," a Department for Business and Trade spokesperson confirmed Tuesday (local time).
As of September 2025, £1.23 billion (NZ$2.8 billion) had been awarded to over 9100 postmasters under the compensation scheme.
Two earlier offers were rejected by Sir Alan. He called the first offer in January 2024 "cruel and derisory" and claimed the second offer in May 2024 was only a third of his original claim.
By May of the following year, Sir Alan said a third offer fell short of 50% of what he sought. His lawyers negotiated the final settlement, which also accounted for his 20 years of campaigning for justice.
Former sub-postmaster Tim Brentnall, whose conviction for false accounting was overturned, told BBC Radio Wales that Sir Alan’s "tenacity and dogged spirit" had kept many victims going over the past two decades.
"We all owe him a great debt," he said.
The scandal gained renewed public attention last year when it was depicted in an ITV drama series Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which is available to watch on TVNZ+.
A government inquiry detailed the full human impact of the scandal, including the likelihood that more than 13 people took their own lives as a result.
Earlier this year, Sir Alan accused the government of presenting a "take it or leave it" offer worth less than half his claim.
Many victims have previously said low compensation offers, without legal support, forced them to accept far less than they were owed.
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