Spotlight on the Windrush Compensation Scheme: your stories, your rights

The Windrush Compensation Scheme was set up to help members of the Windrush generation who had suffered because they were unable to show their lawful right to stay in the UK.

In 2019, we began seeing complaints about the Scheme. Since then, we’ve found it has been wrongly denying compensation to people who should have received it. Our investigations into these failings have resulted in almost half a million pounds in compensation being paid to those affected.

Our new report spotlights some of the common reasons people were wrongly denied compensation, including:

  • telling people they weren't eligible for compensation when they were
  • not always looking at all the evidence provided
  • applying the rules even when they led to unfair outcomes.

We hope that this report will present an opportunity for the Home Office to review and make improvements to the current mechanisms in place for compensating people affected by Windrush. We also hope it will encourage people to complain if they have had a bad experience when applying for.

 

Our spotlight report
In September 2020, we set up a Windrush working group to keep track of complaints we received about the Windrush Compensation Scheme (the Compensation Scheme).

All complaints about government departments or agencies must be referred to us via a Member of Parliament. This report looks at some of the 46 complaints people have brought to us about the Compensation Scheme in the last three years.
Read more

Your stories, your rights

These case summaries show some of the themes we have seen in complaints people have brought to us about the Compensation Scheme.

Where we saw signs that something had gone wrong, we looked at how these affected the individuals and what the Compensation Scheme needed to do to put things right.
Guidance and facts not properly considered
Eligibility for compensation improperly advised for years
Not all evidence considered for a claim
Unfairness in rules for close family member eligibility
Wrong decision made even with supporting evidence
Making a complaint about the Windrush Compensation scheme
This guide explains how to complain about the Windrush Compensation Scheme and what to expect.
Find out more