Compensation demands ‘unreasonable’, says CAB

Citizens Advice has published a report, ‘Unreasonable demands?’, which investigates the practice of ‘Civil Recovery’ and the companies involved.

According to the report, Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales have been dealing with increasing cases of clients who, accused of shoplifting or employee theft, are then pursued for substantial sums of money as compensation for the “loss and damage caused by wrongful actions”. Criminal charges are rarely brought and often the police aren’t even called. In some cases the intent to shoplift is questionable. Clients are then surprised to receive a letter demanding a large sum of money, weeks after the event, when they had thought the issue was resolved.

The CAB report argues that the manner in which these requests for payment are made, and the threat of escalating costs and court action may constitute ‘deceitful’, ‘unfair’ and ‘improper’ business practice, as defined by the Office of Fair Trading.

The report stresses that while the CAB does not condone crime of any kind, it believes that it is important that retailers seek redress using means that are transparently fair and proper. ‘Unreasonable demands?’ sets out recommendations to the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, The British Retail Consortium and others that civil recovery should be limited to cases involving serious or persistent offences for which there has been a criminal conviction.