notice of civil claim

[utd1999red]

HI I was caught removing goods from packaging totalling £14 in BQ and was stopped at the door by 2 securtiy staff. was asked to follow them into a small room where I again was asked if i had anything on me which belomged to them. I took out the items from my pockets and just owned up there and then. No police involved as i had proved my ID and was banned from the store for 5 years.
A week later I receive a letter from CRS claims saying that investigation costs, security costs and administration costs their client occured on that day was £118.94 or £95.15 if settlement ws paid in 21 days
I have uploaded the letter
Can I challenge this figure as I feel its totally disproportionate to costs of items involved?
Thanks

[Kati]

Re: notice of civil claim

HI I was caught removing goods from packaging totalling £14 in BQ and was stopped at the door by 2 securtiy staff. was asked to follow them into a small room where I again was asked if i had anything on me which belomged to them. I took out the items from my pockets and just owned up there and then. No police involved as i had proved my ID and was banned from the store for 5 years.
A week later I receive a letter from CRS claims saying that investigation costs, security costs and administration costs their client occured on that day was £118.94 or £95.15 if settlement ws paid in 21 days
I have uploaded the letter
Can I challenge this figure as I feel its totally disproportionate to costs of items involved?
Thanks

could you maybe email me the letter to upload??

[utd1999red]

Re: notice of civil claim

Hi I have uploaded the letter if that helps?

[Kati]

Re: notice of civil claim

Hi I have uploaded the letter if that helps?

perfect ... I can see it now xx

I'd say it is safe to ignore (tagging [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] for confirmation)

[utd1999red]

Re: notice of civil claim

I wish I had your confidence.

[Amethyst]

Re: notice of civil claim

Here's some reading for you which might help your confidence

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...cial-practices

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...gment-09-05-12 << Oxford Judgment

[utd1999red]

Re: notice of civil claim

Ok thanks for getting back to me. After reading through the links you sent how would I challenge the letter sent to me?

[Amethyst]

Re: notice of civil claim

Personally, I would put it in a folder and forget about it.... then put the next one in the same folder.... until they give up. Engaging with them seems to just encourage them to send you more letters. We haven't seen a court case by a retailer against an individual for shoplifting since that judgment I linked you to.

See what Des reckons though later as he's more experience with these claims than I and I'm not sure how CRS proceed from this point.

[des8]

Re: notice of civil claim

CRS proceed the same way as all these UNcivil recovery companies.
They threaten and cajole, they use legalistic language to intimidate the vulnerable to "recover" non existent losses and costs.

Remember that the value of the items involved was £14 retail (max £7 wholesale) and the goods were recovered.
The threat is for B&Q costs of investigation , security and administration, but the chances of them (and it would have to be B&Q) initiating court action are virtually nil.
Such a claim would be allocated to the small claims track, and if they were successful (doubtful) their non reclaimable costs would far outweigh their award.
Following the Oxford case, there is no way a specialist recovery company is going to advise their client to try court as it is plain that a properly defended action will fail.

As already advised...IGNORE.

The only documents NEVER to be ignored are genuine court papers, and the chances of receiving them are infinitesimally small.

[R0b]

Re: notice of civil claim

From a legal standpoint, what CRS have said in terms of the relevant law is correct and I presume it would be a claim for conversion (a civil claim similar to criminal theft). However, in terms of damages the starting point would be the market value of the goods which as you say is only £14 then that's what you would owe B&Q. However generally where the goods have been returned, the damages generally reflect the deterioration of the goods.

The consequential losses is all losses that directly flow from the conversion itself which is reasonable foreseeable, but presumably the security guards were already employed to do their job and complete any administration work on any attempted theft, so that would all be part of their job role I would think, so unlikely that those losses could be claimed at all.

Best case scenario is that you'll owe nothing if the goods remained intact and no damage, worst case is you will probably owe £14 if it went to court but I doubt B&Q would bring a claim themselves for such a small amount, its not commercially viable for them.

As Amethyst has pointed out, the chance of going to court is possible, but slim. Des will be able to offer more advice as he has more experience of it.

[utd1999red]

Re: notice of civil claim

Appreciate your time in getting back to me.
On a sidenote would this have any impact on CRB checks or credit file searches, anything like that? Regards

[Kati]

Re: notice of civil claim

Appreciate your time in getting back to me.
On a sidenote would this have any impact on CRB checks or credit file searches, anything like that? Regards

not in the slightest ... no police involvement = nothing on record that will show up on a crb check (and it probably wouldn't even if you'd been charged/taken to court etc... either IMO) xx