Windrush compensation: Essex man to receive £25,000 after ombudsman finding of mismanagement

LONDON — The Home Office will pay £25,000 in compensation to Thomas Tobierre, a Windrush-era migrant from Saint Lucia, after an ombudsman concluded the government mismanaged his claim by failing to count private pension withdrawals when determining damages.

Mr. Tobierre, who arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960 at age seven, spent more than four decades working before being made redundant in June 2017. He could not prove his right to work without documents and, with limited options, was forced to cash in his private pension of about £14,000 to cover living costs while seeking a new job. The 71-year-old from Chelmsford, Essex, sought damages from the Windrush Compensation Scheme but his initial claim was denied.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme, which aims to compensate people harmed by the Windrush scandal, had previously paid Mr. Tobierre in 2021 for loss of access to employment. An investigation by the Parliamentary Ombudsman subsequently found the Home Office had been "confusing and inconsistent" in how it approached pensions and compensation, and said the decision-making and communication around pension losses needed overhaul. In response to the report, the Home Office said it was committed to running the scheme more effectively and to reviewing its approach to pension losses so that others may be eligible for further compensation.

The latest settlement also touches on how the Windrush process affected family members. Caroline Tobierre, Thomas’s wife, sought compensation to help cover funeral costs after being given months to live in August 2021; the family spent months pursuing the claim, which was ultimately unsuccessful before her death in November that year. The ombudsman found the way the claim for funeral costs had been handled was "insensitively" managed and contributed to the family’s distress. The payout to Mr. Tobierre also encompassed this family dimension, reflecting the broader hurt the Windrush process caused to loved ones.

Charlotte Tobierre, the couple’s daughter, who was 40 at the time, was drawn into her mother’s claim. She recalled the process as "exhausting" and said the ordeal eclipsed what should have been a critical period in her mother’s cancer journey. "It was exhausting. We were absolutely consumed by it and that overshadowed my mum’s cancer journey. I felt sad afterwards thinking we wasted so much time talking about Windrush and we missed spending precious time together," she said. The ombudsman’s report underscored the need to improve claim handling to avoid repeating such distress in future cases. The Home Office has since apologised to the Tobierre family and pledged to implement the ombudsman’s recommendations.

As of the end of July 2025, the Windrush Compensation Scheme had paid a total of £115 million across 3,435 claims, according to Home Office figures. A spokesperson for the department stressed that the government is delivering on its commitment to ensure Windrush victims' voices are heard, speed up justice, and run the compensation scheme effectively. The department said it had accepted all of the ombudsman’s recommendations and had apologised to the Tobierre family. The case highlights ongoing scrutiny of how the Windrush scheme calculates losses, including pension-related damages, and signals continued efforts to address past injustices while balancing the need for clear, consistent criteria in the compensation process.

For Thomas Tobierre, the £25,000 settlement brings a monetary acknowledgement after years of financial strain and confusion over the scheme’s handling. His experience, and that of his family, underscores the broader message from the ombudsman that compensation processes must be straightforward, transparent and compassionate to those who faced removal, restricted rights, or other harms connected to Windrush-era immigration realities. The government’s response emphasizes that the scheme is maturing and that reforms, including reassessing pension losses, are ongoing as officials review thousands of claims in a bid to provide timely and fair redress to eligible claimants.