Caught stealing, Sent civil recovery solution fine, please HELLLPPP!!!

[depressedboy]

Hello everyone, first of all i would like to say i know what i did was stupid and wrong, which everyone who has done this for the first time would agree. And have learnt my lesson strongly.

So, i was caught at a store and was brought into the backroom, i would like to note that i had returned the items- worth £2- back, which were not damaged in any way. Anyway, i was brought into the back room by the security guard who promised to not call the police as i am 16, and still in education , as he didn't want to ruin my chances at education. So the police were not called, but the man made me give me address, with the threat of calling the police, and then gave me a verbal banning from the store of 12 months. After that he let me go, and after a week, i had received a 'Civil Recovery Solutions' letter informing me that i need to pay £80 to them.

What do i do in this situation, please help, im really stressed and already suffering from anxiety. I've read that i must ignore these letters, however im scared at whether baliffs or some sort of enforcers will come to my hose and require me to pay, or even worse, i'd go to court. Please i have really bad luck in these situations, please respond as to what i should do. I dont want to ruin my future with such a silly act.

[des8]

Hi and welcome.

Take a deep breath, relax and try not to worry.

You have already seen the advice is to ignore Civil Recovery Solutions.
They are simply trying to scare you into paying them exorbitant amount of money , which they are not due.
The store made no loss, and would have to pay the security costs whether or not anyone was caught, so there is no case to answer and no debt.

No "bailiffs" or enforcers or strong armed men will appear on your doorstep.
All they will do is to write threatening letters, sometimes in red ink, but you can just ignore them.
There will be no court case. (anyway for £2....it would be laughed out!)
It is many years since one of these firms tried court and received a telling off by the judge, so don't worry about that.

You say your are 16 years old.
Are you living at home with your parents?
If so are they aware of your situation?
You are likely to get several letters from civil recovery, and may have trouble and stress keeping it secret from your parents if that is what you are intending.
If you are at home you should probably consider telling them about it, so that you don't have to worry any further.
I would hope they would support you, after all it was not the crime of the century and after expressing surprise and disappointment initially, the incident will be seen as it is: an extremely minor misdemeanour

As you are still at school, just put this behind you and get on with your life and study.

[depressedboy]

Hi and welcome.

Take a deep breath, relax and try not to worry.

You have already seen the advice is to ignore Civil Recovery Solutions.
They are simply trying to scare you into paying them exorbitant amount of money , which they are not due.
The store made no loss, and would have to pay the security costs whether or not anyone was caught, so there is no case to answer and no debt.

No "bailiffs" or enforcers or strong armed men will appear on your doorstep.
All they will do is to write threatening letters, sometimes in red ink, but you can just ignore them.
There will be no court case. (anyway for £2....it would be laughed out!)
It is many years since one of these firms tried court and received a telling off by the judge, so don't worry about that.

You say your are 16 years old.
Are you living at home with your parents?
If so are they aware of your situation?
You are likely to get several letters from civil recovery, and may have trouble and stress keeping it secret from your parents if that is what you are intending.
If you are at home you should probably consider telling them about it, so that you don't have to worry any further.
I would hope they would support you, after all it was not the crime of the century and after expressing surprise and disappointment initially, the incident will be seen as it is: an extremely minor misdemeanour

As you are still at school, just put this behind you and get on with your life and study.

-----------------------------

First of all I would like to give you my appreciation for this rapid response.
And to answer your questions:
1) I am living at home with my parents
2) They are currently unaware of the situation

Do uou have any more advice on this topic? Also I will try to update you with further letters regarding this situation as I continue to neglect these letters.

Finally, I would again like to express my gratitude towards you and your response.

[des8]

Only advice is to ignore these people

It will never go to court, if only for the simple reason it would cost the claimant store more than they could recover in costs.

Obviously I don't know your parents, but I generally advise young people to confide in their parents so they don't have the stress of keeping the incident secret. It really is such a small matter, that although I don't condone it, I also would not judge it and I would hope any parent would take the same approach.

[depressedboy]

Omg i have just received another letter today following your advice on ignoring the first one. I will write out the key information on the letter exactly:

"We have not received a written response in relation to this case leading us to believe that you do not intend to deny liability"

"Unfortunetly if you do not contact us to discuss this case our client will have the option but to consider issuing proceedings. Where these are issued our client may seek to recover from you Court Fees and added interest in addition to the claim value above. Please note that the court will consider any faliure to respond to correspondence when making orders for such costs and interest"

Please give me more advice. I had not expected them to involve court into this, having seen previous cass. What should i do. I think i should pay the fee as stated.

Please respond

[Kati]

scare tactics!! You're still better to ignore anything apart from an actual court claim (which they won't go through with) xx

[depressedboy]

So i should continue ignoring these. Can you give me any points to look out for, such as what letters i shouldn't ignore. What does a court claim look like?
Also is this letter i have received any different to what other people ,who were in my situation, have encountered?

[des8]

This is what a court claim looks like:



You won't see one.
This letter is more bluster (the clue is in the wording.
They have the option, but won't take it up!
Just ignore them