RLP Civil Recovery

ceedoubleu

I opened a letter addressed to my 14 year old daughter. It is from a company called RLP Limited which alleges that she stole or damaged some goods in Boots to the value of £31.02. They then go on to add management and administration charges taking the total to £168.52. It further states that as a consideration for her age, they will accept £35.00 as long as she forwards a copy of her Birth Certificate.

The letter states that her parents can only become involved if she writes a letter authorising this.

My Daughter is very vulnerable and I am tempted just to pay as she is not up to coping with any harassment. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

I must add that this is the first that we have heard about this matter, we have not been contacted by the store or the Police.

phlogeston

ceedoubleu wrote: »

It is from a company called RLP Limited which alleges that she stole or damaged some goods in Boots to the value of £31.02.

That's quite an allegation to make in writing!

Firstly, you may wish to explain to your daughter why you are opening her personal mail. Then you could start by asking your daughter whether she knows anything about the theft/damage.

After that, the answer may be :

1) Pay the money - your daughter is a thief and you should be relieved that the police were not involved involved

2) Write to Boots Head Office and ask for an explaination and ask what recompense they will be offering your daughter for the libellous accusations.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

ceedoubleu wrote: »

I opened a letter addressed to my 14 year old daughter. It is from a company called RLP Limited which alleges that she stole or damaged some goods in Boots to the value of £31.02. They then go on to add management and administration charges taking the total to £168.52. It further states that as a consideration for her age, they will accept £35.00 as long as she forwards a copy of her Birth Certificate.

The letter states that her parents can only become involved if she writes a letter authorising this.

My Daughter is very vulnerable and I am tempted just to pay as she is not up to coping with any harassment. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

I must add that this is the first that we have heard about this matter, we have not been contacted by the store or the Police.

an interesting one.

the company themselves have very little civil remedy against your daughter, however, if your daughter did commit a criminal offence and they have proof to that effect maybe your better off paying the £35 to have it all forgotten about.

You really need to speak to your daughter and the company first to find out what she is accused of and if she actually did it

phlogeston

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

You really need to speak to your daughter and the company first to find out what she is accused of and if she actually did it

Hurray, we agree at last! :T

ceedoubleu

Thank you, but I really don't need your advice on raising a child.

phlogeston wrote: »

That's quite an allegation to make in writing!

Firstly, you may wish to explain to your daughter why you are opening her personal mail. Then you could start by asking your daughter whether she knows anything about the theft/damage.

After that, the answer may be :

1) Pay the money - your daughter is a thief and you should be relieved that the police were not involved involved

2) Write to Boots Head Office and ask for an explaination and ask what recompense they will be offering your daughter for the libellous accusations.

bookworm1363

Log on to CAG (see my sig), we have recently started a new sub-forum specifically to deal with RLP. :cool:

It has come to our attention that they are operating in a manner which may be unlawful, they don't seem to have a credit license, may have a database which operates outside of the Data Protection Act, amongst other things. Trading Standards in Nottingham and the Information Commissioner's Office are both investigating.

As for those who say: "she did it, so pay up", we have a justice system in this country and they're the ones who are supposed to mete punishment. RLP make themselves prosecutors, judges, jury and executioners, even when the accused is actually innocent, so please don't jump in too quickly on this one without the facts.

Oh, by the way, the £35? Whether they want £1 or £1000, it's irrelevant: It has no standing in law whatsoever as she is a minor, and this is a civil case. The best RLP can do if they want to chance their arm is to go after the parents. I suspect that's why they're asking for £35 as that may be a small enough amount that a 14 yo could come up with it without getting her parents involved. Now ask yourselves this: does that look like the kind of behaviour you'd expect from a company presenting themselves as upholders of the law? :eek:

sarahg1969

phlogeston wrote: »

2) Write to Boots Head Office and ask for an explaination and ask what recompense they will be offering your daughter for the libellous accusations.

Libellous accusations? You can't libel a person if you only accuse them. Libel involves telling a third party.

OP, CAG sounds like it might be helpful. I don't think anyone on here will be able to assist, as we don't know the story. But there seem to be some people with experience over on CAG.

melorablack

Sounds like a con to me.

First of all your daughter is not old enough to deal with anything like this by her self - they should need YOUR authorisation to speak to her not the other way round.

Second - why hasn't the store or police contacted you?

It sounds like they are trying to con your daughter out of £35 and her birth certificate - her ID - in the hope that she will be too scared to ask a responsible adult because of what they have accused her of.

Go to the police and report them.

CHR15

Stinks of Scam to me too.

I would have the right hump if someone was sending letters demanding money from my littl'un.

If they know she is 14, how do they expect her to pay??

I would be at the Police Station with the letter.


There is some interesting reading regarding RLP Limited HERE

Ivory_Tinkler

OP They shouldn't be asking a 14 year old to forward them money with a legal document (birth certificate) and this sounds very underhand. Perhaps a chat with your daughter first to clarify what actually did happen in Boots but I would have thought that if there had have been a problem there, then the store manager should have called you to discuss this and not pass the matter onto a third party.

Hope you manage to sort this out soon.

ceedoubleu

Thank you all for your mostly helpful responses, apart from the idiot that labelled my daughter as a thief. Turns out that she and a friend "tried" some lipstick on their hands, not knowing what was a tester and what wasn't.