Judgment handed down in High Court case Re Palmer [2024] EWHC 1722 (Ch).

In a test case arising from the Post Office Horizon scandal, the High Court has held that the right of discharged bankrupt postmasters to claim and receive ex gratia payments from a government compensation scheme that sought to make good their Horizon-related losses is not “property” that forms part of their bankrupt estates under ss.283 and 436 of the Insolvency Act 1986. The court held that the postmasters’ rights did not arise out of their pre-bankruptcy causes of action against Post Office Limited and were in any event not future property vested in the postmasters at the commencement of their bankruptcies.

This case will be essential reading for all insolvency practitioners as well as those with a general interest in the doctrinal underpinnings of personal property law. Gareth Tilley successfully represented the Applicant, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.