When I say “chattel torts”, the mind of most people goes blank.

If you’ve ever been caught shoplifting without having been arrested, however, you may have received letters from firms quoting the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.

Ah, I saw your flash of recognition.

The practice is called civil recovery in England and Wales (and dunning in the US, so I understand).

You basically received a bill for costs incurred by the store, and you were told to pay or else you’ve be taken to court.

When they hear or read the word court, many people feel intimidated. Courts are places where people are sentenced, where children get taken away from families and places that evict people from their homes or point fingers at people and say they have to pay something.

It freaks them out! They can’t afford a lawyer, by definition, and lawyers scare them too. So they pay.

They pay the business that wrote them the letter. The business that does this to make money.

The bill they sent you did not represent actual costs of the store where you were shoplifting. It also has absolutely nothing to do with a criminal record.

Well, a few years, two such cases did go to court.

For a bill of £137.50.

The law has changed and business who send you similar exaggerated invoices are now committing a criminal offence when they do.

Are you aware of that?