Episode 7 The Sheriffs Are Coming

What do you do if you're ripped off...

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

..a court of law backs you, but you still don't get your money?

Little did I know how long it would take to try and recover the money from him.

Sorry.

It's time to call the sheriffs.

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

We will be entering that building.

Sheriffs are High Court enforcement officers

who recover what a court judgement says is owed.

The writ orders us to come here and seize goods

to the value of this debt.

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

£1,323.

But fighting for the underdog isn't a job for the fainthearted.

I'll back that truck through your windscreen!

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

-They're harassing me.

..because they hate paying up.

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

-No, I'm not. Go away.

In today's programme...

It's the most important day of your life,

but what do you do when your wedding photographer

turns wedding bells into wedding hell?

We can't get those memories. You won't be able to video that again.

The sheriffs invite him to speak now or forever hold his peace.

We're in. Thank you very much.

We're now going to do a diligent search of the property, because we've gained peaceful entry.

Cleaner Michael Martin

won an employment tribunal after being unfairly dismissed,

but still hasn't been given any of the money he was awarded.

I was getting no closer. Christmas was coming. I had to cancel Christmas for my kids.

When it comes to getting his money, can the sheriffs clean up?

If we don't seize goods here today, we are in contempt of court.

With her husband away fighting in Afghanistan,

Louise Oakley-Green had to find and buy a new family car on her own.

But she was sold a faulty Ford

and the company she bought it from wouldn't refund her.

It has been one of the most stressful periods in my entire life.

This experience, I would not wish on my worst enemy.

The High Court Enforcement Office

has despatched sheriffs Kev McNally and Lawrence Grix to Birmingham.

A court of law decided that the bosses at a cleaning company

unfairly dismissed one of their staff.

The company still hasn't paid their former employee

the thousands of pounds he is owed.

We've got the judgement against them

and the total debt we're after is just under £13,000.

The sheriffs are their client's last hope of getting his money.

The man they're on their way to help is father-of-four Michael Martin.

He got a job as a cleaner at a company called Globe Cleaning and Maintenance Ltd.

He was soon promoted to contract manager. It was a job he loved.

They say you don't live to work, but I did for that company. I travelled the country for them.

I even pushed my kids and my wife to one side

because I thought more of the company than I did of them,

and it was wrong.

He worked all hours of the day and night to raise money for his family.

I was working 17, 18 hours a day, seven days a week, without fail.

I was always working. I never turned nothing down.

But despite his hard work, after three-and-a-half years at the company,

he was fired without, in his opinion, being given adequate reasons why.

They wanted to get rid of me. They pushed me out the door.

They said, "That's the way. I ain't having none of you no more.

"Over the last year..." I said, "Hang on. Over a year? You've never had me in the office

"and all of a sudden, you're telling me I'm out the door?"

With four children and a wife relying on his income,

losing his job was devastating for Michael.

I was really, really gutted.

It really hurt me to think all what I put in, just took away from me. It was like they just stood on me.

You've debt coming from everywhere and you're trying to juggle this little bit of money

and it ain't happening. I was just...

I don't know where to turn, what to do.

I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul and then the debt letters come in.

It just builds up and up and up and it's just horrible.

Despite getting a new job as a window cleaner, Michael wasn't going to take his dismissal lying down.

He decided to take Globe Cleaning and Maintenance to an employment tribunal.

I just didn't think what they done to me was fair

and I wouldn't let them get away with it.

It was a real challenge, as Michael has severe difficulties reading and writing.

Unable to afford a solicitor, he chose to represent himself.

I went in the courtroom, stood on my own two feet

and I wouldn't let them win, no matter what happened.

After what they'd done to me, I just...

Everything he chucked at me, I kept fighting back.

During all this, Michael then had to cope with the death of his wife's mother.

With no money, they were unable to afford a funeral

and had to borrow from relatives to give her an appropriate send-off,

plunging them further into debt.

And that's how it is.

Globe Cleaning and Maintenance attended the tribunal and contested Michael's case.

But despite having to represent himself, Michael still won his claim for unfair dismissal.

He was awarded £10,969 in compensation.

When he awarded it and he said the figure and that,

I just walked out the courtroom

and I just punched my hands in the air, "Yes, I've done it."

But despite his tribunal ruling,

Globe Cleaning and Maintenance wouldn't pay up.

It was just dragging on and dragging on.

I was getting no closer.

Christmas was coming. I had to cancel Christmas for my kids.

And after Christmas, I just decided myself,

"I need to go to a solicitor and get help from them."

The solicitor called in the help of the sheriffs.

They are Michael's last resort if he's to get any of the money he's owed.

And it's Lawrence and Kev who have been tasked with enforcing Michael's writ,

which, with costs and interest, now comes to nearly £13,000.

The sheriffs have reached their destination.

There it is. Go in these gates here.

That's the building. It's still got it on the front, with the bricked-up entrance.

But a bricked-up company office is not what the sheriffs are looking for.

Is Globe Cleaning and Maintenance still trading?

Either way, Lawrence is already eyeing up potential seizure targets.

They've got loads of vehicles outside.

There's definitely business activity in the yard behind.

Are you all right there, mate? Have you got Globe Cleaning?

-They're not here any more.

-They're not here.

-Nah.

That was their office, wasn't it?

Although the sign says Globe, the business moved out some time ago.

But the sheriffs don't give up easily.

Lawrence and Kev are determined to track the debtors down.

-You don't know where they've gone?

-I don't know the new address. All I know is Fordhouse Lane.

Lawrence!

Thanks for your help. Cheers, man.

So it's back in the van for Lawrence and Kev.

The premises are completely empty. The sign's up, but that's about it.

But we've have managed to obtain

a partial address for their new premises, five miles away,

which is in Fordhouse Lane, also in Birmingham.

So we've managed to find Fordhouse Lane on the sat-nav, although we don't know a number.

So we're going to have a look. It's only five miles down the road.

We might as well go there anyway

because we are allowed to go to any address in England and Wales

where we believe the defendant might have assets.

Sheriffs have been enforcing writs since Saxon times.

These days, a High Court writ costs £60.

If the sheriffs are successful in getting the cash owed,

there's nothing more for their client to pay.

If not, with most writs, there's just a £60 admin fee.

With employment tribunals, there's no fee at all.

Lawrence and Kev have arrived.

It looks like they've tracked Globe down.

The company's vans are in the car park.

This is Barn Close. That's what we thought was residential.

Well, I'll be jiggered.

That's it. Block that in. That's all marked up.

The sheriffs need to work fast.

They block the company van in, in case they need to seize it to clear the debt to Michael.

Try and get out quick. They've clocked us.

They might've shut that door on us.

Hello there. Looking for Globe Cleaning and Maintenance.

-Globe Services.

-Not Globe Cleaning and Maintenance?

-Because this is the registered address.

-Globe Services.

An employee at the address says that the Globe cleaning company he works for

is completely different to the Globe cleaning company that the sheriffs are after.

But Lawrence isn't buying it.

I'm here to execute a High Court writ against Globe Cleaning and Maintenance Company Ltd.

This is the registered office.

We're here to seize company assets from Globe Cleaning and Maintenance

to the tune of just under £13,000.

It doesn't matter who's here,

because the writ is against the company, not the director.

We're here to seize goods to that value today.

The employee suggests they talk inside.

The company front door is as far as our cameras are allowed.

Lawrence's conversation with the Globe employee continues behind closed doors.

15 minutes later and the conversation doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

The employee continues to insist it's a different company,

but Lawrence has his doubts.

We had sufficient reason to believe that Globe Cleaning and Maintenance

does have assets at this address.

There's all the accreditations on the wall

and things for Globe Cleaning and Maintenance Company Ltd.

Finally, Lawrence's firm-but-fair approach seems to be working.

One of the company directors is put on the phone to him.

Your colleague's reading the writ where it orders us,

if we don't seize goods today, we are in contempt of court

because we have a High Court writ ordering us to come here and seize goods.

We're not breaking the law, sir. You've got your opinion and I know exactly where I stand.

I've got a writ that tells your colleagues where I stand on this.

While Lawrence continues his battle on Michael's behalf,

Kev decides to raise the stakes.

He notes the details of the vehicles outside the office.

If no payment's forthcoming today, the sheriffs will seize them for auction to pay off the debt.

Any car or van owned by the company is fair game.

Kev listing the vehicles in the car park

and Lawrence's forensic analysis of the paperwork in the office

seem to have done the trick.

The employer's liability insurance and all the certificates on the wall

were all in the name of Globe Cleaning and Maintenance Ltd,

so I seized everything on the premises.

The directors weren't there. One was skiing somewhere

and the other was down in London for the day.

We seized everything and the director authorised a payment to be made.

He gave somebody his PIN number for his online account

and they transferred the full balance of £12,982.49 into our account.

So it was a Paid In Full.

It's a great result for Lawrence and Kev.

Their persistence paid off.

And it's wonderful news for Michael and his family.

Thanks to the sheriffs, they will be receiving a hefty cheque soon.

Any member of the public

chasing court-awarded debts of over £600

can escalate their writ to the High Court.

But that's the easy bit.

Mike Aynsley is a director of one of Britain's largest

High Court enforcement agencies.

The easiest thing in this whole system is to get a judgement.

Getting your money is the hardest.

A judge will say, "OK, you owe the money,"

and most claimants think, "I've got the money," but all they've got is a judgement.

Which is where the sheriffs come in.

They are tasked with making sure money awarded by courts

goes to the people that deserve it.

I have a High Court writ, OK, which orders me to come here

and seize goods to the value of this debt.

Sheriffs have more powers than bailiffs

to enter properties and seize goods to auction to pay off the debts.

Wherever there's a defendant, there's a claimant.

The claimant, more often, needs the money

and they have just as much right to that money.

Much of the hard work takes place back in the office

where writs are received, investigated and then distributed to the sheriffs.

If it's a commercial property, we can force entry to levy, if necessary.

There are over ten companies licensed to carry out enforcement work in England and Wales.

They execute over 70,000 writs a year,

retrieving millions of pounds for members of the public.

What we're after are the Won't Pays.

These are the people that most people get upset with.

And this High Court enforcement office

has just been called by someone who has good reason to be upset.

When you think back to your wedding, it's hopefully with nothing but happy memories.

For Randeep Desai, however, that's not the case.

She was left heartbroken and out of pocket

after coming into contact with a woeful wedding photographer.

Following a whirlwind engagement,

she and husband-to-be Amardeep were planning a traditional two-day Sikh extravaganza.

Hopes and expectations were very high.

It was something that we'd planned for over a year. It's very special.

It's a day that you won't get again.

And when it came to picking a wedding photographer,

Randeep wanted someone who'd fit the bill.

It's important that they understand the Sikh ceremony,

so somebody that's done a Sikh ceremony before is ideal.

I had a look around, friends recommended a few people.

There were some renowned ones, but they were really pricey.

My sister's friend recommended Kash.

Kash Mohammed ran a wedding photography business in East London.

I went over to have a look at his work. It was really good.

I decided to go with Kash on that basis.

And in this case, Kash cost cash. And lots of it.

Randeep was due to pay him £3,300 in total,

for which he'd give her a DVD of the wedding

and two copies of a 60-page storybook wedding album

shot by a professional photographer, hired for the occasion.

The price also included a pre-wedding shoot with a professional photographer

in a location of the couple's choice.

Randeep wanted hers amongst the world-famous landmarks of Central London.

The day before we were scheduled to have our pre-wedding shoot, Kash got in contact

and he said that my photographer wasn't going to be able to make it

so he was going to do the photography himself.

I wanted to confirm whether it was still in Central London.

I wanted to have the iconic wheel and the Tower Bridge

and things that really kind of centre on London and what it is.

Instead, he asked us to come to Brixton!

I was like, "OK. It's not really what we planned out."

But he was quite insistent, so I kind of agreed reluctantly.

The shoot itself was supposed to last half a day,

but Kash rushed it through in 45 minutes.

Despite this, Randeep felt it was too late to change wedding photographer.

The special day came

and the wedding itself was everything Randeep had hoped for.

The wedding was really good. It went way too fast.

Almost a blur. But it was really nice.

It started at four in the morning

and didn't finish until 10, 11 at night.

-But we had fun.

-It was great.

The wedding finished,

Randeep was shown the photos shot by the professional photographer

and picked the 150 she wanted.

She then waited patiently for her wedding albums and DVD.

Very patiently.

A full year and a half after the ceremony,

she finally received a disc of the wedding album.

When I opened up the post and got what I did,

it was very disappointing.

They didn't include any photos

by the professional photographer that Kash had hired for the day

because he hadn't paid him.

The only pictures were the ones taken by Kash himself.

The album didn't include the pictures I had chosen.

There were 40 pages instead of 60

and it was haphazard, just put together.

There was no thought into it whatsoever.

It was just a horrible album to look at.

And the DVD was a video nasty.

It had a lot of jolty moments,

there was a lot of repeat editing.

There was a lot of moments, like when I came into the temple,

he had me coming in twice, so he's obviously not edited it.

I'm not sure whether you're familiar with Sikh ceremonies,

but you have to go around the Holy Book four times.

He had me going around about seven or eight.

It was just a farce.

A lot of takes of people's backs,

a lot of hand-shaking...

It's just not nice to watch.

You put so much faith in somebody.

There was a lot of family that couldn't come

so they've been asking my mum for the video.

I couldn't give it to them at the standard that he gave me.

It was too poor.

On his website, he talks about it being a privilege

to share such an important day with somebody,

but then carelessly discarded all of that,

had no thought to it, just trampled on your memories.

You can't get those memories.

You won't be able to video that again.

Appalled by what she'd received,

Randeep demanded the professional photos

in the display album she'd been promised. Nothing came.

She demanded her money back, but received none of that either.

At her wits' end, Randeep took Kash to the Small Claims Court.

He admitted liability and agreed to pay her back the money,

but Randeep hasn't received a penny.

With nothing left to lose, she's had to turn to the sheriffs.

I don't want this to happen to anybody else.

It's a horrible experience. Really, really horrible.

It's a rainy morning in East London

and Sheriffs Marc and Lawrence have promised to get Randeep her money back.

They're on their way to a certain wedding photographer's registered business address,

which they suspect is also his home.

We're off to see Kashif Mohammed in East London, in E6.

Erm...

He owes £3,314.

The sheriffs arrive

and head straight for the front door.

Morning. I'm after Kashif Mohammed.

The man says Kash Mohammed no longer lives there.

He's not sure when he moved out, but it's the third time someone's come looking for him.

He's adamant that he is not Kash Mohammed.

But to eliminate him from the writ, Marc asks him to show them some photo ID.

I'm just going to go and have a look round the side.

While they wait for him to find some ID,

Lawrence wants to check on something.

He's heard that Kash Mohammed has a photographic studio somewhere on site,

full of potentially seizable equipment,

which would more than cover his debt.

There's definitely something in the extension at the back

but Lawrence can't see exactly what.

To seize any of it, he's got to get access to it.

But as it's a residential property,

he can't force entry.

He can, however, enter peacefully if a door or window is left open.

There's lights on in the extension.

-Is there?

-I wonder if it's not separate...

It could be, couldn't it?

While the man's still searching for his ID,

Marc and Lawrence are forced to wait outside.

I'm glad I put my thermal vest on!

The man returns with his driving licence, proving he's not Kash Mohammed.

I've not seen one of these before,

these chip-and-PIN driving licences.

They're still having trouble establishing Kash's connection to the house,

whether he owns it, or anything else inside

that the sheriffs could seize to pay back Randeep.

They ask for the owner and the man agrees to fetch her.

He says she's called Mrs Mohammed, but is no relation to Kash.

Hiya. When did you buy the property?

Did you buy it off Mr Mohammed or...?

Mrs Mohammed says Kash is her husband

but that they are separated and that he moved out six or seven years ago.

So Mrs Mohammed is related to Kash.

Someone's been misleading the sheriffs.

And Lawrence is suspicious about some of the other things he's been told.

We've got a judgement against him from a claim which is within the time that he's left,

with him operating a photographic studio from these premises.

Are you happy for us to come in and check that there is no photographic studio at the back of the property?

I'm not trying to be pushy about it.

Mrs Mohammed is not happy about them entering her property.

But while she goes off to contact her solicitor,

she leaves the front door unattended.

It's all the opportunity Lawrence needs to enter the house

to see whether there's a studio there.

We're in.

Thank you very much.

We're going to do a diligent search of the property, because we gained peaceful entry.

High Court enforcement officers

are entitled to enter a residential property named in a writ,

as long as they don't force their way in.

In this case, it's Lawrence's last resort

if he's to get Randeep back some money.

Unhappy about having Marc and Lawrence in the house,

the family calls the police.

As expected, they confirm that Marc and Lawrence are within their right in entering.

After a lengthy search, the sheriffs emerge

and they've got good news.

They were reluctant to let us in the garden,

so I started searching drawers and cupboards for keys, which they weren't happy about.

And from the other side of the room, I saw about three or four millimetres of key

sticking off the top of a high shelf.

Reached up and there was the bunch of keys.

Out into the back door, into the conservatory affair,

opened that and there was a 20-foot by 15-foot photographic studio,

with Apple computers in it, erm,

a tower unit for burning CDs and DVDs.

So we've seized everything and got a walk-in possession on it.

Also, there was ID for the defendant in there,

obviously where he's been doing photographic work, so we took a photo of that.

So it ties him to the property.

The threat of Lawrence's paper seizure of her husband's assets

persuaded Mrs Mohammed to pay in full.

It's nice to get a Paid In Full under your belt first thing in the day.

It was a residential job, which are harder to get into, anyway,

but we did manage to gain peaceful entry,

seized sufficient goods to cover the debt and got a payment.

That's about as good as it gets, really, for a residential.

The £3,314

will go some way to consoling Randeep for her tarnished wedding memories,

thanks in no small part to the sheriffs.

Mrs Mohammed maintains that she does not know where her former husband is

and she only paid the debt to prevent the sheriffs from taking further action.

Sheriffs Kev and Lawrence are driving to a car dealer in Warwickshire.

A member of the public took the dealer to court over a faulty car.

The dealer didn't attend and the member of the public was awarded judgement.

We've got a writ to enforce against a car dealer, Universal Motor Co.

I would expect that they'll have plenty of stock,

so I would hope that we would get a result on this one.

We're aiming to get there for 9am, when they're likely to be open.

The sheriffs arrive and head in.

Morning, gents.

Are either of you the owner at all? No? I'll show you some ID.

My name's Mr Grix. I'm an enforcement officer.

I'm here to execute a High Court writ.

Are you able to get the guv'nor on the phone at all?

While they wait to hear from the owner,

Lawrence starts writing down details of the cars in the showroom.

If there's no payment today, he will be looking to seize cars

with a view to auctioning them to pay off the debt.

With two sheriffs on his premises,

unsurprisingly, the owner is soon taking an interest.

I fully understand what you're saying,

but it has been transferred to the High Court.

We are here today to seize goods.

You would need to prove that, sir.

The owner argues that the cars don't belong to the company, so can't be seized.

He says he's selling them on behalf of other owners.

He suggests Lawrence rings up the owners direct.

A phone number and me speaking to somebody on the phone doesn't do anything.

I would need to see purchase paperwork for the vehicles.

You need to get in touch with the person who has and they need to bring the paperwork here.

The owner says he's on his way down.

Bye-bye.

Lawrence goes on the hunt for paperwork

that might show who the cars do belong to.

His High Court writ entitles him to look for evidence relating to the company named in it.

He's, erm, apparently getting the, erm,

the person who buys the vehicles in their name to come down with the purchase paperwork.

This is the sale paperwork.

But not everyone is as clued up on sheriffs' rights as Lawrence.

-Are you allowed to go through all of that?

-Yes, we are indeed.

-All my personal stuff?

-Your personal desk.

-You work here?

-Yes.

-What's your role?

-Car sales.

-So, this is your personal piece of paper?

-Yes.

-Nothing to do with Universal Motor Co?

-It's my personal work.

But it's not your personal work if you work for the company.

It... No.

-We do...

-Have you come here to seize vehicles?

-Yes. We do a diligent search...

-Yes.

You can see that piece of paper. That's fine.

No, we do a diligent search of the paperwork

to get evidence either way

of what company's trading here, what trading names are.

So we're looking for any paperwork

with regards to when the cars are bought in and when they're sold back out.

Lawrence returns to his search.

Soon after, the man he spoke to on the phone arrives.

-Are you the owner? Are you the guy I spoke to?

-I am.

-Right.

At this point, our cameras are asked to leave the garage.

Lawrence continues his discussions with the owner behind closed doors.

Kev conspicuously sizes up the vehicles outside

and it's led to a breakthrough.

Lawrence has got some of the cash owed.

We made the best of what could've been a bad job.

We collected £2,000 in cash on that job,

which is over two-thirds of the outstanding debt.

What the gentleman was saying was,

all the vehicles were on sale or returned from other dealers,

other people he knows, and they were getting the paperwork together

to come round with that to prove that he didn't own any of the vehicles there.

That was going to take some time,

probably two or three hours before they could get there with the paperwork.

All that would've done is clock up two or three hours' worth of waiting time added on to the bill.

If they turned up with the paperwork, we wouldn't have had anything to seize anyway,

so it just seems prudent to take the £2,000 in cash.

He signed a walk-in possession agreement.

He's going to get the paperwork over to the office to prove none of the stock is his

and then pay the balance by the end of next week.

£2,000 out of £2,800 owed, with more promised,

is a solid result for the sheriffs on a tricky mission.

With nothing more to do, they pack up and head off.

Another person that's had to turn to the sheriffs for help

is Louise Oakley-Green.

There's nothing on that side.

Living in a small Wiltshire village, and with three young children,

a car is essential for her to get around.

So when her car irretrievably broke down,

she needed to get a replacement in a hurry.

We decided to treat ourselves to a new car because we couldn't live without one.

We started looking around for a big family car.

I started looking on the internet to see where locally had those in stock,

second-hand to buy.

Louise's husband Stuart is a British Army soldier

serving in Afghanistan,

so she had enough to worry about.

With Stuart away, Louise had to sort the car purchase all on her own.

Online, she found a Ford Galaxy for sale at a local garage,

Edwards Car Company Ltd.

The car that I found at Edwards did tick all of the boxes.

It drove beautifully, took it for a test drive.

The guys at the garage seemed honest and nice.

Loving the car, Louise agreed a price of £5,300

and, with her husband's approval by email from Afghanistan,

paid up for it.

But it wasn't long before things started to go wrong.

I drove the car back to my mum's house

to go and show it off

and immediately, I went to lock the car with the key fob

and the remote central locking wasn't working,

which I thought was really strange because it wasn't something they'd pointed out to me.

As far as I was aware, everything was working on the car.

And the problems didn't stop there.

Within days of realising the central locking wasn't working,

the internal door lock failed, as well.

Louise complained and the garage agreed to try and fix them,

but without success.

The car went into the garage a couple of times

for a day at a time.

Each time the car went in,

I received it back still not working

and they basically said to me

that they would have to have it in again.

And worse was to come. Two weeks after buying the car,

and with the locking issue still unresolved, there was a problem with the gearbox.

Reverse gear couldn't be used, making the car unfit for the road.

Louise phoned Edwards Car Company, who told her to bring it back for fixing.

With reverse gear not working, I really started becoming concerned for the safety of me and the kids

when we were driving around.

I spoke to Edwards Car Company a number of times,

a number of times I didn't receive phone calls back from them.

They said that they promised to do the work.

Over two months after buying the car,

Louise agreed to let Edwards try and fix it for the third time

on the basis that they do it within two weeks

and she be given a courtesy car as a replacement.

But after the fortnight was up, Edwards still hadn't fixed the Galaxy.

At this point, I was feeling really angry. I'd just had enough.

I didn't want the car any more, I didn't trust Edwards Car Company,

I didn't trust the work that was being done.

They sent me a loan car after two weeks

and I didn't even trust the loan car.

I didn't want anything to do with them any more.

I had had enough.

Louise wrote to Edwards explaining she no longer wanted the car

and demanding full refund.

Edwards' response was to attempt to redeliver the car

with a refitted gearbox.

But Louise had had enough.

She refused to take delivery of the car and shut the door.

Five minutes later, he posted the keys through the letterbox

and basically forced delivery of the Galaxy onto me.

I didn't believe that they had done that.

I didn't know where I stood, I didn't know what to do

and I then had the car back that I didn't want.

Louise decided she had no choice but to take legal action.

Six months after she bought the Galaxy,

she went to the County Court.

Edwards didn't attend and the court awarded in Louise's favour,

but it's not been the end of her ordeal.

As a family, it's been a huge burden.

It has been one of the most stressful periods in my entire life.

There's lots of things I've done, like buying a house,

moving, having children,

this experience, I would not wish on my worst enemy.

A month after her court award, Louise is still stuck with the car she doesn't want

and hasn't received a penny from Edwards.

With nowhere else to turn, she's come to the sheriffs for help.

If I did get the money back,

it'll mean that we can actually...

..go out and buy the family car that we were dreaming of.

And tasked with making that dream come true

are sheriffs Marc Newton and Kev McNally.

We're off to a village in Wiltshire

for a company called Edwards Car Company.

They owe just over £6,300.

I had a quick look on the internet and they seem to still be trading,

so, hopefully, we'll catch someone in there today and get this dealt with.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their line of work,

Marc and Kev are no strangers to the second-hand car market.

Sometimes they don't take too kindly to us.

It's just one of those things, unfortunately.

We'll be there and they're not going to get rid of us that easy, so we'll see how they are.

They may be fine. It may be an oversight on their behalf

and they might just pay us and we might go.

But I'm not counting on that, to be honest.

It's not long before they find Edwards Car Company's car yard.

They head in, writ in hand.

Is it here? Looks like it's here.

A High Court writ has been issued for Edwards Car Company Limited.

The first person they meet doesn't seem too keen on talking to them.

But soon after, another member of staff arrives to see what he can do.

-Has payment got to be made or...?

-Payment's got to be made, yes.

-How much is it?

-£6,332.

-£6,300.

At this point, our camera operator is asked to leave.

Marc and Kev's presence seems to have an effect.

The man agrees to try and arrange a payment.

It has to be paid while we're here. Are you on the Faster Transfer system?

The account number is at the bottom there. That one there.

Marc then takes a call from a senior member of the Edwards staff.

It looks like the sheriffs have made significant progress today.

I just spoke to some lady, she didn't give her name,

but she said she would pay the money into our bank.

It seems a bit too good to be true at the moment, so we'll hang on

and give them 45 minutes to see whether they get to the bank.

She said she's by a bank at the moment, but she's got to go home.

Then we'll start geeing them up a bit

and if the payment hasn't gone in,

start chasing them up and see where they are.

With the money hopefully on its way, Marc and Kev decide to wait

until they get word the transfer's complete.

-We'll give them till half 11 and we'll start geeing up.

-Yes.

Money transfers can fail to clear.

If this happens, the sheriffs will be forced to seize some of the vehicles onsite.

While they wait to find out,

Marc and Kev take the opportunity to browse the goods on display.

They also take a personal interest.

I can get the kids in that, as well.

It's the same money. It's not as good a spec, though, is it?

-I can see you razzing around in a hot hatch!

-They're big-boy hatches, aren't they?!

The sheriffs don't have to wait long.

A few minutes later, the transfer goes through,

meaning Louise will definitely be getting her money.

That was a good result for us.

Was in there just over the hour, collected £6,332.

We're happy, the claimant will be happy.

It was a good day's work, to be honest.

A good day's work for Marc and an even better day for Louise.

She's got the money she's owed, in full,

thanks to the sheriffs.

It's a month since Lawrence and Marc visited the home of Mrs Mohammed.

Randeep and Amardeep have received all the money they were owed.

They recovered my money. I'm just waiting for the funds to clear.

We've lots to look forward to. We've a baby on the way.

In a couple of months,

we can start taking our own pictures.

The sheriffs' visit to Globe Cleaning and Maintenance Ltd clearly did the trick.

Michael's received full payment.

And since Marc and Kev managed to get Louise's money back from Edwards Car Company,

she's had another piece of good news.

Her husband is back, safe and sound,

from his tour of duty in Afghanistan.

I couldn't believe that they'd been able to collect the full amount

after all the hassle that I'd gone through since June.

I'm really happy with the outcome.

Former office manager Shelley was sacked by text.

She won a tribunal, but never got the compensation.

At one point, I seemed to have everything and the next, I was left with nothing.

Can the sheriffs put that right?

Steve Knock had always dreamed of buying a boat,

but when he finally got one, it became a nautical nightmare.

He took the company which sold him the faulty vessel to court

and got an out-of-court settlement,

but still hasn't got his money.

The sheriffs try to pay them a visit.

Every asset on these premises is now seized.

And this garage sold a car for a customer,

but didn't give him the cash they got for it.

The sheriffs go to the garage to get the customer what he's owed,

but they get a frosty reception.

If you try and shut me in here by pulling the shutter down,

that's an arrestable offence. I'm just warning you.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd