Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

[Urban_arteest]

Hi guys I would like some advice on situation. I recently went through a refund fraud investigation with a company. Without going to much into the ins and outs of the happenings. Me and and a few colleagues committed refund fraud. I took the blame for it hoping they would spare my friends jobs. The value they stated I had gained was just over £800 I said in the investigation when questioned I believe it was around £500 as I was made to buy high value items to hit end of day targets and return them at other stores.

Had a police meeting and told them the truth and that all parties where involved and even managment were involved in such activities as it was this kind of employee culture. I was cautioned and also did not recieve full pay which should have been around £600 as they withheld this and said it was holiday pay owed? have now received a notice of civil claim from civil recovery solutions to recover a claim value of just under £2,000.

There stating this covers the value of the loss and aswell as an amount that compensates for the clients inveatigation, security and admin costs as a consequence for my actions? Then further down the letter they state they will settle for 1600 full payment on a completely without prejudice basis.

Could anyone advise me on what I should do as I don't believe this is what I owe other people did profit from this aswell and my pay was stopped to? I'm not happy with what I have done and suffer from mental health. This has really affected me and I feel suicidal at times and really rotten inside (wish I never worked there) but I got caught up in a bad culture and I'm mentally paying for it now...any advice would be greatly appreciated

[des8]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

Was this a police caution? Did the police confirm they would be taking no further action?

Do you agree that you had been overpaid for holidays, and the company were correct in retaining your pay.
Employment isn't my scene, but I'm just wondering if they have broken employment law ({mention]Kati[/mention] might tag more knowledgeable beagles)

Regarding action following CRS letter I personally would ignore. (Any chance you could post up a suitably redacted copy of CRS' letter please?)
The only people who can initiate court action against you are your ex employers.
If they were to do this, they would need to prove their losses and quantify them,
Any claim they made would be allocated to the small claims track.
That would mean that,if they won, the costs they could claim would be very limited, and not cover their solicitors costs.
It would be uneconomic for them, so very unlikely they would bother.
That's why it is farmed out to companies like CRS who apply pressure by writing letter after letter.

I personally would ignore them, unless I received genuine court papers.
At that point I would have to decide whether to admit (in full or partially)or dispute the claim.

Others might suggest writing back disputing the amount and asking for a full detailed breakdown.
I feel that can be counterproductive as CRS will think they have you worried, and redouble their efforts, and time enough to ask for that if it should ever get to court (which is most unlikely!)

[Urban_arteest]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

Hi thanks for the reply back. Yes was a caution and no further action was taken. The police officer did ring the manager for clarification of the differing amounts stated. But the manager was rude/difficult when co-operating and said we will go through civil courts and put the phone down on the investigating officer. In regards to the holiday pay im not to sure but I didn't even receive my basic pay and on my payslip it said nothing (no deductions or calculations of precise figures) so this to me is very dogey. Yes I can do but what do you mean by redacted? and how do I tag and mention Kati? (first time using this you see)

I do agree with what your saying but have contacted CAB who said to pay them asap or else bailiffs will come knocking on my door and also contacted a local employment lawyer who said, I should query the amount and ask them for their evidence? Thanks for your advice appreciate it.

[Kati]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

@R0b @Ula @Peridot @Diana M @Joanna C xx

[Kati]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

I have to agree with [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] so far ignoring crs would seem like the way to go for now (would other employees get involved if the company took you to court?? although that's unlikely to happen IMO)

I've tagged a few Beagles for you too xx

[Urban_arteest]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

CRS

Without prejudice save as to costs

Notice date: xxxx

my name
my address

Notice of Civil Claim

Case Number: xxxx Claim Value: xxxx settlement figure ; xxxx

dear xxxx

Re: our client xxxxxx

civil recovery solutions have been instructed by xxxxxx to write to you regarding incidents of refund fraud. our client is considering bringing a claim against you under the torts (interference with goods) act 1977 to recover compensation for loss and consequential damages. the goods in question belonged to our client and they believe your actions at the time amounted to a wrongful interference with their goods. in addition, your actions have amounted to a breach of the terms of your contract of employment.

the value of the claim is an amount that covers the value of the loss as well as an amount that compensates our client for the investigation costs, security costs and administration costs they incurred as a consequence of your actions.

shop crime costs retailers billions every year. retailers are determined to make use of all civil avenues to recover the costs of crime. this civil claim is entirely separate any criminal proceeding and has no influence on any decisions whether to prosecute or any penalty awarded by criminal courts against you.

if you intend to deny liability, or dispute, the amount due, then we would be grateful to receive full details of the grounds on which you intend to defend such a claim within 14 days of the date of this letter. in addition we would be grateful if you could provide us with copies of any documents on which you wish to rely.

our client hopes to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. our client therefore is prepared, on a completely without prejudice basis, to accept a reduced figure of xxxxx in full in order to secure early settlement. please see reverse for payment methods.

this offer is open for acceptance for a period of 21 days from the date of this letter. if this offer is not accepted within the time the it will be deemed to be withdrawn. if your unable to settle the claim value in one payment then you must contact us urgently on xxxxxxxx during normal working hours (9am-5pm mon to fri) to discuss the options available to you.


if this issue is not settled we will have no option but to advise our client that they will need to commence court proceedings against you in order to recover their losses.


we trust that this shall not be necessary, and look forward to hearing from you in the early course.


yours sincerely

xxxxxx

on behalf of civil recovery solutions limited

[Urban_arteest]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

thanks kati for your response. what do you think about the letter template I added. They state 14 days of notice date but I received the letter a week after the notice date on the letter which I find very unfair?

[des8]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

1) CAB should know better than say " to pay them asap or else bailiffs will come knocking on my door "
They would need to go to court, win and then you neglect to pay before they could employ bailiffs

2)In view of that letter I would consider writing and requesting a detailed breakdown of their claim, and advising them that if that is meant to be a "letter before claim" it does not comply with preaction protocols.

But wait a bit to see what others might say, and don't worry about a 14 day deadline atthis stage.

[MIKE770]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

more like a begging letter " Without Prejudice" ??? ummmmmmmmmm says it all me thinks???>>>>>>

[MIKE770]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

The Commissions had recognised – as I had been arguing since mid-2009 – that bombarding those accused (but not necessarily guilty) of shoplifting with legalistically-worded letters demanding money as ‘compensation’ for the cost of dealing with the incident, and threatening civil court action (and associated extra costs) if the money is not paid promptly, has little if anything to do with combating the unquestionably serious problem of shoplifting. It is, of course, about making money for the civil recovery agents, who cream off up to 40 per cent of any money paid. And, like many of the worst aspects of life in modern Britain, it is an import from the United States, where it is very big business indeed and is known as ‘dunning’. (For further information, see my December 2009 and December 2010 reports for Citizens Advice, Unreasonable demands and Uncivil recovery).

[ostell]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

They must have copied that letter from RLP. There can be no loss because of the investigation. This was security doing the job that they were paid for, and would have been doing anyway. There can be no compensation for salary etc that would have been paid regardless of your action. They can recommend that court proceedings are started but they would be loath to do that as they will then not get paid. If the goods have been returned then why are they claiming for the loss of the goods?

[des8]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

I agree that court is unlikely as explained above, but this is not shoplifting but fraud & breach of trust/contract.
I'm guessing that buying/refund aimed at pushing sales figures up to trigger bonus payments, which Urban admits gained him about £500.
It would just be interesting to push them to give an itemised breakdown of their figure

[Urban_arteest]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

Thanks guys for your feedback. Yes it was refund fraud, where we returned items through each other but using a higher valued tag then what the actual item was worth...so not items involved really. I have had another letter come through today. Not to sure whether I should respond or not now :S

[Urban_arteest]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

I am abit paranoid and think they may be on here viewing my threads on here

[Celestine]

Re: Advice on civil recovery solutions notice letter

If you want to go VIP, we can move your thread out of public view. I'd say you should be cautious. xx

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