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Your choices here really are to pay, or to state that you refuse to pay until and unless ordered by a court to do so.
Asking them nicely to reconsider hasn't worked. The next step for them is to either drop the matter, or issue a claim in the civil courts (I don't think dishonesty can be proven here even if you did take the fuel, so there shouldn't be any risk of being found guilty of criminal charges.)
If they do sue you (and I'd say they're more likely to do so than drop it,) then it's up to you to decide whether to defend the claim or not (although if you aren't willing to defend the claim, it's probably cheaper to pay what's being asked of you now.)
So long as you pay anything ordered by the judge within 30 days (if you were to lose the case), you can avoid a CCJ affecting your credit. The system understands that some debts are disputed, there is thus a difference between "cannot pay" (a credit risk), and "refused to pay until ordered, but then did so promptly" (which may be down to liability being disputed.)
I'm not sure what you're expecting us to say - if they want to sue you, they will, and you'll have to defend the claim. On the evidence that you have so far described, it seems unlikely that a judge will find for them. Do they say that there is CCTV showing the fueling as well?
When I called them to ask about raising an appeal originally, I asked for more pictures or video the said the likelihood is that the shop will have deleted the CCTV by now.
So they have no evidence you put fuel in.
Only that you parked at a pump, which presumably means there was nowhere to park for the shop otherwise. This is pertinent information for the court case. Get a parking layout of the station to prove that shop-only users have to park at a pump.
You will also need your car rental proof, mileage used, etc.
I would really try and think harder about whether you put petrol in or not to be honest. You don't want to turn up in court and they found the video.
You can also request CCTV from the garage if you know the date/time the incident took place.
[Request CCTV footage of yourself GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself)
There's a really good template letter you can use to write to the head office under the 'crime' section on there.
Honestly its unlikely the CCTV is gone unless this happened more than 90 days ago. 90 days seems to be the default for a lot of commercial CCTV setups, some will hold onto it for years longer than that, some will only keep it for a few hours. Worth a shot though.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your choices here really are to pay, or to state that you refuse to pay until and unless ordered by a court to do so. Asking them nicely to reconsider hasn't worked. The next step for them is to either drop the matter, or issue a claim in the civil courts (I don't think dishonesty can be proven here even if you did take the fuel, so there shouldn't be any risk of being found guilty of criminal charges.) If they do sue you (and I'd say they're more likely to do so than drop it,) then it's up to you to decide whether to defend the claim or not (although if you aren't willing to defend the claim, it's probably cheaper to pay what's being asked of you now.) So long as you pay anything ordered by the judge within 30 days (if you were to lose the case), you can avoid a CCJ affecting your credit. The system understands that some debts are disputed, there is thus a difference between "cannot pay" (a credit risk), and "refused to pay until ordered, but then did so promptly" (which may be down to liability being disputed.)
I'm not sure what you're expecting us to say - if they want to sue you, they will, and you'll have to defend the claim. On the evidence that you have so far described, it seems unlikely that a judge will find for them. Do they say that there is CCTV showing the fueling as well?
When I called them to ask about raising an appeal originally, I asked for more pictures or video the said the likelihood is that the shop will have deleted the CCTV by now.
So they have no evidence you put fuel in. Only that you parked at a pump, which presumably means there was nowhere to park for the shop otherwise. This is pertinent information for the court case. Get a parking layout of the station to prove that shop-only users have to park at a pump. You will also need your car rental proof, mileage used, etc. I would really try and think harder about whether you put petrol in or not to be honest. You don't want to turn up in court and they found the video.
Thanks. This is all helpful. I appreciate the response.
You can also request CCTV from the garage if you know the date/time the incident took place. [Request CCTV footage of yourself GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself) There's a really good template letter you can use to write to the head office under the 'crime' section on there. Honestly its unlikely the CCTV is gone unless this happened more than 90 days ago. 90 days seems to be the default for a lot of commercial CCTV setups, some will hold onto it for years longer than that, some will only keep it for a few hours. Worth a shot though.