RLP - Primark Incident

[unknown.yadi]

Hi, on 7th Aug 2025. I made a grave mistake and tried to shoplift at Primark (goods worth £3-5) and in which they took me into their back office and take the goods of me and told me police will be called and then no police was called. After then they took my name and address and told me I’ll get a letter from them and I have now received the first letter and second letter which I was unable to respond to as I wasn’t in the country. The fine amount they want is £175 and I have read other threads on the forum but haven’t gotten a clear answer on to ignore the letters, or pay the fine.

Am I at risk of being taken to court? or any legal proceedings taking place? If I was to ignore the letters or do I just pay the fine amount.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[paulajayne]

Ignore - As per advice all over this site.

[PallasAthena]

There's an entire Forum on here devoted to RLP, have a read of it and the repeated advice given to ignore them. No-one has ever come back here and reported that court action was taken against them. Civil Recovery - Retail Loss Prevention - LegalBeagles Forum

RLP can't bring a claim, only Primark could do that, and they have better things to do than go to court for goods valued at less than £5 and which they got back anyway. Although in theory it would be legally possible for Primark to start a court claim against you this is so unlikely that you can safely ignore that possibility. In the highly unlikely event that a court action was started you would first have to be sent official court documents making the claim on which we could advise you long before it actually got to court.

RLP cannot "fine" you, only a magistrates court could do that. It is not a "fine" it is an alleged civil claim that you have to contribute to Primark's internal administration expenses but that claim has no established legal basis.

[unknown.yadi]

Thanks for the reply and advice. Greatly appreciate the support and will do as advised and ignore the letter and any further letter sent by them to me.

In the unlikely case it does escalate, will come back here for any further support if needed.

[echat11]

The retailer would have to justify (provide a breakdown) their claim of £175, retailers have tried in the past, they were unable to do so.
Also the amount £5, doesn't warrant further action, they got the goods back, nothing was taken.

If you are struggling financial there is help out there.

[unknown.yadi]

Hi,

Thank you for the help and replies I’ve gotten. This is the latest letter I have received and naturally I’m a bit afraid of matters being turnt into more serious and impact me in any way. Any advice on what to do with this letter and if I should take any different actions besides the one I’ve read about on this forum.

It was a mistake I definitely heavily regret and would never commit again. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

[echat11]

Hi,

Thank you for the help and replies I’ve gotten. This is the latest letter I have received and naturally I’m a bit afraid of matters being turnt into more serious and impact me in any way. Any advice on what to do with this letter and if I should take any different actions besides the one I’ve read about on this forum.

It was a mistake I definitely heavily regret and would never commit again. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Just more words then the last letter. No doubt the next letter will have even more words.

[unknown.yadi]

So is it a right choice to ignore the letter and continue to ignore it? or would it better to take any different actions?

[PallasAthena]

Continue to ignore. They are not legally entitled to this money. Eventually they get fed up with sending them and the letters will stop but you might get a few more first. Engaging with them just encourages them to think you might pay if they put more pressure on, so do not contact them.

Their letter says no more than that Primark could take you to court if they chose to. But based on past experience on here Primark will not do anything of the sort, especially for goods worth less than £5 and which Primark got back anyway and so could presumably put back on the shelf and sell.

The only things you should not ignore are a formal "Pre Action Protocol Letter of Claim" issued by Primark themselves or their solicitors [not RLP] under UK rules of civil procedure [aka a 'PAPLOC'] or any document from a court.