POL00089549
POL00089549
Confidential - subject to litigation and legal advice privilege
Crnd Dideingow
INITIAL COMPLAINT REVIEW AND MEDIATION SCHEME
SETTLEMENT ANALYSIS
Background Information
Applicant details Claim no. M109
Name Grant Allen
Branch Winsford
Branch loss £18,354.05
Date of loss February 2012
Debt position
£18,354.05 remains outstanding as at 18 June
2014.
Appetite and ability to
recover remaining debt
Post Office is still within time to recover the debt.
Consequential losses
claimed
i. Cost of installing the Post Office branch
in the premises - £20,000
ji. I Cost of decommissioning the Post
Office/ reinstalling to residential -
£10,000
iii. Compensation for summary termination
(to be based on salary of £10,00 per
year) - Not quantified
iv. _ Reimbursement of Professional Advisor
costs - Not quantified
ve Compensation for distress and anxiety -
Not quantified
Contract / termination
position
SPMR / employee / other
Applicant operated the branch through a
franchise agreement. He was director of Allco
Ltd, the franchisee.
Former or current
SPMR?
Former director of franchisee.
Termination route
Franchise Agreement terminated
Termination date 18 April 2012
Applicant position Bankrupt / IVA? Unknown
Prosecuted? Yes
Outcome of criminal
prosecution
Applicant pleaded guilty to fraud by false
representations for inflating the cash on hand
figure
Civil proceedings?
No
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POL00089549
POL00089549
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Crnd Dideingow
High profile media / MP
case?
No
Professional advisor
Robert Holland (James Cowper LLP)
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Bond Dickinson Legal Analysis
Legal risk adjusted claim value
£0 - The Applicant owes POL £18,354.05
Legal analysis of branch losses
POL00089549
POL00089549
Crnd Dideingow
Legal factor Legal risk Legal risk
(0% =norisk I adjusted claim
to POL) value
Claim value (£18,354.05)
Debt owed to Post Office of £56,704.52
Has the claim already been barred / determined so that legal 0% (£18,354.05)
proceedings cannot be brought against POL?
No
Other legal issues N/A (£18,354.05)
No
Responsibility for loss N/A (£18,354.05)
No evidence to suggest Horizon at fault. Applicant has accepted that
he falsely inflated the cash on hand figures that meant identification of
the cause of the loss is difficult/impossible.
Interest £0 (£18,354.05)
No.
Legal analysis of consequential losses resulting from termination
Legal factor Legal risk Legal risk
(0% = no risk adjusted
to POL) I claim value
Value of claim based on Applicant's figures 100% £30,000
In excess of £30,000 (but not fully quantified).
Are the claimed consequential losses recoverable at law? 100% £2,500 plus
. unquantified
See additional notes. legal costs
Has the claim already been barred / determined so that legal 100% £2,500 plus
proceedings cannot be brought against POL? unquantified
legal costs
No
Is there the possibility of an unlawful termination claim because the 0% £0
Applicant's contract was not terminated on 3 months’ notice?
No.
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POL00089549
POL00089549
Confidential - subject to litigation and legal advice privilege
Was contract termination unlawful? 0% £0
No — there is no evidence that termination was unlawful.
Is there evidence that the Applicant could have "sold" his / her 0% £0
branch as a going concern if given 3 months' notice?
No — nothing to suggest that the termination as unlawful. Applicant
resigned.
Interest nla £0
N/A
Suitability for mediation
The Applicant pleaded guilty to fraud for false declaration of the cash on hand figures in the branch.
Accordingly, it was impossible for Post Office to identify the cause of the loss. For these reasons we do.
not consider this case as being suitable for mediation.
Bond Dickinson contact
Name: Alexandra Ward
Tel:
Email:
Date: 20 January 2015
Additional Notes
Recoverability of consequential losses:
i. Repayment of lost refurbishment costs: Irrecoverable at law as issue between Applicant and
landlord
ii. Loss of earnings (based on £10,000 per annum): £2,500 recoverable if unlawful termination
proven as Capped at 3 months.
iii. Compensation for distress: Irrecoverable at law
iv. Legal costs: Recoverable depending on circumstances
Total losses potentially recoverable: £2,500 plus legal costs and losses due to inability to sell branch
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POL00089549
POL00089549
Confidential - subject to litigation and legal advice privilege
Crnd Dideingow
1. This advice has been produced by applying the principles set out in the Advice from Linklaters dated
20 March 2014.
Advice qualifications
2. No further legal analysis of the underlying legal principles has been carried out, in particular we
have not considered any other possible legal bases for the Applicant's claims including without
limitation malicious prosecution, defamation, malicious falsehood, breach of confidence, tortious
causes of action or privacy law.
3. We have not analysed the possibility that failures by Post Office in training or supporting the
Applicant, or subsequently investigating losses, may have contributed to the Applicant's ability to
prevent losses in branch.
4. Our advice is based on only the information in the Applicant's Case Questionnaire Response, the
Post Office Investigation Report and Second Sight's Case Review Report. Our advice does not
factor in the possibility of further information being available at a later date that may change our
analysis.
5. We have not considered the Applicant's appetite or capacity to bring proceedings against POL or
any of the “other” factors set out in the settlement mandate.
6. We have not considered any criminal law issues or whether any conviction / sentence may be
unsafe. We have assumed that there are no criminal law risks unless such risks have been
previously highlighted by Cartwright King.
7. We have applied a de minimis threshold to legal risk. Where the legal risk is very small (less than
20%) we have recorded this as 0% in our analysis.
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POL00089549
POL00089549
Confidential - subject to litigation and legal advice privilege
Crnd Dideingow
Post Office Settlement Mandate
Legal risk adjusted claim value
£0
Other settlement factors
Factor Adjustment Adjusted
settlement
threshold
Legal risk adjusted claim value £0
Actual cost of settlement to POL
Other admissions of fault by POL
PR / media implications
Applicant expectations / experience from any previous
negotiations
Criminal case — need to protect safety of convictions
Risk of future litigation / court costs
Other factors
Mandated financial settlement range
Alternative / additional non-financial settlement proposals that can be offered
Other matters
Approved for mediation
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POL00089549
POL00089549
Confidential - subject to litigation and legal advice privilege
Crnd Dideingow
Post Office Approval
Name: Date:
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