no you are not liable in any way; in fact they may have a job sueing ( civil action ) anybody under the age of 18 ( age of majority ) in law; but you will get some demanding and threatening letters.

so it would be up to her if she pays or bluffs it out.

i do think that the amount of fine is severe(she is 17)

If you reckon that an arrest is the softer option, take them up on that.

This is all eventually a question of supply and demand. Were every person accused of an offence to insist on the right to a day in court, RLP would be out of business.

I havent been on in a while unfortunatly, but i see everyone is unhappy. At the end of the day, security officers issue civil recovery. Solicitors then take on the case and proceed to collect the specified amount. When people dont pay, it goes to court. I see this on a day to day basis and lots of people do pay it. Correct me if im wrong but does this not affect your credit rating?? I like to see the maturity of people on this site. I was only explaining what happens on a day to day basis in many stores, large and small. I am pretty offended that i was targeted because of the post i wrote. If your unhappy with what i said, target the retailers who are doing this. I merely worked for them and was doing as instructed.

Do i agree with civil recovery?? Yes and no. If the courts find you guilty of the offence then yes. If not, then no such fine should be issued.

i have had the same thing,just found out today that my daughter had been caught shoplifting,god knows why as she has always been well provided for,from a good background and works hard at college,anyway she was caught with a £5 tester foundation at boots,they told her she could either accept a fine or be arrested and end up having a criminal record,she was scared of me and her father finding out so she opted for the fine,we found out when a letter arrived to say that she had to pay £137.50,as she has no income are we as parents liable to pay this,any info would be grateful,fair enough i agree with what companies are doing to re-coup money from shoplifters and do not condone what she did,and i know she is ashamed of herself too,but i do think that the amount of fine is severe(she is 17)

I worked for boots and i have issued fines numerous times. Ask them to prove your daughter commited the offence, if they cant, then they should write off the fine.

A reminder regarding the status of RLP etc:

RLP do not issue “Fines”. They issue speculative invoices. The value of these invoices bears no relationship to any actual costs.

RLP have never taken anyone to court (in any event I think that the retailer would be the one to do that, if they could prove any losses)

A police caution is not an admission of guilt

Even if you had been convicted of the shoplifting offence in the courts, it would still be possible to challenge the value claimed.

The tactic that has been working is to reply with a single short (1 sentence) letter that does not mention any circumstances etc , denying any liability to them or their clients, nothing else, no explanations, then ignoring any future letters.

I worked for boots and i have issued fines numerous times. Ask them to prove your daughter commited the offence, if they cant, then they should write off the fine.

As has already been pointed out, you have not, and indeed cannot, issue fines - only a Court can issue a 'fine'.

What you have issued many times, is an invoice which invites the person concerned to pay a sum of money in order to avoid a possible civil action.

Just for the sake of clarification....

I am curious about something. If someone was caught shoplifting, went to court, paid the fine and then receives something in the mail about civil recovery wanting more money. What happens if they don't pay it?

Probably nothing, but that would be civil matter and they could but seldom do go to court for recovery of costs.

I have had the same thing, had been cought shoplifting item 12£. There was no police involved, i didn't sign anything. They let me pay for item and to take it with me. I apologized and they let me go. Now i recived letter (see link). Letter seys that this is Third settlement offer, but it actually first letter from them. I never received anything from them. I am mother of two i am unemployed i can't afford to pay that sum of money just before christmas. Please help me . I don't know what to do. Maybe on first letter was less than 150 £ to pay......but i didn'

t see it.

thread closed to stop innocent newbie bumping.