Hundreds could be eligible for Windrush Compensation Scheme and not know, says University legal service

The Home Office has requested the help of University of Leicester Law School to raise awareness of the eligibility for the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The scheme offers compensation to people in the UK who were wrongly detained, threatened with deportation and denied legal rights because of the government’s immigration policies and inadequate documentation processes. This has become known as the Windrush Scandal.

Proportionally, the Windrush Compensation Scheme has been utilised by people who came to the UK from Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean.

However, there is concern that people from other countries, both in the Commonwealth and beyond, may not know that they could also be eligible as part of the scheme.

The Home Office’s criteria for eligibility to the Windrush Compensation are:

• You came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
• Your parents or grandparents came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
• You came to the UK from any country before 31 December 1988 and are now settled here

Claimants of the scheme have to prove that either:

• You have had losses because you could not prove your right to stay in the UK
• You have had losses because you are the partner, child, brother, sister or parent of someone who could not prove their right to stay in the UK
• You represent the estate of someone who had losses because they could not prove their right to stay in the UK

University of Leicester Law School’s Legal Advice Clinic runs a free service where students, supervised by solicitors, assist those wishing to claim from the Windrush Compensation Scheme. The first Leicester resident helped by the Legal Advice Clinic successfully received their compensation at the end of 2023.

As of December 2023, the Home Office had paid £75.87 million across 2,097 claims nationwide.

The Home Office has also issued £10,000 in funding to the Legal Advice Clinic to raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation Fund to non-Caribbean communities.

Director and Supervising Solicitor of the Legal Advice Clinic, Laura Bee said: “As the scheme has ‘Windrush’ in its name, many potential claimants who do not identify with this term have no idea that they may be eligible for compensation for the losses and hardship they have suffered as a result of being unable to prove their lawful status.

“This funding will enable us to go into other communities and raise awareness of the Compensation Scheme, then help potential claimants. We have created a paid administrator role for our current students to apply for, and are also recruiting a part-time solicitor, to give us the capacity to run this project. It will enable us to develop closer collaborations and links with community organisations.”

Project lead and Supervising Solicitor of the Legal Advice Clinic, Afsaan Sharif added: The project funding will extend our existing Windrush work and help bring to light the common reasons and barriers preventing other communities coming forward to make a claim.

More information about the Windrush Compensation Scheme and how to apply.

More information about University of Leicester’s free Legal Advice Clinic.