To briefly explain the situation, at the time of the incident I was 16 and tried to shoplift items which combined to a total of £50.

I was brought to the back of the store and was detained for around 30 minutes (most of this time was spent waiting for police officers to turn up and take action).

I signed a year ban agreement, and my passport that I happened to have was scanned and I gave them my general details in order to avoid being accused of a lack of cooperation

Police arrived and decided to not arrest me or escort me to my house. I was escorted of the premises and was let to go with a slap on the wrist and I thought this was the end of it

These events occurred on the 26th of November 2015

5 months later (yes FIVE months later) I received a letter from RLP saying I need to pay "associated security and administration costs", totalling at £149.50.

I have read through the many forums but haven't seen enough to know whether or not I should pay or try and tackle the situation.

What I mainly see is "ignore" or write them a one line letter

If possible could somebody please write something word for word that could be sent or a step by step plan of action.

What legal action could be taken against me?

Can RLP sue me or take me to court?

Will ignoring them actually make the problem go away?

Anything would help but I don't want to risk my fine increasing as I am unemployed and my parents are not willing to pay such a substantial amount of money.

Thank you very much

Hi. Weclome to cag. Two words details everything you need to know for this.

IGNORE THEM.

Seriously. Have a read of other threads. Theyre all the same. RLP cannot and will not do anything. They are a private company who are just after money.

Ignore them, learn your lesson from this and get on with your life. Theyll send you a few more letters, try and get a DCA invloved, but keep ignoring and theyll run off after a few months.

If you are under 18, then theres absolutely NOTHING they can do to you ( not that they could do anything in the first place)

To briefly explain the situation, at the time of the incident I was 16 and tried to shoplift items which combined to a total of £50.

I was brought to the back of the store and was detained for around 30 minutes (most of this time was spent waiting for police officers to turn up and take action).

I signed a year ban agreement, and my passport that I happened to have was scanned and I gave them my general details in order to avoid being accused of a lack of cooperation

Police arrived and decided to not arrest me or escort me to my house. I was escorted of the premises and was let to go with a slap on the wrist and I thought this was the end of it

These events occurred on the 26th of November 2015

5 months later (yes FIVE months later) I received a letter from RLP saying I need to pay "associated security and administration costs", totalling at £149.50.

 

I have read through the many forums but haven't seen enough to know whether or not I should pay or try and tackle the situation.

What I mainly see is "ignore" or write them a one line letter

If possible could somebody please write something word for word that could be sent or a step by step plan of action.

What legal action could be taken against me?

Can RLP sue me or take me to court?

Will ignoring them actually make the problem go away?

Anything would help but I don't want to risk my fine increasing as I am unemployed and my parents are not willing to pay such a substantial amount of money.

Thank you very much

Others will no doubt be along to "flesh out" my reply with more detail (such as the Oxford case), but

a) it is not a fine, as it hasn't come from a court : it is an invoice, and one you don't have to pay!

b) there are grounds under which you can dispute the invoice, and they rely on scaring people into paying.

c) reply, with a one line reply denying responsibility for the costs, and that no further correspondence will be entered into.

Do your parents already know? They may try to use "you are under 18, so we will write to your parents" as a lever.

Ohh, and take the fact the police decided to take no further action as "a lucky escape" : you might not be so lucky again!

Thank you for replying

Yes my parents know I told them immediately as I wanted them to know as soon as instead of having to bail me out if push ever came to shove

I have read through many forums and ignoring seems to be the go to solution

Butkus guess it would put me at ease if I knew exactly how that process would work and what I should be worried for ins worst case scenario

Why exactly should my one line contain and should I send it through the email address that was given to me on the letter?

Why exactly should my one line contain and should I send it through the email address that was given to me on the letter?

Worse case scenario would be you panic and pay them. DONT. forget them and move on end of.... Don't call them or email them either...

Hi and welcome to CAG. I was beginning to think RLP had gone out of business due to the lack of posts. Shame. I was wrong

First and foremost. Don't do it agaian otherwise the info we give out will be wasted.

To 'flesh out' BassaS response.

Your choice whether to contact RLP. If your parents are unaware of this it may be time to 'fess up' as RLP have been known to write to the parents of under 18's although I think this may have stopped as it is a breach of a persons protections under the Data Protection Act and they cannot say either way whether a shoplifter is a vulnerable person or not. So, if you don't want to let your parents know then I suggest one letter. This letter should state clearly that

a) You acknowledge no alleged charge to RLP or any company they claim to represent.

b) Refuse them permission to contact any other party as required under the Data Protection Act.

Now, the letter itself is nothing more than a spurious claim for compensation for the stores losses. The store got the stuff back so no loss there. The security staff are paid irrespective of whether they detain a shoplifter or not so no losses there. While there may be small admin fees (no more than it actually cost them) but as it is so small, no company will entertain the notion of going to court. In fact, there have been no cases where any retailer has taken court action since 2012.

RLP are in the business of making money. Nothing more, nothing less. Their claim they are acting as a deterrent is nonsense.

RLP can take no action against you whatsoever. All they can do is pass this imaginary figure on to a debt collector who will write and say that they understand the amount is undisputed which is a bit odd as if it was not disputed, why would a DCA be chasing. Again, logic flies out of the window.

Only the store can initiate court action and they don't because they risk getting less back than it has costs them.

RLP may say that they have a 'dishonesty database' of alleged offenders which they may pass on to prospective employers. don't be alarmed by this as they are not allowed to pass on anything without your permission.

Bit long but I felt you could do with the facts.

Hi and welcome to CAG. I was beginning to think RLP had gone out of business due to the lack of posts. Shame. I was wrong

 

First and foremost. Don't do it agaian otherwise the info we give out will be wasted.

 

To 'flesh out' BassaS response.

 

Your choice whether to contact RLP. If your parents are unaware of this it may be time to 'fess up' as RLP have been known to write to the parents of under 18's although I think this may have stopped as it is a breach of a persons protections under the Data Protection Act and they cannot say either way whether a shoplifter is a vulnerable person or not. So, if you don't want to let your parents know then I suggest one letter. This letter should state clearly that

a) You acknowledge no alleged charge to RLP or any company they claim to represent.

b) Refuse them permission to contact any other party as required under the Data Protection Act.

 

Now, the letter itself is nothing more than a spurious claim for compensation for the stores losses. The store got the stuff back so no loss there. The security staff are paid irrespective of whether they detain a shoplifter or not so no losses there. While there may be small admin fees (no more than it actually cost them) but as it is so small, no company will entertain the notion of going to court. In fact, there have been no cases where any retailer has taken court action since 2012.

 

RLP are in the business of making money. Nothing more, nothing less. Their claim they are acting as a deterrent is nonsense.

 

RLP can take no action against you whatsoever. All they can do is pass this imaginary figure on to a debt collector who will write and say that they understand the amount is undisputed which is a bit odd as if it was not disputed, why would a DCA be chasing. Again, logic flies out of the window.

Only the store can initiate court action and they don't because they risk getting less back than it has costs them.

 

RLP may say that they have a 'dishonesty database' of alleged offenders which they may pass on to prospective employers. don't be alarmed by this as they are not allowed to pass on anything without your permission.

 

Bit long but I felt you could do with the facts.

Thank you very much

This was very helpful and I have seen the way you reply to people with the same issue

Very grateful for this!

RLP are a shark with rubber teeth, you have had great advice.