Episode 2 The Sheriffs Are Coming


Episode 2

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Transcript


LineFromTo

'What do you do if you're ripped off and don't know where to turn?'

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I outlined the faults in the vehicle. He rejected those.

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'A court of law backs you but you still don't get your money.'

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Little did I know how long it would take

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to try and recover the money from him.

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Sorry.

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'It's time to call the sheriffs.'

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We have every right to enter the premises by force if necessary.

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We will be entering that building.

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'Sheriffs are High Court enforcement officers who recover what a court judgement says is owed.'

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They've ordered us to come here and seize goods to the value of this debt.

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'They're the experts in getting cash that's rightfully yours.'

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£1,323.

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-'But fighting for the underdog isn't a job for the faint-hearted.'

-Mind yourself.

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I'll back that truck through your windscreen.

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-'Debtors aren't pleased to see them.'

-They're harassing me.

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'Because they hate paying up.'

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-Are you happy for me to leave you some paperwork?

-No, I'm not. Go away.

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'In today's programme...

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'..the sheriffs go into battle on behalf of an 80-year-old pensioner

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'who's owed over £1,000 by the owners of an auction house.

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'The debtors give their visitors a hostile reception.'

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-Don't come over here with that camera, I'm telling you that now! I'll

-BLEEP

-knock you out!

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'The sheriffs confront a plumber who charged a customer £2,000

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'for a bathroom fitting he never even started.'

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-Why are you here?

-Because the money's still owed.

-So what are you here for?

-To collect the money.

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'And 65-year-old Paul Gravette

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'won a personal injury claim after a fall left him in agony.'

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It was unbearable.

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And I had to go to hospital with it because I couldn't stand the pain much longer.

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'Paul was awarded £4,000 but he never got his cash.

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'Can a sheriff put that right?'

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'Beryl, a 90-year-old pensioner who lives in a care home in Middlesex,

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'needs the help of the sheriffs.

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'Beryl's relatives decided to auction some of her furniture for her,

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'but it all went badly wrong.'

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Beryl lived all her life, she's a spinster,

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she lived all her life either caring for her parents

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or working, she held a very responsible job in the NHS.

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'But when Beryl reached her 80s, her health started to decline.'

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Unfortunately, dementia set in and she was unable to care for herself at home,

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and over a prolonged period,

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with increasing amounts of carers at home, she gradually deteriorated

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and we had to move her into a residential care home, which is where she is now.

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'In 2010, Sheila's husband David

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'asked a local auctioneers to sell some of Beryl's belongings to raise some funds for her.

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'The property was sold at auction and they waited patiently for Beryl's money to arrive.'

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And no cheque.

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And at this point, we just thought, "Well, that's not right."

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And this went on for about two months.

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Throughout January, I started to phone them. I emailed them.

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They would never come up with anything. They'd always promise us,

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"Oh, yes, it'll be next week" and nothing would appear.

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The old cliche, the cheque will be in the post. And it never was.

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You know, she needs this money.

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It's to help her in her final years

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have what she needs.

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So we should make every attempt

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to get what is hers for her.

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'David and Sheila went to the county court

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'and got a judgement for £1,503.

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'But the auction house still didn't hand over Beryl's cash.'

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Even though the court's decision is that the auction house need to pay up,

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there doesn't seem to be any kind of stick in order to make that happen.

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There doesn't seem to be any way of gradually increasing the pressure on the auction house

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to make sure that they do pay.

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I'm lost in all of this

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because I don't really understand why, at some stage, there isn't a further threat.

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'But there is a further threat. The High Court Enforcement Office.

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'Their job is to get people the money they're owed.

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'When Sheila and David found out about it,

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'they contacted the sheriffs here in Croydon, and now they're swinging into action.

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'Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally

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'are on their way to the auction house in North Finchley.

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'The auctioneers now owe over £2,000 because of interest and court costs.

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'But the biggest settlement the sheriffs have ever had is £5 million,

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'so they're pretty confident about sorting this more modest sum.'

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It's only about £2,400,

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so I'm quite hopeful that we'll be able to get that cleared quite easily.

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But we'll see when we get there. Hopefully, it should be open

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because of the time of day, and it is a commercial premises.

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So hopefully we'll be all right.

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'Lawrence and Kev have arrived at the auction house.

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'It's time to get Beryl her money.'

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-Hello there. Are you in charge, sir?

-I am at the moment, yeah.

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My name's Mr Grix.

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-I'm a High Court enforcement officer.

-Yeah?

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And I've come here today to enforce the High Court writ

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on behalf of a claimant, Mrs Sheila Fathers.

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-I don't...

-You don't know anything about it?

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It's against Euro UK 2 Limited trading as NL Auctions,

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-which is here, isn't it?

-Yeah.

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Erm, basically, there was property auctioned off and they never received the proceeds.

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When was that?

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Let's see if I've got that. I think I've got the actual copy of the auction paperwork.

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15th November 2010.

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I've got a list here of what was sold.

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'At this point, the camera operator was asked to leave the auction house.'

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I'm here today, sir, to collect £2,283.41 in cleared funds

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or I'll be removing goods.

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'The man tells Lawrence he's had no notice of this writ,

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'he knows nothing about it and the property on display doesn't belong to the business.'

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Well, that's down to you or whoever to prove

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because we are ordered here to remove goods and that's what we're here to do.

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'The man makes a phone call and then asks to see the High Court writ.'

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I've got a stamped copy there.

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That's basically just a copy without the stamp on that I'm happy for you to have.

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It's basically exactly the same. That was a copy of the original judgement.

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Obviously, nobody turned up or bothered to reply to it.

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OK?

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So it's what's known as a judgement in default,

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because nobody from this company filed a defence against it.

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But this is the stuff that was sold.

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I've got the list of stock here that was sold,

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which our client has provided us with.

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'The phone call the man made was to his wife. She's just arrived.'

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Right, I've given your colleague here the copy of the original county court judgement

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and this is a generic copy of the writ.

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'The woman asks if the writ is for the disputed figure,

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'£1,503.'

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No. £2283.41.

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Cos it's gone to the county court, so there's court costs there,

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it's been transferred up to the High Court, so there's court costs there,

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and there's costs for us coming out today.

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'The woman refuses to pay the additional costs.'

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I'll be removing goods. Because we don't come out for nothing.

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'It's not just Beryl who needs her money today.

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'The sheriffs incur costs, too.

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'These are paid by the debtor, not the client.'

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Right, our fees are £588.66 plus VAT, as it says on there.

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'And the longer this goes on, the greater the cost.

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'High Court enforcement officer overtime is £180 per hour.

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'The owner's wife offers part payment by cheque, but that's not good enough.'

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It needs to be the full amount and it needs to be in cleared funds.

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And that is the bottom line.

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'At this point, our camera operator is asked to move away.'

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-I'm fed up with this

-BLEEP!

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Can you move? I don't want you round here! Go!

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What do you think this is?

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'The owner's wife then shouts a bit more.'

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You with them?

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You don't come in my auction, right, filming nothing! I'm telling you that now!

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'And goes in the direction of the bank.'

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Move him from there! That's my private property!

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'Ten minutes later, the owner's wife returns

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'and Beryl's money is handed over in cash.'

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Don't come over here with that camera, I'm telling you that now!

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-Cos the way I feel, I'll

-BLEEP

-knock you out!

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'Inside the auction house, Lawrence and Kev finalise the paperwork

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'with the man who was there when they arrived.

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'It turns out he's one of the company directors and he didn't like handing over Beryl's cash.'

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The husband got quite aggressive towards the end. I don't think he wanted to part with the money.

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But in the end he did, we gave him a receipt, collected full payment and we're on our way to the next job.

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'The battle at NL Auctions was par for the course for Lawrence and Kev.'

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People are quite often aggressive.

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A lot of the time, the people that we're going to

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have been trying to avoid the debt in the first place

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and the last thing they want is us turning up.

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And aggression is a last-ditch, last resort to try and prevent themselves having to pay.

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But it doesn't work, cos we're used to it

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and if necessary, we'll call the police for assistance.

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'An hour after arriving at the auction house, the sheriffs are on their way

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'and Beryl will get her money soon.

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'We asked NL Auctions to comment.

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'Susan Tarrone from the company said this unfortunate incident was an isolated case

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'and occurred at a time of stress and illness in her family and was a matter that got out of hand.

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'She also apologised for her language at the time of filming.'

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Yeah, we can force entry to a commercial premises.

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'This High Court Enforcement Office is based in London.

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'It employs over 40 full-time officers,

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'returning tens of millions of pounds to people owed money every year.'

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Oh, brilliant! Looks like I've got my money back.

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'High Court enforcement officers, also known as sheriffs,

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'have more powers than bailiffs to enter properties, remove goods and auction them to settle debts.'

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-Listen, I'm a director of the company.

-Yep.

-I'm asking you to leave the premises.

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-Phone the police.

-I will do.

-OK.

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'It's a job that dates back to Saxon times

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'and it's busier than ever.

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'Over 70,000 High Court writs are executed in this country every year.'

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-We're here to seize goods.

-Oh.

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'It's 6.30am and two sheriffs have been dispatched to a new job.

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'This time Kev's joined by Mark Newton.

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'They're acting on behalf of a customer who paid a plumber

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'thousands of pounds to fit a new bathroom.

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'But he never did the work.

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'After spending four months trying to get her money back,

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'the customer got a High Court writ

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'which the sheriffs are about to enforce.'

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We're in, er, Hertford this morning.

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We're looking for a Mr Wayne Everett

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who owes £4,291.

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We'll just give it a knock and see whether we can get any answers.

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-RINGING

-Please come in, here's my debit card for four and a half thousand pounds.

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'There's no answer, but luckily, the plumber lives in the ground-floor flat

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'so Mark can look for signs of life.'

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-RINGING

-He must be there. There's someone in.

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There's got to be someone in. They just don't wake up, do they?

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'An old sheriff's trick is trying the tradesman's entrance button.'

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-Coming at seven o'clock.

-How did you learn that?

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HE KNOCKS ON DOOR

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'If the plumber was asleep, he isn't any more.'

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-Hiya. I'm after Wayne Everett.

-Yeah.

-I've got a High Court writ that's been issued.

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'Mr Everett tells Mark that the case is being referred back to court.'

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We've got another hearing on the 24th.

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OK. Have you got any details of that here? Cos we haven't been told this.

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-Wait there.

-Yeah, no worries.

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'If Mr Everett had left the door open, Mark and Kev could've walked straight in

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'and looked for property to remove to clear the debt.

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'High Court enforcement officers have significant power

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'to access even residential properties.'

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-Hi there.

-There we go.

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-Right. OK. Let's take a quick photo of that.

-Yep.

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-Are you aware that at the moment it's still a live writ?

-Well, we're going back to court.

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'The court documents show that Mr Everett offered to pay his customer

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'£40 per month to pay off the debt,

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'but she wanted £250 per month.

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'Mr Everett is now contesting the whole case.'

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-OK? So...

-All right, I'm just going to take a photo of this. Yeah?

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-You've sent a copy of this to our office, you say?

-Sorry?

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-Have you sent a copy of this...

-The court... The court will have done that.

-No, they wouldn't.

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-Can I have that?

-Yeah, I just want to take a photo.

-I'm not going to allow you to.

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Well, I know, but otherwise... They're going to say, "Have you seen some proof? Where is it?"

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-and I'll say, "I haven't got a photo of it".

-It's going through the court.

-I need a photo.

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I'm not going to let you. You've come knocking on the door,

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-you haven't done your research...

-But it's still a live writ.

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It hasn't gone back to court. It's still live, it's still owed.

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-You offered £40 a month, yeah?

-Your client will get, basically,

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nothing when we go to court

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-and they're told that I was disturbed, and my partner, at this time in the morning.

-That's fine.

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-That's not for us to decide.

-We're not deciding anything.

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No. But you saying whoever's going to get X amount, that's not for us to decide.

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-We're here...

-It will look embarrassing on your point of view.

-It's nothing to do with us.

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-We're just here to enforce a writ.

-But it's going through the courts.

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-But it's still a live writ.

-We are appearing in court.

-It's a live writ. That's the point.

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-That's why we're going back to court.

-No, but it's still a live writ.

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-At this current stage, it's still owed.

-Fine, yeah.

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-Right. So that's why we're here.

-So why are you here?

-Because the money's still owed.

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-What are you here for?

-To collect the money.

-But we're going back to court so you can't.

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-OK, we're just going round in circles here.

-You allowing us to take a picture would make it easier.

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I tell you what, I'll fax a copy to your office.

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We've come all the way here, we could just take a photo of it, job done.

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-Saves you faxing it.

-Go on, then, take a photo of it.

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So I'm presuming you don't want to pay, then.

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-Obviously not. We're going to court.

-All right, I'm just asking.

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Like I say, it's still a live writ and it can be enforced.

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Until the day you go back to court and you get the answer...

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-The judgement.

-And the judgement may not go your way.

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'And if Mr Everett does lose in court, he's going to face an even greater debt.

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'Each sheriff visit adds to the cost.'

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-I'm speaking from your client's point of view.

-Yeah.

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-What if she loses?

-Yeah. She loses.

-And it's costing her a fortune.

-It's not costing her anything.

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-Well, she's got to pay for you.

-No. She doesn't pay for us.

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Well, it seems on the figures that she is,

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-because I'm having to pay for it myself.

-Yeah, you pay.

-If I lose.

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Yeah. You pay for it.

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-And if I win...

-Yeah.

-..who pays for you?

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-No-one.

-Oh, that's a shame, isn't it?

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-HE LAUGHS

-All right, you've got the paperwork.

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See you. Thank you. Bye-bye.

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'If the sheriffs don't get any money for a client,

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'they only charge an admin fee of £60.'

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Let's DVLA some cars.

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'Mark wasn't able to gain access to Mr Everett's flat to list potential property for removal,

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'but Mr Everett may own one of the cars in the car park.

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'If he does, the sheriffs could remove it at a later date to pay off his debt.'

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I'll get the lot down. I'll write a load down.

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'When he gets back to the office, Mark will do a DVLA check on all the vehicle registrations

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'to see if any of them do belong to Mr Everett.'

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-The only one that's worth money is on foreign plates!

-HE LAUGHS

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He may have a result where he needs to pay.

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Then he's obviously not going to be so happy.

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But we'll see what happens with it in the end.

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'And Mark and Kev may well be making a return visit to Mr Everett.

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'When he finally did go to court,

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'the judge ruled he should pay £50 a month until he clears the debt to his customer.

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'If one payment is missed, the sheriffs will be back.

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'Lawrence and Kev's next job is in a whole new league.

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'It's the Enforcement Office versus one of Japan's largest companies, Fujitsu.'

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It's half past eight in the morning. We've just arrived at Stevenage.

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We've got a writ against Fujitsu Services Limited

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and the total outstanding at the moment is £149,481.

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So a vast amount of money.

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We've already driven past the building and it's a massive, massive office block.

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There's absolutely no doubt whatsoever that they've got the money to pay this

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and I would estimate they've got the assets to cover it, as well.

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'But Fujitsu is the world's third largest IT services provider

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'with over 172,000 employees worldwide.

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'Tracking down the relevant individual to deal with this writ

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'could be quite a challenge.'

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They'll have to get hold of the right people. Simple as that.

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I can't believe that an organisation as big as this wouldn't be able to get somebody to deal with this.

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And within reason, I won't be tolerating anything like that.

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I won't be tolerating excuses for, "Oh, we can't get the right person."

0:19:420:19:46

It doesn't matter what excuses they come out with, how big their company is,

0:19:460:19:50

they've got a debt and we're here to collect it.

0:19:500:19:52

-Hello there.

-You all right?

-Yeah. I'll show you my ID.

0:19:540:19:57

-We're here to execute a writ against Fujitsu Services.

-Any names?

0:19:570:20:03

No, we've just got Fujitsu Services, so whoever's in authority that can deal with it.

0:20:030:20:07

No-one's here at the moment. About nine they normally come in.

0:20:070:20:11

-They've got people on reception, though, have they?

-Yeah, but we can't allow you on site

0:20:110:20:15

till we get permission from them.

0:20:150:20:18

All right. I understand what you're saying.

0:20:180:20:21

-Your best bet is probably... Let me make a quick phone call.

-Yeah.

0:20:210:20:25

-Just pull up anywhere on the side so I can still let traffic in.

-OK.

0:20:250:20:29

Because technically, you can't stop us coming in.

0:20:290:20:32

I know what you're saying and I respect your position

0:20:320:20:35

and I'm happy for you to try and contact somebody who can deal with this,

0:20:350:20:38

but when it comes to a point of law, you can't stop us coming in.

0:20:380:20:41

I can understand all your security and the need for it with an establishment like this,

0:20:410:20:46

and I'm quite happy to respect that, but I just want to...

0:20:460:20:49

-Let me just make...

-I just want to establish the point, OK?

0:20:490:20:53

'If necessary, sheriffs can force entry to commercial premises

0:20:540:20:59

'as long as they're detached from residential living quarters.

0:20:590:21:02

'But for the time being, they decide to park around the corner and wait.

0:21:020:21:07

'But as usual, there's a bit of an issue with the sat-nav.

0:21:080:21:13

'Corners can be hard to find.'

0:21:130:21:15

"At the end of the road, turn right."

0:21:150:21:18

-Turn right? There's no entry.

-They're getting relegated soon.

0:21:180:21:22

-My ten-year-old one's going to be...

-It's that one. It's saying turn right.

-It's not, though.

0:21:220:21:27

-I mean, my internal compass said go that way, yeah.

-You ignored it, though.

0:21:270:21:33

'The sat-nav's brought them back to where they started from.

0:21:330:21:37

'They park up and discuss the upcoming negotiations with Fujitsu.

0:21:390:21:44

'Lawrence hopes the discussion won't have to be in Japanese.'

0:21:440:21:47

I know a couple of bits from watching Shogun when I was child and that's about it.

0:21:470:21:51

I don't know if that's going to stand us in good stead.

0:21:510:21:55

"How are you?" and "I'm all right, thanks."

0:21:550:21:59

-You don't know, "Give us £150,000"?

-No, unfortunately not.

0:22:010:22:05

'The boys may need to brush up on their Japanese quick. They've been approached by security.'

0:22:060:22:12

-Hello.

-Have you got any details of what this is about? I can't get anybody for you without details.

0:22:120:22:17

-All right. What it is, it's a foreign judgement.

-Right.

0:22:170:22:23

Looking at the language, it appears to be German.

0:22:230:22:26

And they've got a judgement for £149,000.

0:22:260:22:30

With our costs, it's £149,481.93.

0:22:300:22:35

'Fujitsu have clearly been caught by surprise.'

0:22:350:22:39

I can't let you into the building. I'm not allowed to let you in.

0:22:390:22:42

Unfortunately, you can't actually stop me.

0:22:420:22:45

-I can stop you.

-You can't.

-At the moment, I can stop you coming into the building.

-You can't.

0:22:450:22:49

Whether you hear back... I'm not trying to be awkward.

0:22:490:22:52

-And we're not, either.

-We've been very cooperative. Your security staff have asked us to wait here.

0:22:520:22:57

I can understand the sensitivity of your business.

0:22:570:23:01

I can't let you into the building. I'm in control of this building and I'm not allowed to let you in.

0:23:010:23:06

Well, unfortunately, as an enforcement officer executing a High Court writ,

0:23:060:23:10

I can force entry into a commercial premises if necessary.

0:23:100:23:14

-We don't need permission.

-We do not need permission to enter your building.

0:23:140:23:18

-What I'm asking for is the...

-What are you entering the building for?

0:23:180:23:22

-To seize goods.

-To seize assets.

-We're here to seize goods.

0:23:220:23:26

We're ordered... I can show you a copy of the writ.

0:23:260:23:29

-Do we not get... Has anybody had prior notice of this?

-No.

-No.

0:23:290:23:33

Because there is a judgement, someone within your company will know about the judgement.

0:23:330:23:38

And the fact that it's gone unpaid...

0:23:380:23:40

..means that the claimant is allowed to get it enforced at any time.

0:23:420:23:47

-Can I just ring the bosses back?

-Yeah. I'm happy to show you the writ.

0:23:470:23:51

If you want to look at that bit there, it actually orders us,

0:23:510:23:55

"You are now commanded to seize in execution

0:23:550:23:57

"the goods, chattels or other property of Fujitsu Siemens Limited."

0:23:570:24:02

OK? So that is what entitles us to enter your buildings and seize assets.

0:24:020:24:08

-Let me just go and ring them back.

-We'll come back to you in a second.

-Yep.

0:24:080:24:13

'Lawrence can see it from Fujitsu's point of view.'

0:24:130:24:16

I would imagine the lady herself has got absolutely no experience of a High Court writ before.

0:24:160:24:21

So she is unaware of our powers.

0:24:210:24:25

That's why I'm trying to remain courteous about this,

0:24:250:24:30

but you've got to tell people where they stand and we will be entering that building.

0:24:300:24:35

There is no question about it, we will be entering that building and we will be seizing assets

0:24:350:24:40

because that is what we are commanded to come here and do.

0:24:400:24:43

All we're asking for is the common courtesy not to be left sitting on the street.

0:24:430:24:47

That's an appalling way to conduct business, sitting on the street.

0:24:470:24:51

'Fujitsu need to beware. Lawrence rarely gets angry.

0:24:510:24:56

'But when he does, it's not a pretty sight.'

0:24:560:24:58

It's discourteous and disrespectful, isn't it?

0:24:580:25:01

They're not respecting of our position,

0:25:020:25:05

so we're getting to the point where we're going to have to be a little more forceful.

0:25:050:25:12

'If the sheriffs aren't allowed in soon,

0:25:120:25:15

'Lawrence will park up, walk straight into the building

0:25:150:25:18

'and start listing property for removal.

0:25:180:25:21

'Things could turn nasty.

0:25:210:25:23

'65-year-old Paul Gravette is a retired shop assistant who lives in York.

0:25:300:25:35

'He needs the help of the sheriffs

0:25:350:25:37

'because he won a personal injury case against a pub but it hasn't paid up.

0:25:370:25:41

'The story starts in winter 2009.

0:25:410:25:45

'Paul was going for his regular Sunday lunch appointment with some friends,

0:25:450:25:49

'something he looked forward to all week.'

0:25:490:25:52

Now that I've left work, I'm on my own, I live on my own, I'm not married,

0:25:520:25:56

it's a bit of company for me. You know? And that's what I like.

0:25:560:26:01

There's just four of us go out and it's a bit of company.

0:26:010:26:05

It only lasts about a couple of hours but it's nice cos I have someone to talk to, basically.

0:26:050:26:12

'That Sunday was a particularly cold day,

0:26:120:26:14

'and the pub car park was covered in snow and ice.'

0:26:140:26:18

I dropped my friends and my cousin off at the entrance to the pub.

0:26:180:26:22

I drove the car up to the top of the car park, locked the car up...

0:26:240:26:29

..walked down towards the entrance to the pub, which was over that side.

0:26:300:26:36

Like that. And I slipped like that.

0:26:370:26:40

This foot went first, I went over like that.

0:26:400:26:44

I put my arm out to stop myself and ended up like that, on my elbow.

0:26:450:26:51

It's not what I planned for a Sunday afternoon by any means, but there we are.

0:26:520:26:56

'Paul realised instantly he was badly hurt.'

0:26:560:27:00

The pain was horrendous.

0:27:000:27:02

We had our dinner and how I drove my car home I just don't know.

0:27:020:27:05

'When he got home, Paul was in agony, but he tried to grin and bear it.'

0:27:050:27:11

The pain, as the day wore on and the night wore on,

0:27:110:27:14

it just got worse and worse until it was unbearable.

0:27:140:27:19

And I had to go to hospital with it because I couldn't stand the pain much longer.

0:27:190:27:23

'Paul was in hospital for five and a half hours.

0:27:240:27:27

'An X-ray revealed his left arm was broken.

0:27:270:27:30

'He was off work for three weeks,

0:27:300:27:33

'but realised the situation could have been so much worse.'

0:27:330:27:37

What was worrying me was that if an elderly person walked down that hill towards the pub

0:27:370:27:44

and slipped and banged their head, they could've killed themselves.

0:27:440:27:48

That's what was bothering me.

0:27:480:27:50

'Paul felt something had to be done so lessons could be learnt.

0:27:510:27:55

'And three years on, he feels just as strongly.'

0:27:550:27:58

If they'd have put salt down or sand down or even a warning sign saying,

0:27:580:28:04

"Please be careful, car park very dangerous because of ice and snow,"

0:28:040:28:11

then people would've known, but there was nothing down at all.

0:28:110:28:14

They didn't put any salt down or sand down or anything.

0:28:140:28:18

'Paul took the pub to the county court and claimed for damages.

0:28:180:28:22

'He won his personal injury claim and was awarded £4,000.

0:28:220:28:27

'But that wasn't the end of the story.'

0:28:270:28:30

So far, after two years of trying to get compensation for my injury,

0:28:300:28:36

the Swan Hotel has not paid a single penny in compensation

0:28:360:28:41

no matter how hard my solicitor has tried to help me.

0:28:410:28:45

'With nowhere else to turn, Paul went to the High Court

0:28:470:28:50

'and got a writ for the money he was owed.

0:28:500:28:53

'He contacted the Enforcement Office in Croydon and asked them to execute it.

0:28:530:28:57

'And now sheriff Pete Spencer has been dispatched to the pub in Aberford, Leeds.

0:29:000:29:06

'His aim, to get Paul his money or seize goods to auction to raise the cash.'

0:29:060:29:11

Hiya. Afternoon. I'm just looking for someone to speak to at the Swan Hotel.

0:29:130:29:18

OK, I'll just get the manager for you. Who's asking?

0:29:180:29:21

-I'm an enforcement officer from the High Court.

-OK.

-Thanks.

0:29:210:29:25

'Because of court costs and interest,

0:29:270:29:29

'the total owed is now £10,683.'

0:29:290:29:33

Hiya. Are you OK? You OK to speak in here or is there somewhere private we can go?

0:29:380:29:42

Cheers. Thank you.

0:29:450:29:47

I'm an enforcement officer enforcing a High Court writ.

0:29:470:29:51

-It's regarding Swan Hotel Aberford Limited.

-Right.

0:29:510:29:56

The claimant's a Mr Paul Gravette.

0:29:560:30:00

'The employee has nothing to do with this case.

0:30:000:30:03

'She tells Pete he needs to speak to the owner, Mr White. But he's not in.'

0:30:030:30:08

-The only thing I can do is to get him on his mobi.

-Please. Yes, if you can.

0:30:080:30:12

What I'll do in the meantime, I've got to levy items on the premises, so we're going to start levying items.

0:30:120:30:17

-All right.

-But if you can get him on...

-Sorry.

-I'm just going to list the items.

0:30:170:30:21

-It's the first time I've come across this.

-OK. No problem.

0:30:210:30:24

-So you're going to price them?

-We're going to do the list of items.

0:30:240:30:28

-It's just to protect the outstanding debt...

-All right.

0:30:280:30:31

..if we have to go to remove or anything like that. I'll do it as discretely as I can.

0:30:310:30:35

-I know you've got customers in there.

-That's what I thought, yeah.

0:30:350:30:40

'And it's not only customers who will be watching Pete listing property to remove to pay the debt.'

0:30:420:30:48

As you can see, there's quite a few items on the wall,

0:30:520:30:56

stuffed animals, stag heads, which we've got down,

0:30:560:31:00

but you write one down then turn around and there's another two looking at you.

0:31:000:31:05

'But Pete isn't going to look a gift horse or stuffed fox in the mouth.'

0:31:050:31:10

I've levied two stuffed foxes.

0:31:100:31:13

I've just turned round now, there's a third stuffed fox looking at me from the rear over there

0:31:130:31:18

so I'll just have to add that as an extra stuffed animal. I think they would sell well at auction.

0:31:180:31:23

There's good value to stuffed items like that and I believe they're quite saleable.

0:31:230:31:28

'High Court enforcement officers are allowed to go wherever they want in commercial premises.'

0:31:290:31:35

I'm just making a list of those items as we go round.

0:31:360:31:39

Just items that are of any value, really.

0:31:390:31:42

Tables, chairs, display cabinets and anything else.

0:31:420:31:46

I need to count those down there.

0:31:470:31:50

Two, four, six, eight, ten.

0:31:500:31:52

14, 16, 18.

0:31:520:31:55

'This could be one of the most diverse inventories of Pete's career.

0:31:550:32:00

'Word has reached the owner about what's going on.

0:32:040:32:07

'He's phoned the pub and asked to speak to Pete urgently.'

0:32:070:32:11

Right, if you're going to pay by card, it's got to be chip and pin actually with you present.

0:32:110:32:16

We have got a card machine but obviously we wouldn't be able to do that over the phone.

0:32:160:32:21

But you can make an offer to pay over three monthly instalments.

0:32:210:32:28

Yes. That has to go to the claimant and payments have to come through ourselves

0:32:300:32:34

but you put that in writing to our office

0:32:340:32:36

then we ask the claimant if that's acceptable or not.

0:32:360:32:39

The paperwork I'm going to leave on site at the moment.

0:32:390:32:42

I just need to ring our office to make sure they're happy that I've levied all the items.

0:32:420:32:47

Obviously, do a walking possession agreement

0:32:470:32:49

that if you do fail on the payments,

0:32:490:32:51

we do come back to remove items to cover the outstanding debt.

0:32:510:32:55

That's fine. OK. Thank you. Thanks. Bye-bye.

0:32:550:32:58

'It looks like Pete may have succeeded in getting Paul Gravette his personal injury money.'

0:32:580:33:04

He's going to put it into writing that he's going to offer three monthly payments to cover the total.

0:33:040:33:10

That's a good result, I think.

0:33:100:33:12

And ultimately he is aware that if he doesn't keep to the offer that he's made,

0:33:120:33:16

if it's accepted, that items... We come back and remove items.

0:33:160:33:21

'Before he leaves, Pete hands over a walking possession agreement,

0:33:210:33:25

'which means any second visit could be less amicable than this one.'

0:33:250:33:29

If the payment terms don't actually get paid,

0:33:290:33:33

we've got the right to come back, whether you're here or not,

0:33:330:33:36

to remove items to the value of the outstanding debt.

0:33:360:33:39

-Hopefully, we won't be back.

-All right.

-OK. Cheers. Thank you. Bye-bye.

0:33:390:33:44

'Sheriffs have been known to remove ships, sheep and even shellfish on their travels.

0:33:450:33:50

'But it seems like the Swan's stuffed stags are safe. For now.

0:33:500:33:54

'Back in Stevenage, Lawrence and Kev have been waiting outside the Fujitsu HQ for over half an hour.

0:34:010:34:07

'Lawrence decides to raise the stakes.'

0:34:070:34:10

I'm not letting you in!

0:34:160:34:19

I'll just show them that I'm not going to try and tailgate them through.

0:34:190:34:23

-All right?

-Have you come down to see us?

0:34:280:34:30

-Sorry?

-Have you come down to see us?

0:34:300:34:32

-No, I've only just got here.

-Oh, right.

0:34:320:34:35

-What we're trying to do is, because we didn't know anything about...

-So you have come to see us.

0:34:350:34:40

No, no, no. I just said I've just come out to tell you that we're just finding out what...

0:34:400:34:45

So you've come out to speak to us. That's what I'm trying to establish.

0:34:450:34:48

You're not just somebody walking past, you've come here to speak to us, to tell us something.

0:34:480:34:53

I'm not trying to be awkward, but I asked you if you'd come to speak to us and you said no.

0:34:530:34:58

-Well...

-So you've got a message for us. Somebody's...

0:34:580:35:01

-No. Obviously you want to come in, do you? I don't know...

-Yeah.

0:35:010:35:05

To be honest, I don't think we've been treated

0:35:050:35:09

particularly professionally or courteously so far.

0:35:090:35:12

-We've done the utmost to be professional and respectful to your situation here.

-OK.

0:35:120:35:16

We're not looking to come storming round the place to see all your latest technology.

0:35:160:35:21

That's not what we're here for. We're here to execute a High Court writ

0:35:210:35:25

and what we're asking is to be treated in a courteous manner.

0:35:250:35:28

-It's who it's got to go to.

-But we're sat out on the road though.

0:35:280:35:32

We're quite happy to sit in reception while you do that.

0:35:320:35:35

I wasn't trying to tailgate that vehicle through or anything like that.

0:35:350:35:39

You know, we have the right to enter, if you don't allow me to enter,

0:35:390:35:43

I'm going to park my vehicle here and go in on foot.

0:35:430:35:46

And if anybody tries to stop me, I will call the police,

0:35:460:35:49

because it's an arrestable offence to obstruct an enforcement officer in the execution of a writ.

0:35:490:35:54

We don't want to go down that road, we just want to be treated with some courtesy.

0:35:540:35:58

Can I just say, some of us have just got here,

0:35:580:36:01

-we didn't know you were coming so...

-No, I can appreciate that.

0:36:010:36:05

If you give me a couple of minutes, if you just pull up to...

0:36:050:36:08

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Give me a couple of minutes, I'll come back and see you.

0:36:080:36:11

But with respect, that's what the lady said about 20 minutes ago.

0:36:110:36:15

-She's on the phone in there.

-Give me a couple of minutes and I'll come back to you.

-OK, sir.

0:36:150:36:19

'This time a couple of minutes is just that.

0:36:190:36:23

'Lawrence gets a call from Fujitsu management asking for more information about the writ.'

0:36:230:36:28

It looks to be German, I believe. GMBH.

0:36:280:36:32

It was a judgement initially of £117,122.64,

0:36:320:36:39

which with execution costs, interest, judgement costs,

0:36:390:36:44

and our fees for attending today and VAT,

0:36:440:36:47

the total outstanding is £149,481.93.

0:36:470:36:53

We have every right to enter the premises by force if necessary.

0:36:530:36:58

And, you know, we don't want to have to do that.

0:36:580:37:01

OK. Thank you.

0:37:090:37:11

'Finally, things seem to be happening.

0:37:110:37:13

'Lawrence's firm but fair approach pays off.'

0:37:130:37:17

That was the manager of the site.

0:37:170:37:20

-He's the overall head honcho here, I believe.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

0:37:200:37:23

He didn't know.

0:37:230:37:25

He's going to allow one of us, I believe, into reception.

0:37:250:37:29

So we're winning.

0:37:290:37:31

I don't know how long till we get to a situation where we resolve it,

0:37:320:37:35

-but we'll take you to reception.

-Yeah, sure.

-We'll get you a coffee.

0:37:350:37:39

Can you just turn down the left there?

0:37:390:37:42

-Just down here, yeah?

-Yeah.

0:37:420:37:44

'So Lawrence not only gets a comfy seat, he also gets a coffee.

0:37:440:37:48

'But will he get any money?

0:37:480:37:51

'An hour later, Lawrence emerges.

0:37:550:37:57

'It's been an intriguing negotiation.'

0:37:570:38:01

They got their head of legal on the phone, who didn't quite understand the situation.

0:38:010:38:06

He thought we couldn't force an entry into a building. He actually said,

0:38:060:38:10

"You're not getting in our building today," I said, "I'm already in."

0:38:100:38:14

They were unaware of the debt, where it's come from, what it's all about.

0:38:140:38:18

So I've basically given them copies of the paperwork,

0:38:180:38:20

he was quite insistent that they weren't going to pay today.

0:38:200:38:24

We can't turn people upside down, shake them and make money fall out of their pockets.

0:38:240:38:28

We're there to seize goods, and if necessary, remove them.

0:38:280:38:32

He was saying he needed time to sort that out.

0:38:320:38:35

They were going to go to the High Court and attempt to get an injunction

0:38:350:38:38

to stop us removing goods, which is just a waste of everybody's time.

0:38:380:38:43

They're a massive company. They're not going to run away.

0:38:430:38:46

If they owe the money, they will pay. I've absolutely no doubt about that.

0:38:460:38:50

They need time to look into it, so what I've done today,

0:38:500:38:53

I've taken walking possession, so I've basically seized the entire contents of the building,

0:38:530:38:58

or as much of it as need be to cover the debt.

0:38:580:39:01

If it doesn't get paid or resolved in a satisfactory manner,

0:39:010:39:05

then we will be back, and if necessary, we will remove goods.

0:39:050:39:08

'Walking possession means the sheriffs can list, or seize, property

0:39:100:39:14

'for removal at a later date if the debt isn't paid.

0:39:140:39:17

'They don't need to physically remove goods there and then.

0:39:170:39:21

'Usually this does the trick in getting debtors to pay up.'

0:39:210:39:24

If we believe the goods are in jeopardy,

0:39:240:39:27

we will insist on removal there and then, if we're not getting payment,

0:39:270:39:31

but the goods aren't in jeopardy here, it's a huge building, a huge company,

0:39:310:39:35

they're not going to make all their assets from this building disappear.

0:39:350:39:40

So we were quite safe in taking walking possession.

0:39:400:39:43

'Lawrence isn't leaving with £150,000 in cash,

0:39:430:39:47

'but he's still satisfied with the way things have turned out.'

0:39:470:39:51

They were perfectly civil once we got in there.

0:39:510:39:53

I spoke to their solicitor and we've got the outcome we've got.

0:39:530:39:57

'And Lawrence sticking by his guns clearly did the trick.

0:39:590:40:02

'Soon after his visit, the firm owed the money by Fujitsu got its cash.

0:40:020:40:07

'Fujitsu told us that the payment delay was a genuine oversight on its part

0:40:080:40:13

'and it took immediate steps which rectified the situation.

0:40:130:40:17

'It's now two months since Lawrence and Kev paid the auction house a visit.

0:40:240:40:28

'In her nursing home, Beryl has now received the £1,503 she was owed.

0:40:280:40:35

'The debt owed by Mr Everett the plumber stands at £4,000 because of court costs and interest.

0:40:380:40:45

'The £50 per month repayments ordered by the judge

0:40:460:40:49

'are being monitored by the enforcement office.

0:40:490:40:52

'If any are missed, Mr Everett will be getting another visit.

0:40:520:40:56

'And it's now two months since Pete visited the pub in Leeds

0:40:590:41:03

'on behalf of 65-year-old Paul Gravette, who slipped on ice in the car park.

0:41:030:41:08

'Paul's got the first instalment of the personal injury money he's owed.

0:41:080:41:11

'And thanks to the enforcement office, he will soon be getting the rest.'

0:41:110:41:15

I am delighted with this outcome.

0:41:150:41:18

I'm very grateful to these enforcement officers who have done all this for me.

0:41:180:41:23

It was never a question of money.

0:41:230:41:25

It was a question of principle and just to prove the hotel wrong

0:41:250:41:30

in not having proper facilities for ice and snow.

0:41:300:41:36

'Next time...

0:41:390:41:41

'..a builder made 86-year-old Hilda Shaw fork out £4,000 for some work on her roof.

0:41:420:41:49

'And he left it in a worse state than when he started.'

0:41:490:41:52

I was absolutely shattered. I was crying, I couldn't leave off

0:41:520:41:56

cos I realised the mess I was getting into and I couldn't say stop.

0:41:560:42:01

'The sheriffs pay the builder an early morning visit to try and get Hilda's money back.

0:42:010:42:06

'And things get rather heated.'

0:42:060:42:09

I will back that truck straight through your windscreen.

0:42:090:42:12

'The sheriffs try to track down a landlord

0:42:120:42:15

'who didn't pay his student tenants their deposits when they left.

0:42:150:42:18

'But he proves elusive.'

0:42:180:42:21

He doesn't want to deal with it over the phone, he's telling me to come to an address he doesn't seem sure of.

0:42:210:42:27

'And office manager Joan Wales was unfairly dismissed.

0:42:280:42:31

'She was awarded compensation but her ex-bosses didn't pay up.

0:42:310:42:36

'Can the sheriffs help?'

0:42:360:42:38

They just thought I'd walk away and I wouldn't fight for this.

0:42:380:42:42

But I do fight and I am fighting because it's wrong.

0:42:420:42:46

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0:42:470:42:52

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