Ashamed caught stealing

[Sophieatt]

Hi all

Hello there, I recently made a terrible choice & attempted to shoplift from primark but all the goods were recovered once they took me to a backrroom

I cried, owned up and apologised and they were kind to me, the police were called but were very sympathetic and were gentle with me I did not know why they were called in the first place as it could have been sorted solely with primark. The security guard told me a company called RLP will send a letter demanding a fine?


I've been seeing posts online by other people who were told to ignore these letters as RLP have no authority to take money from me as they are not the courts or the retailer and all the items were recovered and I even offered to pay for them but they wouldn't let me. So nothing was taken or damaged & I genuinely apologised and will never pull a stunt like this again.

Do I ignore the letters or pay this so calles fine.? I'm really depressed and currently on medication and its really stressing me out and gefting me down and I'd appreciate any advice I can get.

I'm worried this will be taken further.

[ostell]

You ignore, but save, the letters. It cannot be a fine.

[Sophieatt]

Thank you. I shall do

[Guest]

Hey there!

Something very similar happened to me. I am very ashamed of what I did, but I am also scared of the ammount of money they are going to charge me. Also, I am a foreigner, and I am scared this will show up in my future application Visas.

Are you guys sure that is is safe to ignore the RLP letters? Like, absolutely 100% sure that there will be no negative consequences of ignoring that? Please, I am very scared.

[ostell]

RLP have no authority to issue "fines", they are a private company

[Sharrona]

I also made this error in judgement, it was under £30 apparently, it was just pants and 2 pairs of shoes for my kids, I was compliant as I was in the wrong, I knew the risk, I read on here to ignore fine as police wasn't contacted, they are demanding £160, for less than£30 worth that they recovered.
I have now received an additional letter from RLP reading; As you are aware, from our previous correspondence, our client has passed to us your details and information about the incident you were involved in above, together with any supporting evidence, in order to pursue a civil claim against you for the losses that they suffered as a consequence of the incident.
You have not disputed the claim or provided any information that contradicts the facts that we have been given, nor have you advised us of any mitigating circumstances or financial difficulties that are preventing you from settling our clients legitimate claim.
it appears therefore that the only conclusion that can now be drawn is that when you entered our clients premises it was your intention to commit a wrongful act; that you admit that wrongful act and the claim made.
if you do not dispute the claim, and there are no other circumstances you consider relevant to the incident , the claim needs to be settled. Payment options on back of letter.
ignoring this matter will not make it go away and it is not in your interest to do so either as it could result in additional liabilities becoming payable to you. If the matter proceeds in the county court, our client will be entitled to seek to recover from you, in addition to the sum already advised to you, court fees, legal costs and interest of up to 8% per annum.
further we would again refer you to the practice direction for pre-action conduct and the civil procedure rules which encourage parties to attempt to settle any dispute outside of court proceedings.
we take this opportunity of confirming the position regarding your data. We will rely upon our clients information as an accurate account of your actions and this information relating to your wrongdoing will be retained for a period compliant with general data protection regulation EU 2016/679 ("GDPR") and data protection act 2018.
if we do not receive a response or payment from you within 14 days from the date of this letter regrettably we must advise our client that it is now in a position to issue proceedings against you if it chooses. You are strongly urged to seek some independent legal advice in order to avoid any further action being taken against you, or incurring additional cost.



This has made me nervous as I can't afford food for myself atm I'm barely covering what my kids need.
Should I still ignore?

[des8]

Of course you still ignore.
This is a standard template letter used by RLP to pressurize their victims.

That they have no power is admitted when they say they will have to advise their client blah blah blah!!!
Ignore

[echat11]

I also made this error in judgement, it was under £30 apparently, it was just pants and 2 pairs of shoes for my kids, I was compliant as I was in the wrong, I knew the risk, I read on here to ignore fine as police wasn't contacted, they are demanding £160, for less than£30 worth that they recovered.
I have now received an additional letter from RLP reading; As you are aware, from our previous correspondence, our client has passed to us your details and information about the incident you were involved in above, together with any supporting evidence, in order to pursue a civil claim against you for the losses that they suffered as a consequence of the incident.
You have not disputed the claim or provided any information that contradicts the facts that we have been given, nor have you advised us of any mitigating circumstances or financial difficulties that are preventing you from settling our clients legitimate claim.
it appears therefore that the only conclusion that can now be drawn is that when you entered our clients premises it was your intention to commit a wrongful act; that you admit that wrongful act and the claim made.
if you do not dispute the claim, and there are no other circumstances you consider relevant to the incident , the claim needs to be settled. Payment options on back of letter.
ignoring this matter will not make it go away and it is not in your interest to do so either as it could result in additional liabilities becoming payable to you. If the matter proceeds in the county court, our client will be entitled to seek to recover from you, in addition to the sum already advised to you, court fees, legal costs and interest of up to 8% per annum.
further we would again refer you to the practice direction for pre-action conduct and the civil procedure rules which encourage parties to attempt to settle any dispute outside of court proceedings.
we take this opportunity of confirming the position regarding your data. We will rely upon our clients information as an accurate account of your actions and this information relating to your wrongdoing will be retained for a period compliant with general data protection regulation EU 2016/679 ("GDPR") and data protection act 2018.
if we do not receive a response or payment from you within 14 days from the date of this letter regrettably we must advise our client that it is now in a position to issue proceedings against you if it chooses. You are strongly urged to seek some independent legal advice in order to avoid any further action being taken against you, or incurring additional cost.



This has made me nervous as I can't afford food for myself atm I'm barely covering what my kids need.
Should I still ignore?

You and your kids welfare is more important then anything. There is a lot of help you can access, food banks, budgeting loans etc.