People who arrived in the UK many years ago and do not have documentation confirming their immigration status, have faced difficulties in proving their right to work, to rent property and to access benefits and services to which they are entitled.

This affected many Caribbean people lawfully living and working in the UK but who were wrongly targeted by immigration enforcement as a result of the Government “hostile environment” policies. This led to a national scandal.

In one instance a man who had worked and paid taxes in Britain for more than 30 years was charged £54,000 for cancer treatment. In another example, a woman who had been living in Britain for five decades was thrown into a detention centre.

The Government promised to ‘right the wrongs’ of the Windrush Scandal and to compensate Victims. The Home Office launched a Windrush Compensation Scheme on 3 April 2019.

£200 million was said to be set aside to meet expected claims. However, at the end of January 2024, Home Office figures show that only £80 million has been paid out.

The Scheme allows compensation for losses relating to the following:

  • Immigration applications, fees and legal costs
  • Detention, deportation, removal and return
  • Employment (job loss/denied)
  • Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit (refused/stopped)
  • Benefits (refused/stopped)
  • Housing (refused/stopped/prevented)
  • Health (refused/had to pay)
  • Education (refused/had to pay)
  • Banking (refused/suffered financial loss)
  • Driving licence (refused/withdrawn/cancelled))
  • Homelessness (rendered)
  • Impact on life
  • Discretionary

If you believe you are a victim of the Windrush Scandal, CACFO working with Mandala Community Services would like to hear from you in order to help.

We hold Windrush Compensation Surgeries at CACFO, 40 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath CR7 8HQ at 7pm-9pm on specified Thursday evenings.

Our current dates are:

  • 6 Feb 2025
  • 20 Feb 2025
  • 6 Mar 2025
  • 20 Mar 2025
  • 3 Apr 2025

Just come along on any of the dates or email info@cacfouk.org for more information. We will add dates as the year progresses.

Home Office rules say that you will be eligible and can make a claim if:

  • 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

You will also be eligible and can make a claim if you are:

  • the close family member of someone eligible to claim and you have had significant losses yourself
  • representing the estate of someone who would have been eligible
  • if you are eligible, you must then show that you are entitled to compensation. You will be entitled if you have suffered impacts or losses because you could not show that you had a right to live in the UK, under the terms of the Scheme

The Government has said that the Windrush Documentation Scheme and the Windrush Compensation Scheme will remain open as long as they are needed, so no one is prevented from making a claim because a deadline has passed.

It should be noted that the scheme is designed to pay ‘compensation’ as opposed to ‘restitution’.