Hello, i am new to this forum and was wondering if anyone could help me in regards to RLP. A few weeks ago, in a store i would rather not name, i was caught shoplifting by security. It was the first time i have ever even thought about something like this and i honestly have no idea what came over me, but i took a t-shirt and i realize how incredibly stupid it was. As i left the store i was stopped by security and they asked me to come into a room, where i immediately confessed and gave them the shirt back. They then made me sign a form, took my picture, told me i was banned from the store, and then let me go. The police were not called/involved [to my knowledge] I would also like to clarify that i am over 18. Today my parents opened the letter from RLP and read it and it said that i had caused a disruption to the store [it mentioned nothing about shoplifting] and that i was being charged something around £130 and if not i would be taken to court. My mother rang some phone number on the letter before telling me but they refused to speak to her. I lied and told them it was not me because i was scared and now they want to take me to the police station to fill out an identity theft form! So i have a few questions: 1. will i have to pay this fine? will anything happen if i don't pay? will i be taken to court? also, when i was taken into the room, the security told me if i did not pay, bailiffs would come to my house. If i do not have to pay this fine, how can i explain this to my parents? 2. Will this come up on CRB checks/give me a criminal record? I really do not want a criminal record for something so incredibly stupid, i realise how stupid it was - i am an A grade student and i'm on my gap year and i'm currently looking for a small job and i'm also going to oxford university next year. I do not want this to affect that. 3. Will the police follow this up with me/come after me? I am really scared about this and i'm freaking out over it, i had a panic attack shortly after my mother told me because i was so scared, and i was too scared to go out today. Thank you in advance for any advice/help, and please do not judge me because i honestly did not do it intentionally, i would never have done this in any other circumstances. I think it was because of all the stress i was under at the time [waiting for a level results to see if i would be accepted to oxford uni] combined with my depression/anxiety. I honestly would never have even considered anything like this otherwise. Any advice on what to tell my parents would also be welcomed, there is no way i want to tell them i shoplifted as i will most likely be kicked out of the house. Thank you.

N A MOMENT OF STUPIDITY MY PAL ATE A SANDWICH IN THE STORE AND DISCARDED THE PACKAGING WHILST SHE CONTINUED SHOPPING - THEN REALISED WHAT SHE DONE LEFT HER TROLLEY IN THE QUEUE AND WALKED OUT THE STORE- SHE WAS STOPPED IN THE CAR PARK RETURNED TO THE STORE - SHOWN THE EMPTY WRAPPER - NAME ADDRESS TAKEN . OFFERED TO PAY WAS NOT ACCEPTED AND NO POLICE CALLED- SHE HAS NOW RECEIVED A RLP LETTER FOR £90.00 very worried and scared - although people say ignore she wold really like to hear from someone who has ignored and what really happens.. thank u all ,

A friend and I were caught shoplifting on the 6th of July in a local drug store (Boots) and we live in Southern England. We are both 16 years old. At the time when we shoplifted, we stupidly took a couple of items of make-up out of their boxes and left them on the shelves. We stupidly put the products in a plastic bag..However, we never left the store holding anything. We didn't even go to the door, a security guy approached us and took us to his office. He accused us of shoplifting because we 'Had no intention of buying any of these things because we took them out of their little boxes' and he made us sign a piece of paper saying we'd shoplifted in Boots and we can't come in for the next 12 months. All items had been put back, except from two cheap items were slightly ripped and deemed unsellable. We offered to pay for these items at the scene but he said no. He called the police which was very unnecessary as she didn't do anything but shout at us. We were set free and told we would receive a Retail Loss Preventionicon letter. And then, three days later, we received a letter demanding £219.75. We are both obviously scared and worried about this. We first received a letter stating if we do not reply within 21 days then they will send another letter, and we didn't. So I have just received my second, and it states I have 14 days to respond. And it also states, 'We think you do not understand the full potential consequences of this letter, so given your age, you may fall under vulnerable, meaning a parent or adult will take your responsibility.' I do not want this. Me and my friend are not in a perfect financial state to just pay the money. However we do not want to be taken to court. We have had to RLPicon letters now and it's frightening. I wouldn't like to tell my mother about this, I'd rather deal with it myself. But - we are trying to form an argument, because we never left the store. We are just scared something will happen to us if we don't pay. What could happen? (Update, I wrote that when I recieved my second letter. I've just gotten my third, and it's addressed to my parent this time. It says I have a further 21 days or they will refer to the client. (Boots) and I'm seriously scared. What do they do after the third letter?)

Last week i did a really silly thing and changed the price on a pair of socks from £7 to about £3 and took a tiny free toy from what i think was a bottle of perfume in Tk Maxx. It was the most stupid thing to do, even although it was tiny, but i got stopped by rlp. I was completely honest with them from the start as i was extremely upset about what i done and wanted to rectify the situation. I answered all of their questions even although they were being incredibly rude and nasty to me. They made me feel like a proper criminal and said my details would be available for any retailer to see. I told them who i was currently working for and signed what they asked me to. Now im kicking myself though because only after leaving the shop did i realize that they had written that i had taken an item worth £25 when it was only the free toy- and i had signed the paper because i had been so scared :( also the police were not called at the time and the rlp men said that they were going to help me by not calling them- but i was asked to leave my job today because a police report had come through. Now im scared that its been made to sound more serious because the price of £25 was put on it. Ive prepared myself for the rlp letter after reading everyones stories however what i am now terrified about is if there is a police report now made, does that mean that the police will now be coming after me? Its really killing me at the moment so much that i cant sleep- im so ashamed of what i did but i dont want the police to come after me over something so tiny. Thanks in advice for any help

Hi All. I also am in a similar situation where TK Maxx have accused me of ticket-switching on 3 occasions in order to profit. The police were called and I was arrested and charged with obtaining goods by deception but after being interviewed at the station no further action was taken. There was no theft however and the security staff said that all items involved were from TK Maxx. it was a genuine mistake after wearing items at home I then returned them - all their tags are very non-specific so its hard to tell which tags are for which garments. I now have RLP chasing me. After their first letter I (perhaps stupidly) replied and told them it was an error and I had not profited - basically what I had told the police. Now they have sent another letter quoting Aerospace Publishing v Thames Water Utilities (2007) as a precedent and citing security staff costs and 'disruption to their business' as a basis for their demand. They state that witness statement evidence demonstrating how my actions have have resulted in significant disruption to their client's business will be prepared once court proceedings are initiated. What should I do? Thanks in advance

Hey i'm a 19 year old university student, never done anything wrong in my life, always worked hard etc... Until recently me and my best friend done something really stupid. We were in boots and being a student i have little money to spare, as my mums birthday was coming up i wanted to get her something nice to say thank you for everything she has done, anyway for some stupid reason we saw an opportunity to throw a face cream into a bag that we already had from another store. Without thinking about how wrong this was we rushed out of the store before being stopped 20 meters from the shop by 2 security men and told to follow them immediately. Straight away i told them what they had done and said how sorry we were, we explained the situation and even offered to pay for the untoucher product, however they were more interested in explaining how much trouble we were in and the huge fines we would be recieving, they searched us both and 4 of them interviewed us. We were both terrified as we've never experienced anything like this. The cost of the product was £20 and they took it back undamaged however we have just recieved a letter from RLP asking for £180, We are so scared and dont know what to do. I am really frightened that this will go on my record as they say and will stop me from ever getting a job once i hopefully graduate, i am so dissapointed in myself for risking my whole life for this stupid thing. Please give us any advice as to what we should do and wether we will be recieving a criminal record? Thank you in advance for your help and i know what we did was undoubtably wrong

Hi everyone. So a week ago I got caught trying to shoplift a bottle of aftershave from Debenhams. A stupid thing to do obviously and have no excuse. Anyway, leaving aside the morality if my actions, I got the expected RLP letter this morning. It said that I owe them £147.50 which strikes me as a tad excessive seeing as the item was recovered undamaged and I was only detained for about half an hour. The police came but didn't arrest or fine me, just made me apologise to the store detective. From reading the threads on here it seems that a one line letter denying liability is the way to go (even though I was caught, bang to rights ). However they have managed to get my name quite spectacularly wrong - spelling my first name wrong and using my middle name as my surname, with no reference whatsoever to my actual surname. Would it be an option to write to them saying that no one of that name lives at this address and to stop sending letters? Or should I just stick to the tried and tested method? Finally, I'd rather not keep getting letters sent so as to avoid arousing the wife's suspicions, so I'm a little tempted to suck it up, pay and move on. If I write to them denying liability but offer say £50 without prejudice to make them go away are they likely to accept or would that just complicate things? Just trying to work out the best course of action really.

Help! Help Help? Today I had a very upsetting, emotionally challenging day, felt sick, dizzy and my head was spinning but this is no excuse for what I did and I still don't know why I did it. I was on a Christmas shopping spree with relatives they waited outside whilst I popped in to find a loo before catching a coach to return home. I went into a Primark store and changed a price label on a single item to a lower price, then purchased the item along with several other things collected whilst on route to the till, left the shop but was then stopped just outside by security. I was threatened with Police and was asked to follow them into a back office. My bags were searched but they conceded that it was only the one item and asked why I did it.. .when I said I don't honestly know and if asked a 100 times would still not know the answer they said they didn't know either as the guard who stopped had stood by my side watching everything...... They asked if I had ID and as I carry formal ID, they copied it, said I had nothing to worry about, that my relatives did not need to know, everyone makes mistakes, but then gave me something called RLP notice.. . I asked what this meant, they said they were not Police but a security firm that work on behalf of the store.. .Due to my action the store has the right to recover losses and fine me. I asked how much and they confirmed that they didn't know but approximated what they thought it may be. They then said to me again, don't worry and to have a merry Christmas. ... I'm now scared out of my wits having read all the jargon on the notice. What can I do? I'm so scared and so very ashamed of what I've done. Nobody can punish me as much as I am punishing myself......:Cry:

Hello, I came through this forum as I was searching for what should I had expected from RLP. About 4 months ago, in April, me and my friend were caught shoplifting at Primark. The case is that we are not UK citizens, we were visiting London for several days. We are extremely ashamed and do not even realize how that kind of thing happened to us. when we left the shop with several items purchased, and items taken from the shop e ere detained by the Primark security, taken downstairs in a room here entered a furious man, asking to empty our bags and shouting at us that e had arrived to his country for stealing. He was very rude, he screaming all the time as a result we were totally scared and didn't know what to answer. he and the security emptied our bags and took our passports and took the items we stole to the other room. they demanded for us to write our addresses and e were told we would receive a fine. after half an hour the man came back as e were writing the addresses and told that he had called for police as the cost of the items we had taken separately as more than 200 pounds in total. the police took and cautioned us and sent the caution to our embassy, we were told we would have problems while applying for visa for UK and US next time. We received 3 RLP letters since then. The case is that only my friend received letter, which said there is a joint accusation for co-offenders, it didn't concertize ho many of us were blamed. we haven't answered and ignored them until now as we read some of previous posts. the first letter demanded fine of 300 ponds for one and 250 pounds of the fine for my friend, the second stated the same amount and the threats of court appeals. The third letter my friend received 10 days ago and it states that RLP has to advise its client to appeal and that we should answer the letter within 14 days. We are extremely worried, do not know ho to act, hat to do , we are just 20 have not finished the university yet and just cannot manage paying to RLP, but e are afraid, could advise us what to do?? Is there any chance that Primark will sue for us after RLP's notice? and as we are foreigners what will happen? All items ere returned to the store and they were not damaged but RLP states in the letters that we have to compensate the damage tothe cosmetics and other stuff the store was caused to, but there was no cosmetics at all if this matters. Thank you in advance and please help.

Dear Sirs, I have bought on Beging of year By TK MAxx few items and one was store reduced price, I Paid for all my purchases and after that was ask to follow security guard. I have been Accused of Changing Labels on 20 Jan By TK MAxx and have been forced to sign form that I will never visit any TK Maxx store . Actually I have not did what I was accused, I have been lead to Security room when Security Guards Said That they have CCTV record ,and if not sign form will call police, They refused to Show me CCTV record and said Company called RLP will provide all evidence. Since then I have received 5 Letters from RLP threatening me With Civil Court and Unreasonal demand for 147.50 for loses and administration and Security people time The goods they claim for change label was taken back as they say for "EVIDENCE" and I was refunded. RLP are demand money quote Protocol for pre action Civil Procedure 1998 Act Portocol But When I ask them in compliance with Same protocol to clearly to Explain case and provide all evidence what they will relay in court they said that they have Eye witness Which statement had not been sent in Demanded by Me 21 Days and No CCTV record. All letters are without name and different signatures. I demanded also to Disclose name of persons writing letters to be able to check with RLP management if Such person exist Any this my demand was not respected As well. AND replied they that due to fail to comply with Protocol case is closed and I deny Any liability to RLP and their client Previous letter they said that will reduce amount to GBP 95.00. Last Letter they said due to lack of defense if not replay in 14 days they will contact and will pass my Debt to Debt collectors company. They Said Quote Whilst there is no legal obligation to consider mitigating circumstances in civil proceedings our client operates civil recovery within a set of core principles which initialy agreed with ACPO and have been developed further since then to ensure further protection of those who may be considered vulnerable. If we do not hear from You within next 14 days , with reasonable settlement proposal, or with any information relevant to this matter, it will either be discussed or passed to specialist company which recovers debts and undisputed claim for damages Unquote MY QUESTION 1.What to reply to them? 2.Is It legal without provided any evidence to pass Personal Data to Debt Collector? 3.Is it Legal to Send letter without Name and only Signature? 4.If they fail to provide evidence in 21 Day after my demand is it legal to pass this to civil court 5.In which case is possible some one to pass personal data to Debt Collector company 6.Can I claim bulling against RLP and to whom 7.Can you give me all legal act what are in violation by RLP 8.How legally can stop them from sending bulling messages If You have ssen some letter before from RLP does it have some names or only sigantures Thanks

Hi all! i am seeking a bit of advice on behalf of my friend. a few months ago they were caught shoplifting from TK MAXX and was stopped after leaving the store by store security and asked to go back to the office. When they got in to the office my friend was asked why they had taken the items and everything was recovered in a fit for re sale condition (all tags still on items and un damaged) my friend explained that it was completely out of character, expressed how deeply sorry they were and had no idea why they had done what they had done. After searching my friends bag they found some tablets and asked what they were for and my friend told them they were antidepressants and they are currently under going regular counselling (which is true) The Police weren't called but they took a copy of my friends passport, name, address and place of work and he was aloud to leave. Obviously my friend was distraught and was worrying that they were going to contact his work over the weekend, so, in result he wrote his notice and was ready to hand it in Monday morning first thing. Unfortunately, TK MAXX had called his work and he was called in to the office after he had handed in his notice and they said he can either A) leave with immediate effect or B) have a full investigation carried out regarding the incident. He decided to leave with immediate effect not knowing what could come of the investigation (he'd rather leave on a voluntary basis than be investigated and then ASKED to leave) A week later he received a letter from RLP saying that,in short, pay up £157 for compensation to there client or the matter would be escalated to court. he told me about this and I had a little look on the Internet and after reading pages and pages of posts and advice from people who had also been contacted by the RLP gave him the advice to ignore the letter as it was just a speculative invoice with no legal basis and that they are just using scare tactics to suck money out of you. he took my advice and a second letter came through the post (as expected) with pretty much the same as what the first letter had stated but worded differently with a few scary words added in. Again I reassured him and sent him some links to forums for him to read to help with his anxiety and he ignored this letter. so next up, you guessed it, a third letter has been sent through today. i worry that I am falling in to there fear trap and my friend is too and he is uncomfortable with ignoring these letters anymore due to what they are saying. i know there has been a lot on RLP but every case I have read has been under different circumstances I.e they're under 18 or currently jobless some advice would be much appreciated i still believe that there is nothing they can do and to just ignore it but I wouldn't forgive myself if I gave advice to him that was bad and that got him in to avoidable trouble! Thank you! Turns out I can't send links to the letters, ill post as soon as my post count goes above 10

HI ! cutting a long story short, i was caught shoplifting in primark, they did not call the police but they started sending me RLP letters instead asking for £130 even thought the item was only £3 ....Over the time of 6 months i got 6 letters from rlp and one very recently from some another retail loss prevention company under the name of Scotcall. Until now i just did what people here normally suggest to do and ignored their letters completely, but now my dad is coming back from abroad and i dont want him to know about the whole incident thus i want the letters to stop immediately. What shal i do ? Any help will be appreciated (I am freaking out) I also want to know how long do they usually take to stop USUALLY?

hi im in the same situation, ive received my letter from the RLP of £166.47 if i dont pay will i go to court and im scared, im 18 and i dont know what to do?

I moved from Clapham to the Isle of Wight in Feb 2010. About 6 months ago I got a pile of letters forwarded from my old address via the Estate Agents who sold my house. These letters were from RLP about an incident in March 2012. The name on the letters is nothing like mine BUT the current owner of the house ( a male) was saying it was nothing to do with him as the addressee is female and there are no females living at the address. I returned all the letters to him and made it clear that if the address was being used its HIS problem and he needs to sort it out. ( however thankfully I did actually scan one of the letters.) The parcel of letters plus a couple more came back to me last month and again I sent them back as its nothing to do with me and to contact RLP. Yesterday I got a letter from RLP addressed to my NEW address and with my correct name (obviously given to them by the chap in my old address) ref the same incident. Looking at RLP website it says to contact the Police if my identity has been stolen and to get a crime number, I have just got back from the nick and quite rightly as the initial letters was addressed to a different person to me and at an address where I no longer live, no ID fraud has taken place according to the Police so they wont give me a crime reference number although I do have the name of the copper i spoke to. Also their website says to send Photo ID to prove who I am. Now I don't have photo ID ( No requirement in law for me to do so) so thats out of the question. I do have proof of course as to when I sold the property Land registry details and the voting register, BUT of course they are going to say that it doesn't mean I am not the person who stole the items. Now they have got my name and address they are going to go after me so not sure what to do. Does anyone have any ideas.

I stupidly left the shop with an item today and was escorted back by a member of security. He looked in my bag on the street and took the item (£5 value that I had intended to pay for but for whatever reason didn't) out. They said they have it on CCTV that I put the item in my bag. I was too scared to even remember what I had done an recall the reason why. My mind went blank and I was scared stiff. I had bought other items from the shop and continued to browse after making my purchase. I can not recall if I had the item before I paid for the other merchandise or if I picked it up afterwards. My memory prior to the security man is a blur. The man said do i have money to pay? So i said yes and showed him, expecting to be taken to the till and pay for the item and that be that. Instead i was marched to a back room. Anyway, I apologised and offered to pay for the item but was told I could not. I was told they were going to all police unless I provided photographic ID. Panicked I gave them the only ID I had which was my NHS card and a bank card. I had nothing photographic but they just made me write my name and address on a form to which they added info (value of item, if it was recovered etc) He then told me I would be fined but could not say how much and be banned from all stores of that retailer. I explained to the man that it was totally out of character and I always shop their as it was the cheapest place to purchase clothes, especially as I'm not working at the moment. He said if I write to the manager they may let me back in. He then said I would receive a letter from RLP in the next few weeks and gave me a photocopied page about civil recovery. The shop didn't lose anything, they were working today anyway, I don't see why I couldn't have just paid for the item... I'm now going to end up paying for nothing... 10 fold probably! Any advice on what to do?

Hi guys. today I was an idiot and shoplifted £61 worth of cosmetics from Debenhams. First time offender and I am so genuinely remorseful. To keep it short and sweet I've got depression/ an eating disorder and I keep doing idiotic things such as the above. I could not be more sorry for this one though, I'll explain below. Police showed up and gave me an £80 fine (I don't think this counts as a caution though, does it?) and were actually quite lovely and understanding. Debenhams security had a justifiable go at me. I was let go immediately but not before I was told to expect a letter from RLP. After some Googling I'm not entirely sure what to expect from them, but apparently the fines are extortionate and terrifying. I could pay if I saved for a while and I couldn't bare black marks on my credit rating for this idiotic mistake - should I pay up? To add injury to idiotic mistake, on the way home I received a phone call from a domestic violence charity which I've been breaking my neck to volunteer for with good news - I got the job which starts at the end of this year. I'm so so upset because the position requires an enhanced CRB check. I suppose my two questions are A) should I give RLP money and B) have I fluffed my chances of working for charities as a career? Thank you in advance to anyone that helps me out. It's greatly appreciated.

Hello all, I'd like advice on my situation if you'd be so kind as to indulge me. Forgive me, I've written an awful lot! Last Wednesday (20th Feb), after work I went casually browsing for bargains in TK Maxx, which I do about once a month. At the time I was also distracted with organising an event via my phone. I found some pants I liked the look of so picked them up and off the hangers before making my way over to the shoes. Upon looking through and seeing something I liked, I absent mindedly put the pants in my bag to have my hands free to investigate (which is something I've started doing since the introduction of bag charges in Wales. I then exit via the till, and so negating the need for a bag). On this occasion though, I completely forgot to pay for the items and walked out, whilst still fiddling about on my phone. A security guard followed me out, got my attention and promptly 'arrested' me for shop lifting. My response was utter shock and my first re-action was to get my wallet and the pants out and wander over to the till to pay. The guard said 'It's too late for that love' and escorted me to the rear of the shop whilst in constant communication with other guards (saying he didn't require further assistance) via his wallkie talkie, which was very loud and totally embarrassing in front of the other shoppers. He then sat me down in a back room, accompanied by I'm assuming one of the girls from the till, and asked if I stole those items. I explained that it was an accident and I'd forgotten to pay (which sounded totally stupid as soon as the words came out of my mouth), to which he said 'you need to admit that you've stolen those items or I have to phone the police'. At this point I completely panicked as I've never been in this situation before and my mind flashed to being made redundant for the third time in two years (last one in, first one out policy both times before - the burden of the freshly employed graduates of today), to which I replied 'I guess I have no choice but to admit to this then'. He then asked to see photo ID, which I showed him (driving licence) and asked for my address, telephone number, national security number. I wrote down my address as best I could (I was shaking like a leaf). He then said he didn't believe my story, which I found so belittling; as I'd been watched via CCTV removing pants from hangers and stuffing them into my bag, acting shifty and walking out. He passed me a banning form which I was to sign, and told me to expect an unknown figure regarding civil recovery...'probably twice the value of the pants' (£40) and said 'you'd better not try and come back in as I work in all the shops within the south Wales region and you will be caught and arrested' I had the presence of mind to ask what I was to do regarding items I already owned, which needed refunding; to which he looked at his colleague and didn't know what to say. He eventually passed me the stores number in order for me to arrange a time to come by when I'd be allowed to enter the shop under supervision. I did not have the presence of mind to ask to see aforementioned CCTV footage. Before signing this form, I tried to explain again that this was an accident due to me being distracted with the phone and whilst shopping I'd quite often put items in my bag before taking them out at the till and paying. He agreed that he did see me utilising the phone like I'd said, but at this point; the till girl piped up with 'so you pinch things quite often then?'. Responding to her contempt, I just replied with 'well, when you put it like that, I guess I do'. I'd already realised it was pointless telling the truth to these people, they had already made up their minds. I was still in blind panic and just wanted to get out. Upon further pondering once I had calmed down and had discussed it with close friends, I thought it would be wise to ask to speak to the store manager to explain the situation; as by now I felt terrible for what happened (ultimately, I was totally in the wrong for being stupid and walking out of the shop, therefore stealing), embarrassed that I was banned from all TK Maxx and scared of the prospect of an unknown figured fine. I also thought that if I could speak to them, they would see it was a genuine mistake and accident. I rang on the Friday (22nd) to arrange a time to come in, for my refund and to speak to them. She (Miss X) couldn't tell me when she was working until the Monday. When I rang her again on the Monday (25th), it was agreed that I'd be able to come in and speak with her. I took a friend in with me as so far I've found this to be a horrific ordeal. I explained the situation to Miss X, apologised for my stupid mistake and asked if I could have my ban removed and fine revoked. She appeared to believe me, but said it was outside of her jurisdictional. She spoke to her area manager - who happened to be upstairs, who gave me the number of Miss Y and I was to ring her to see if there was anything she could do. Wednesday (27th) I rang Miss Y, found she didn't answer in the office, rang the number back and was then put through to her mobile. Upon speaking with her, I found she wasn't in work, and so i've arranged to ring her again tomorrow (Friday 01st) after 10am to discuss things further. Upon arriving home this evening (28th), my doorstep has been darkened by a lovely letter (dated the 25th) from RLP, saying I've won a prize, but to claim it I need to pay £147.50...So, after reading a good few other threads on here with similar tales of woe, that seems to be a familiar figure. My current plan is to see what Miss Y says to me tomorrow, if there's a magic wand she can wave; or any way I can take this further and get some sort of written letter from TK Maxx absolving my sins, that I can bat back to RLP and close the case. My question to you... is this a futile gesture? Am I just wasting my time? In reality, I am in a position to pay this sh1tty ' fine' and have it out of my hair; it would just mean that I struggle for a few months for my idiocy. A price I'm willing to pay for my sanity and lack of stress. Anyhoo, your wise words of wisdom are eagerly awaited.

Hi, my 16 year old has been in a lot of trouble recently shoplifting. Three weeks ago she was arrested for shoplifting , the police were called and she was arrested and as she has had all the warnings is being taken to court. Yesterday she was caught in another store, the police were called and she was brought home, the store do not want to prosecute, although the police said that they would be using the civil recovery route. Today, however a letter arrives addressed to her from RLP on behalf of Primark, apparently last week her and a 'friend' were caught shoplifting, police once again called, although I was not informed of this. Primark did not want to prosecute. The letter demands £174.39 which is apparently a joint demand with another person on a joint and several liability basis, although it does state that they are both liable to pay the full amount between them, it does not matter who pays the claim or in what proportion, provided it is settlet in full. I have no information on the friend, only that she is 19! I expect to receive at least two more of these letters from the other stores, I suppose they might wait till after the court case. My aughter claims she did not take anything from Primark, apparently it was the 'friend' and we are having an extremly hard time with her at present so please don't pre judge us. I have read other responces on this forum and the general concenous seems to be either ignore completly or respond deneying liability. As mentioned she is 16, not in education or work, so has no money available to pay these fines. Is it advisable to reply on her behalf, stating that she is a minor and stating we will not enter into any further correspondence with the company. Any advice would be appreciated.

A week ago my 16 year old son and 17 year old nephew made a very silly mistake, egging each other on they went into TK Maxx and tried to steal a £26 watch, they were caught and police were called. As my son had the item on him when he tried to leave the shop got an £80 police fine and obviously the shop had the watch back. We thought that was the end. Then this morning they each received a letter from RLP asking for £188.75. It says they don't care which one of them pays the fine but it must be paid within 21 day. I tried to call but they would only speak with my son so we did not call back. Both my son and nephew attend college and have no income. I have read a few other items on the net about this. Am I right in thinking we should just ignore the letters?

Im 16 years old, i needed a new shoes for school but my parents didn't give money to me, so i decided to go to primark and steal them. When i walked out with the shoes, security guys told me to come with them, they said that i have to wait for RLP letter and i will have to pay 125-180 pounds for 6pound shoes. What should I do? do I have to pay it? What will happen if i will ignore them?

Dear Sirs. I hope someone can please assist I recently wrote a pm to dx but was advised to post on forum. I wont go unto full details as im aware RLP monitor and use comments mentioned to harrass and try and add weight to there demands. Ive read all I can on RLP and all the advise given by very clever guys and girls with regard what one should do once you get a letter demanding monies. Im disabled and on large amounts of morphine daily and my.health is not brilliant the police have concluded nfa after I was asked to attend station I was not arrested im awaiting a nfa as informed by the police officer soon. I know its best to ignore or send the odd two lined reply. But because of my health and constant daily pain and meds, id like the option of offering a offer of ,,,, , to return the sum incorrectly added to my credit card . As im happy to except the cashier was at fault even though she denied this being her fault this is why im in this situatiion and if she was honest there and then, but I guess shes trying to hold onto her job without implicating herself. How would I word this do I include without preduice then make a letter offering the sum im willing to give. Any help with the correct wording would be most helpful or a template suitable for this matter . All advise welcome. Thank you in advance.

I got outside the door and was apprehended, taken to the Security room etc and banned for 12 months, and notified that the RLP would be in touch at some point in the future. Now, i've come home, searched the internet for a good while and worked myself up. I'm looking for some advice on what i should do when they get in touch? As the police weren't there/cautioned me etc, i'm aware i don't have a criminal record, and won't be getting one soon. I'm also aware that i've signed nothing regarding the RLP, although i did sign a statement regarding the ban, i did not use my signature, just a scribble. From what i gather, if the RLP say "Pay x amount" I'm legally under no obligation to do so? I understand they theoretically COULD summon me to Civil Court, but it would cost them to do so? I won't lie, I am immensely anxious right now. Help is appreciated

Hello there! I joined this site to ask this uestion, and am asking kindly for no judgment please? Saturday, I was in town with my boyfriend. Due to a LOT of issues in my life at the moment, I've been very unstable and have started shoplifting (I guess it made me feel better somehow?) Anyway, I'll be honest....I shoplifted from tesco, wilkinsons and morrisons on saturday before entering pound stretcher. There, I put a few candles in my bag. I was stopped by the door and asked if i had any candles in my bag. I admitted instantly. Another man then took me to a room in the back. I admitted all the items in my posession there were shoplifted, and the police were called. I was given a fine of £80 and told that was the end of it (along with being banned from all tesco, wilkinsons, morrisons and pund stretchers nationwide) I understand what I did was wrong...and I've begun counselling to help myself. Anyway, I was called this morning saying the fixed penalty I'd been given will be changed to a cautiom, all I need to do is go to the station anytime soon, and sign a few papers. But, I've been googling incidents like this and am dreading a letter from the RLP now....I'm only 16, and can't afford to pay hundreds towards this especially due to the fact I live in a small village the nearest town is an hour away, and there is no work for me inbetween college hours, bus fares and free time in general. So here are my questions: 1) Is it definate the RLP will get involved? 2) What if I simply ignore the letters (if any)....what happens then? 3) Will I get an RLP letter from all those stores....or just the one that caught me? Please help, I'm worrying like crazy! I've decided NEVER to shoplift again....and feel disgusted with myself in general.

Hi everyone! We committed a wrongful action on xxxxxxxxx We tried to take some items from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The value of the total items was xxxxxxx We didin't get the items. We were arrested by the police and at the end we received a caution. On the xxxxxxxx we received our first letters from RLP with different amount to pay without reason ( £130 and £187.50). They said that we had to pay within 21 days but before the deadline, on xxxxxxxxxx we received others two letters with the same amount of xxxxxxx and we don't know why. We shame of us for our bad behaviour and now we are very WORRIED about the consequences. How can we deal with this big problem? Do you think that we have to ignore the letters or we should pay? Is there a remote possibility that the case ends in the Court? Please help us. Every advice is accepted! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Thanks very much.

Was in boots today, Not going to go into too much detail but I was stopped and returned to the store following a moment of idiocy stealing 3 small items.. The security guard and a manager sat with me for no more then 24 minuites then said they are going to ban me from the store then gave me a letter saying I will be contacted by the RLP. I admitted what I did. Apologized.. They werent mad or anything really.. Im scared this letters going to be like £140.00 and I cant afford that. I also cant let my mother hear about this as i will be kicked out of my house! Ive read allot of the posts on here but noone has said about ignoring letters and being left alone or sending the one line answer and being left alone and im scared! If they harass me im ****ed and i CANNOT go to court. What can I do please help me..