PO Computer blunder has left us in limbo

[Sidley]

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A FORMER postmaster from South Tyneside who is caught up in a £57,000 accounts row says he has been left in limbo as the fight goes on to claim back his cash.

Kevin Carter and his wife Julie, who is registered disabled, were forced to re-mortgage their home after being told they owed the Post Office thousands of pounds.

They – along with over a hundred other former postmasters – say a computer system, called Horizon, installed by the Post Office, was creating cash shortfalls that didn’t really exist by logging some transactions twice.

The couple, from Cleadon Meadows, South Shields, ran the branch in Dickens Avenue, Biddick Hall, South Shields.

They are among more than 150 sub-postmasters who claim they too were wrongly prosecuted, or made to repay money, because of the system.

A report by investigators, Second Sight, into the system found no faults, but said the Post Office should examine its support and training processes for sub-postmasters.

A second report looking into the Horizon system, and the progress so far with mediation, has not been made public.

It has been claimed that this report says the technology was not fit for purpose, outdated, and that power cuts and communication problems made things worse.

The Post Office is making no comment on the matter.

Five years on, Mr Carter says they are still no further forward in their fight to reclaim their cash, and have been left no option but to sit and wait it out.

Sub-postmasters are not directly employed by the Post Office, and under their contracts, are responsible for deficits at their branches.

Mediation has now started with those who say they were treated unfairly or wrongly accused of theft.

Mr Carter said: “We are still in limbo. The Post Office is adamant there was nothing wrong with the system but how can 150 people be wrong?

“We are hoping to have this sorted soon, and hopefully we can get our money back. But, right now, all we can do is sit and wait.”

The couple were only allowed to sell the business after they agreed to pay the company £45,000 from the sale.

That was the sum the Post Office claimed the pair owed at the time.

The rest of the total is cash they paid from their own pockets, and deductions from Mrs Carter’s salary.

Mr Carter said: “This is a nightmare for us.

“We were made to feel like criminals, when we haven’t done anything wrong.

“We contacted the Post Office and asked for help as we were sure it was down to the computer system.

“But the losses continued to get bigger and bigger and, in the end, they suspended us pending further inquiries.”

The couple are currently receiving support from Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance which is representing sub-postmasters across the country who claim to have been wrongly accused of false accounting.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office said: “We cannot comment on individual cases and while mediation is taking place. We will also not comment on the contents of any confidential documents.

“After two years of investigation, it remains the case that there is absolutely no evidence of any systemic issues with the computer system which is used by over 78,000 people across our 11,500 branches, and which successfully processes over six million transactions every day.”

[Darren Bent]

Post office need to listen to user's feedback.