- The Windrush Compensation Scheme has paid £129,408,470 across 4,079 claims since April 2019, but only £884,497.52 moved in May 2026.
- Of 11,296 final decisions, 7,445 or 65.9 percent ended with no payment, including 6,534 zero entitlement outcomes.
- The open caseload rose to 578 claims at the end of May, with 56 of them waiting more than 12 months for a decision.
The Home Office has now paid £129,408,470 in Windrush compensation since the scheme opened in April 2019, according to data tables published on 30 July 2026. But the money left the department in May at the slowest monthly rate in more than five years.
The May 2026 release shows £884,497.52 paid during the month, the smallest monthly total since December 2020 and about a third below the £1.34 million monthly average the scheme managed across the first five months of 2026.
Free toolUSCIS Receipt Number DecoderThe number of claims that have received a payment rose to 4,079, up 47 on the April figure of 4,032. Cumulative offers reached £134,979,422.93, which leaves roughly £5.57 million offered on paper but not yet in claimants’ bank accounts.
Decision-making slowed at the same time. The Home Office issued 97 final decisions in May, its lowest monthly total since April 2022, against 125 new claims received. That imbalance pushed work in progress from 554 claims to 578, the fourth rise in five months after the backlog fell steadily through most of 2024.
Across the life of the scheme, the Home Office has received 12,006 claims and reached a final decision on 11,296 of them, or 94.1 percent. It has fully closed 9,721. The department originally estimated that around 15,000 people would be eligible to claim.
What the Windrush Compensation Scheme actually covers
The scheme opened in April 2019 by ministerial direction, after the Home Office wrongly classified thousands of long-settled Commonwealth residents as unlawful migrants. People who had lived in Britain for decades lost jobs, homes, benefits, NHS treatment and bank accounts. Some were detained. Some were wrongly deported and later brought back. It pays for losses tied to employment, immigration fees, housing, health, education, driving licences, banking and daily living costs.
A separate Impact on Life award covers non-financial harm such as family separation, anxiety and deteriorating health, across five levels. Level 1, for short-lived distress, pays £10,000. Level 5, for profound and likely irreversible damage, pays £100,000, with scope to go higher in exceptional cases. That £10,000 minimum, set in December 2020, is forty times the original floor and is issued as a preliminary payment as soon as any impact is shown.
May 2026 against April 2026: the numbers
The month-over-month picture is a slowdown on almost every measure that matters to a waiting claimant. Payments, final decisions and closures all fell, while the queue grew.
Averaged across the 4,079 paid claims, the scheme has awarded about £31,725 each: 2,254 primary claims, 1,600 close family claims and 225 estate claims. Close family payments are the fastest-growing slice, up 194 since December 2025 against 78 for primary claims.
Two out of three decided claims still end with no money
The single hardest number in the release is the breakdown of those 11,296 final decisions. Only 3,851 produced a value offer. A further 6,534 were assessed as zero entitlement, meaning the claimant met the eligibility test but the Home Office calculated an award of nothing. Another 911 were refused on eligibility grounds or withdrawn.
That means 7,445 decided claims, or 65.9 percent, ended without a payment. Campaigners and legal researchers cite almost exactly that figure, roughly two-thirds, to argue the scheme has the lowest success rate of any major UK state redress programme.
May followed the same pattern in miniature: of the 97 final decisions, 55 were zero entitlement, 8 were eligibility refusals or withdrawals, and only 34 carried a value offer.
Reviews are stacking up faster than they clear
Claimants who disagree with an offer or a zero award can ask for a Tier 1 review inside the Home Office, then a Tier 2 review by an Independent Adjudicator outside the department. By 31 May 2026, 3,475 claims had requested a Tier 1 review and 3,365 had an outcome, leaving 110 open. On Tier 2, 1,141 claims had requested a review against 979 outcomes, leaving 162 waiting on the Adjudicator.
Tier 2 requests have grown by 138 since the end of December 2025. Roughly 31 percent of all claims that reached a final decision went on to request a Tier 1 review, a rate that tells its own story about how first-instance decisions are landing.
Why campaigners say the pace is still too slow
The Home Affairs Committee has found a litany of flaws in the scheme’s design and operation: an excessive documentary burden, long delays, poor communication and inadequate staffing. Its report concluded that for many people the scheme compounded the injustice rather than remedying it.
The Windrush Commissioner, the Reverend Clive Foster, appointed in 2025, called it deeply concerning that at least 66 claimants had died waiting for compensation as of September 2025. He welcomed the reform package but said delivery had to be swift and sustained. In June 2026 he said he agreed in principle with a Black Equity Organisation recommendation to move the scheme out of the Home Office, while stopping short of pushing for it.
Home Office permanent secretary Gareth Davies has called past backlogs completely unacceptable while pointing to an average decision time now down to about two months. The May data cuts both ways: 316 of the 578 open claims are under three months old, but 56 have run more than a year and 16 more than 18 months.
Charities including Age UK and Justice 4 Windrush want legal aid so claimants are not filling in the scheme’s 44-page form alone, more than four times the length of the Lambeth child abuse survivors form.
What changed in January 2026
A reform package took effect on 15 January 2026 and applies to existing claimants as well as new ones. The headline change lets claimants take up to 75 percent of an expected final award as an advance while a review runs, so a disputed figure no longer freezes the whole payment.
- Lost workplace and personal pension contributions are now compensable for the first time
- People who could not prove their status get a refund of all immigration fees paid
- Claimants aged 75 or over, and those with serious health conditions, are prioritised in the queue
- Awards can be adjusted for wage inflation and for retirement savings withdrawn early
- The government allocated £600,000 for the second year of the £1.5 million Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund
One line in the data suggests the preliminary payment route is close to exhausted. Cumulative preliminary offers rose from 1,933 at the end of December 2025 to just 1,937 by 31 May 2026, four in five months. Most people who were ever going to get the £10,000 up front have had it.
What claimants should do now
There is no application deadline, and the January 2026 rules apply retrospectively, so a claim decided under the old rules is worth revisiting if it touched pensions or immigration fees. Contact the Windrush Helpline rather than assume the case is shut.
- If you are 75 or over or have a serious health condition, say so in writing. Priority allocation only works if the caseworker knows it applies to you.
- If you have an offer you dispute, ask about the 75 percent advance. Waiting for a Tier 2 outcome can add months given the 162 reviews currently sitting with the Independent Adjudicator.
- Ask the Windrush Helpline for a referral to the claimant assistance provider. It is free, and the advocacy fund is resourced for form support.
- Keep every payslip, tenancy agreement, benefit letter and bank refusal. The evidence burden is the most criticised feature of the scheme and the most common route to a zero entitlement outcome.
- If your claim has been open more than 12 months, you are one of 56 people in that position. Escalate in writing and cite the age of the case.
The next release, covering June 2026, is due in the Home Office migration transparency data. Whether May’s slowdown was a one-month dip or the start of a trend will be clearer then. Windrush cases keep surfacing outside the compensation numbers too: the Home Office has revoked deportation orders against members of the generation, and one man was allowed back into the UK after 28 years away.
The wider UK system is tightening at the same time, with the Home Office having proposed a 10-year wait for indefinite leave to remain and visa fees rising again from 8 April 2026. For Windrush claimants, the gap between how fast fees go up and how slowly compensation goes out is the whole argument.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much has the Windrush Compensation Scheme paid out in total?
The Home Office had paid £129,408,470.21 by 31 May 2026, according to data tables published on 30 July 2026. That money went to 4,079 claims, which works out at an average of roughly £31,725 per paid claim. A further £5.57 million has been offered but not yet paid.
Why were Windrush payouts so low in May 2026?
The Home Office paid £884,497.52 during May 2026, the lowest monthly figure since December 2020. Decision volume fell at the same time: the department issued only 97 final decisions, its lowest monthly total since April 2022, while receiving 125 new claims.
How many Windrush compensation claims are still waiting for a decision?
578 claims were in progress at the end of May 2026, up from 554 in April. Of those, 316 have been open between one and three months, 40 for 12 to 18 months, and 16 for more than 18 months.
Do most Windrush claimants actually get paid?
No. Of 11,296 final decisions, only 3,851 produced a value offer. Another 6,534 were assessed as zero entitlement and 911 were refused on eligibility grounds or withdrawn. That means 65.9 percent of decided claims ended without any payment.
What is a zero entitlement decision on a Windrush claim?
A zero entitlement claim is one where the claimant meets the scheme’s eligibility criteria but the Home Office calculates the award at nothing. It is separate from an eligibility refusal. There have been 6,534 zero entitlement outcomes since the scheme opened in April 2019.
Can I get part of my Windrush compensation before the review ends?
Yes. Since 15 January 2026, claimants can receive an advance of up to 75 percent of the expected final award while a review is still running. This matters because 162 Tier 2 reviews were still awaiting an outcome from the Independent Adjudicator at the end of May 2026.
What changed in the Windrush Compensation Scheme rules in January 2026?
The 15 January 2026 reforms added compensation for lost workplace and personal pension contributions, refunds of all immigration fees for people who could not prove their status, wage inflation adjustments, and priority allocation for claimants aged 75 or over or with serious health conditions.
Who is eligible to claim Windrush compensation?
You can claim if you arrived from a Commonwealth country before 1973, if a parent or grandparent did, or if you arrived from any country before 31 December 1988 and are now settled in the UK. Close family members with significant losses and representatives of a deceased claimant’s estate can also apply.
