Episode 11 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the Sheriffs...

-We're High Court Enforcement Officers.

We're here today to execute a High Court writ.

..they're the men whose job it is to get you your money back...

It's an arrestable offence to stop me doing my job.

..if you've been ripped off and don't know where to turn...

I'm not waiting any more!

I'm ordered to seize goods to clear this debt,

which would mean clearing this place out.

If you've been to court but still not been paid what you're owed...

Why don't you just tell me who you are?

This is an absolute crock. You need to pay this.

..the High Court Enforcement Officers

are charged, by law, to recover what a court says is rightfully yours.

I've seized your car, sir.

-You can have a letter through the door, or we'll go through the window.

-Whoa, whoa.

-It's time to call...the Sheriffs!

-Collected 42 grand.

Coming up...

the owner of this pub's lost it to squatters.

Can the Sheriffs get the uninvited guests out

and the rightful owner back in?

Enforcement Officers!

Up to the first floor.

Matthew McWilliams wasn't paid over £600 of wages

by a holiday company...

I knew they owed me that money, there was no way out of it.

..can the Sheriffs get him back what he's owed?

'I'm here to seize assets,'

and the only way to prevent further action is to pay in full.

Tom Sumner bought a top of the range car as a retirement present,

but it ended up costing him over £1,700 for major repairs.

It was just an utter and complete shambles.

Can the Sheriffs get his money back?

Today, the Sheriffs are on a different type of job...

evicting squatters.

In the high-pressure world of London's property market,

accommodation is in demand as never before,

but the flip side of the housing shortage

has been a rise in squatting.

In September last year, the law changed,

making squatting in residential properties a criminal offence,

but not in commercial ones,

where landlords still have to go through the courts

to get an eviction.

So squatters have started moving into an increasing number

of empty business premises,

and today, Sheriffs Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally

are in West London to deal with just such a case.

We've got a writ of possession for a pub called The Cross Keys,

just off Cheyne Walk.

It's six o'clock in the morning, and we're going in now.

Andrew Bourne's loss-making pub has been shut for six months,

but four weeks ago, some uninvited guests moved in.

So Mr Bourne has obtained a Writ of Possession,

and it's now Lawrence and Kev's job, with four colleagues,

to remove the squatters and return the pub to him.

There are people up, there's lights on, erm...

it shouldn't be any problems, but you never know.

Erm, we'll be splitting up into teams, covering different floors.

First of all, they need to gain entry,

as the squatters have changed the locks.

They've brought a locksmith with them,

but once they do get in,

they've no idea who or what they'll find inside.

THEY WHISPER

The first door they open only leads to a storage area.

'We're just trying to get in at the moment,'

because we've got into one door

to find it's just a little... block room.

There's absolutely nothing in there.

Little, sort of, five foot square room,

so they're using the door next to it.

So that's where the going in now.

This is going to make a bit more noise now.

Lawrence calls for a more traditional means

of opening the door...

..a crowbar.

There you go.

It's coming. It's coming.

And they're in...

..but a third door stands between the Sheriffs

and the inside of the pub.

Time for the crowbar again.

Enforcement Officers!

Torch - who's got a torch?

Up to the first floor. First floor.

Enforcement Officers!

The Sheriffs spread out -

they need to check every room to see what's inside...

-Got anyone there?

-Yeah, got two up here.

..and it's not long before they find what they were looking for...

..two squatters illegally occupying someone else's property

and enjoying its comforts.

The television's on, and they've made themselves at home.

They leave quickly and don't put up a fight.

The Sheriffs' job now is to secure the premises

and check the rest of the building for any other squatters

that might need removing.

No, not at the moment, because Andy's outside keeping them out,

because there's someone out already.

So we'll work our way downstairs systematically

and we'll do the basement in a sec.

And they soon find the pub's most recent patrons

have left something more sinister for them...

a booby trap attached to the door,

meant to bring down boxes of glasses onto anyone entering.

Open the door up, then it pulls on the back and the glasses come down.

It turns out the Sheriffs had a closer shave than they realised.

We'll just check out the loo and then we'll check out the basement.

As a large Victorian premises, with three floors, a loft, cellar

and extensive kitchen facilities, a lot of ground needs covering.

They make their way to the basement, the last part they haven't checked.

Luckily, the other squatters that were in the building

have already vacated it.

-There's definitely been a lot more here, though.

-Oh, yeah.

Just, at the moment, there's only two of them, so...

It seems advanced word of the impending eviction

has scared the majority of squatters away.

The owner's now on site

and takes his time inspecting every room of his property.

-Two.

-There were two?

-We were expecting a lot more.

I escorted them out when they got to the ground floor,

but they didn't say anything to me. They just walked past.

The pub has been left in a mess,

with food and drink detritus everywhere,

and the office room a shambles,

but the building is mercifully free of graffiti and structural damage.

I think the original ones might have gone...

once they knew the writ had been obtained,

cos there was a notice saying, "We'll only go under a Writ of Possession."

The pub used to be frequented by everyone,

from Charles Dickens and the painter Turner,

to Bob Marley and Kate Middleton,

but its most recent patrons left a less elegant legacy.

-Where's Andy?

-All right?

-You got a job, mate.

-What are we doing?

-Changing the locks.

-Oh, right! OK.

New locks are put in, and this time,

it will only be the owner, Andrew Bourne, that has the keys to them.

For him, it's a welcome relief to finally get his pub back.

'It's been a long ordeal,'

but we're just very pleased

to finally get rid of the squatters in the pub.

It would be beneficial to commercial property owners like ourselves

to have the law on our side,

which currently it isn't, it's a civil matter currently,

which we'd prefer it were a criminal matter.

The whole thing might have been an ordeal for the owner,

but for Lawrence, it's a job well done.

'It all went very easily, very smoothly.'

Once we were in there, there were two guys on the first floor, and that was it.

So we all went to different floors and we only found two...

and they just walked out.

Been loads of people in there.

I mean, there's actually still alcohol in there,

there's still a pump working, on the ground floor,

so we could have found a load of semiconscious drunks in there, to be fair!

But you can never knock it when it goes smoothly and easily, no.

'No hassle and no injuries is the main thing.'

-Happy for us to go now?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-Brilliant, thanks a lot.

-Thank you very much.

-Know where we are if you need us again.

-Sure.

-Come on, then, chaps.

Let's go and find a cafe.

With that, it's job done for the Sheriffs.

This property at least has been returned to its rightful owner,

but no-one knows which building the squatters will choose

as their next residence.

This morning, Sheriffs Lawrence and Kev are in Hertfordshire,

en route to a travel company

who haven't paid a former member of staff the wages he's entitled to.

We're coming into St Albans.

We're looking for a company called Mediterranean Leisure Group.

Hopefully, being a company, they'll be open,

cos it's just coming up to nine o'clock,

and they'll have some assets there.

The people they're trying to help are father and son

Lawrence and Matthew McWilliams, from Yorkshire.

Their problems began when, after completing his studies,

Matthew decided to pursue his dream of working as a ski instructor

in the Alps for a season.

'I started skiing when I was eight.

'It really is something I care about,'

so as soon as I had the chance to leave university,

I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

For years, Matthew had looked forward to a winter working the slopes,

but instead, it's left him owed money,

fighting through the courts and relying on the Sheriffs for justice

after he took a job with a company he quickly came to regret.

Matthew's search for a ski season job

brought him to a company called Ski Snowcoach,

specialising in winter sports holidays.

It seemed exactly what he'd been looking for.

It would be me just skiing from nine till five,

with meeting new people every week, which I enjoy.

So, for me, it was a perfect job.

Matthew excitedly accepted a contract

through a company called Mediterranean Leisure Group Ltd.

He was to be a guide for a full season

at one of Ski Snowcoach's French mountain resorts.

The company provided free coach travel to France

and a ten-day training camp for new staff,

which Matthew found an enjoyable way of breaking the ice

with his new colleagues.

Just being around people my age,

learning new tricks to guiding, about my new job, I really enjoyed it.

With training complete,

he arrived at the resort ready for work to begin,

but as the season got underway,

Matthew quickly found himself under considerable pressure

from having to deal with the complaints of customers

unhappy with the resort.

'All the problems had been put on me,'

and I felt I was having to come up with excuses

for a company that I'd only been working for a week.

Back in England, dad Lawrence soon became concerned

his son's job wasn't what he'd hoped for.

I don't think he wanted to tell us how bad it was,

and none of us wanted to say,

"Well, actually, this dream opportunity

"is turning into a nightmare."

After three gruelling, unhappy months at the resort,

Matthew had had enough.

At that point, I could see that,

I mean, I didn't want to be part of this.

I didn't enjoy working for the company,

so I handed in my notice, which I was happy to see out,

because it was part of a contract of employment.

Matthew worked his full three-week notice period

before returning to the UK.

He then called the company's head office to chase up his final wages

and was reassured these would soon be paid,

but despite making several further calls,

the money he was owed never arrived.

At this point, he went to dad Lawrence to discuss his options.

It may been a bad experience, but...I worked my notice,

I did everything I needed to do, so I knew that they owed me that money.

There was no way out of it, really.

It started to become more of a just a fact that

I wanted to bring this to justice.

So we looked at the next step,

which was going to the employment tribunal and starting claims.

Both Mediterranean Leisure Group

and Ski Snowcoach share the same managing director, David Stewart.

With his dad's help, Matthew took Mediterranean Leisure to court.

When Mr Stewart failed to contest the case,

a judge ruled Mediterranean Leisure must pay Matthew

the £647 wages he was owed.

However, the company still failed to pay.

Now Matthew's last hope of seeing the money he worked hard to earn

rests with the Sheriffs.

But already things aren't going according to plan.

Lawrence is having to take on this enforcement as a one-man band.

Had to leave Kev in the van, in a petrol station,

cos there's nowhere to park.

Bit of a walk today.

Sheriffs have the right, when necessary,

to force entry to commercial premises,

but they like to try a more straightforward approach first.

Hello, I'm looking for Mediterranean Leisure Group.

My name's Mr Grix, I'm an Enforcement Officer.

Would you like to send somebody down to speak to me?

A man answers the intercom and confirms

this is where Mediterranean Leisure Group is based.

It's nice that I've got an admission that it was them.

Hello, there. I'll just show you some ID.

-As I said, Mr Grix, Enforcement Officer.

-OK, sure.

I've got a High Court writ to execute today

against Mediterranean Leisure Group.

OK.

So I'm here to seize assets to the value of £1,425.73.

OK.

-And the only way to prevent further action is to pay in full.

-OK, sure...

Is there someone here to pay that?

Well, it would be the managing director.

He's not in yet, he's due in any moment.

Right...

-I can get you to come in and sit down, maybe?

-Yeah, sure.

It makes a nice change to be invited in.

Given a number of other companies are trading from the same address,

this is a positive start for Lawrence,

who now knows he's in the right place

to collect the money owed to Matthew McWilliams.

Now Lawrence wants to talk to the boss.

Can you get him on the phone, just to see where he is,

cos, obviously, there's so much traffic out there.

He won't answer his phone while he's driving.

Oh, he's not got Bluetooth?

The male employee disappears upstairs to the main office,

leaving Lawrence with free rein to size up the assets in reception.

I don't know where he went.

-Hello, can I help you at all?

-Hello, there.

His exploring is interrupted by another member of staff

who says the company he's after isn't based in the building.

This contradicts what he's already been told.

Mediterranean Leisure Group are here

because the gentleman who answered the intercom to me

said, "Yes, that's us."

So I need to seize all goods within the premises

until it's proven who owns them.

Unconvinced, Lawrence follows the woman upstairs,

to the main office area.

He isn't prepared to waste any time

and gets on with listing all the goods in the office

for potential seizure...

but it's not getting the usual reaction...

..no-one seems to care,

and there's still no sign of the boss.

We're here to today to seize and potentially remove the goods

if payment isn't made, so...

-Yeah, but that's after a few days.

-No, not necessarily.

Any goods that belong to Mediterranean Leisure Group can be seized

and, if necessary, sold to pay off their debt to Matthew McWilliams,

but despite Lawrence's outwardly confident stance,

he's aware he's not in the strongest of positions here.

They don't seem like they're willing to do anything, particularly, are they?

It's a bit of a hard one, to be honest.

They've already made a claim that the company isn't here.

It's not noted outside anywhere.

Half an hour after Lawrence made his entrance,

the director of Mediterranean Leisure Group, David Stewart, finally arrives.

We're asked to wait outside,

as he invites Lawrence into his private office.

Mr Stewart is adamant the company and all its assets

are based in France, meaning nothing in this building belongs to them,

and therefore the High Court writ cannot be enforced.

Lawrence sees it rather differently, but can he convince him to pay up?

Unfortunately, I asked for a Mediterranean Leisure Group,

and the guy who answered the intercom said, "Yes, that's us."

All we need is a reasonable belief that there may be assets here

and we're entitled to seize them until it's proven otherwise.

The director changes tack

and says his lawyer is still dealing with the case.

Lawrence offers him some free legal advice of his own.

We're here with a van to potentially remove assets

if it doesn't get paid.

Your lawyers are going to say it's going to cost you too much,

so you might as well pay it. That's where we're at.

Unable to prove the goods in the office don't belong to Mediterranean Leisure Group,

Mr Stewart realises the only way to get rid of Lawrence

is to pay up, in full.

In this battle of wills, Lawrence has come out on top.

It's the end of an excellent morning's work for Lawrence,

who's single-handedly managed

to get young Matthew McWilliams the money he's owed.

'Paid in full, yeah.'

The onus isn't on us to prove that he does own something,

it's on him to prove that one of his other companies own it,

or a third party to prove that they own it,

which, I think, he was unable to do, basically, so he paid in full.

Let's go, then.

Anyone managing to obtain a County Court Judgment of over £600

can upgrade it to the High Court and get a writ.

We're here today to execute a High Court writ.

The Sheriffs enforce over 70,000 writs every year,

to get people back money they're rightfully owed.

You need to pay, otherwise we're going to be removing goods.

These days, a High Court writ costs £60.

If the Sheriffs are successful, there's nothing more to pay.

We need some kind of proof of ownership or we'll be taking it.

When they can't get the money back,

there's only an admin fee of £60 to pay.

-Okey-dokey, we'll leave you in peace.

-Lovely.

That's quite a slick operation, that!

Today, Sheriffs Pete Spencer and Dave Crabtree

are in Preston, Lancashire,

on their way to a garage whose attempts to fix a car

left it in a worse state than when they were first given it.

The man they are on their way to help is Tom Sumner...

also from Preston.

Right now, he drives a BMW 7 Series, a nice car,

but a year ago, he was driving a Jaguar.

A civil servant, he bought it as a retirement present.

It was a car he loved.

'XJ8 3.2, deep red colour with beige upholstery,

'all the bits and pieces.'

Just a really nice-looking car. I always fancied a Jag and...

..this one came up and it was too good to miss.

Tom had a great time driving his beloved Jag on regular visits

to see his son in Surrey, but a few months after buying it,

he noticed it was starting to leak coolant.

Wanting to fix the problem as soon as possible,

he decided to take it to a garage.

Luckily, he knew just the place. Walton MOT run by Peter Lawless.

This is the garage, here.

Walton Summit, that was, supposedly, looking after my Jaguar...

..and didn't.

'I had used Mr Lawless previously...'

..just for general servicing and I'd not had a problem with it.

So I took it back to him

and expected him to do it fairly quickly,

and...as far as I was concerned, it was just a minor leak.

Probably...a hose loose or something like that.

A week after leaving the Jag with them,

he went back to collect it, but according to Mr Lawless,

the simple repair he had expected had turned into a major job.

'He then proceeded to tell me that...

'there was a problem with the radiator,'

problem with the water pump,

problem with the thermostat, and he'd replaced them all.

And I had a bit of an argument with him,

in that I thought it unlikely that it be all three items, maybe one,

but he was quite insistent that all three needed replacement.

So I paid him, although I was a bit sceptical, to get the car back.

But despite having changed all three items,

the Jag had gone from bad to worse.

'I took her to work, and on the way back from work,'

the whole heating system, or the cooling system,

collapsed, and I lost all the water out of the car.

And...

I had to have the car recovered

and sent back to him that evening.

Mr Lawless promised to fix the new problem in two weeks.

But it was a month before Tom got his car back.

Whenever I rang him to ask if the car was ready,

I could never get hold of him.

What should have taken a week, the initial repair,

ended up I was near enough two months without a car.

Apart from the fact that I had to eventually end up paying

over the odds for the car, it was the expense of hiring cars

to get about in between, that type of thing.

It was just an utter and complete shambles.

Tom was so angry, he wanted to withhold payment

but was advised by Trading Standards that if he didn't pay,

the garage didn't have to give him his car back.

So he paid, took back his Jag

and wrote a letter outlining his grievances.

He got no response from Mr Lawless and, with no other option,

decided to take him to the County Court.

Mr Lawless didn't contest the case, and the Judge ruled in Tom's favour.

Mr Lawless then appealed.

Basically, he was saying to the judge there was no such thing

as British justice, but the judge told him,

"Well, you've not answered the questions that have been posed

"by Mr Sumner regarding the repair and you've not offered

"any form of defence whatsoever," and he ended up just storming out.

The appeal failed, Mr Lawless owes Tom £1,800.

So far, he's not seen a penny.

The car was my pride and joy.

I felt as though I was being ripped off by the guy,

and those sort of people just seem to get away with it.

With nowhere left to turn, he's had to call in the help of the Sheriffs.

And on their way to get Tom back his money,

Sheriffs Pete and Dave arrive at the garage.

Car place. It seems to be Walton something MOT Centre.

I'm assuming it's a garage and MOT garage.

They've got things of value,

and obviously we'll be looking to seize them when we arrive there.

They've barely parked up when Pete spots a potentially seizable asset.

The garage's van. There's no doubt it belongs to the business,

and if needs be, he can seize it to help pay off the debt.

Details taken, the Sheriffs go looking for boss Peter Lawless.

Mr Lawless? I've got a live High Court writ that...

the reason for our attendance today.

It's regarding a Mr Thomas Robert Sumner, if you know about that?

Mr Lawless takes a look at the writ.

Meanwhile, Pete and Dave list any assets on offer.

Two mig welders.

Battery charger.

As a working garage, there's no shortage of expensive equipment

that would more than cover the £2,700 they're after,

once court, Sheriffs' fees and interest have been added.

At this point, our cameraman is asked to leave.

Pete and Dave, meanwhile, keep going inside the garage.

Mr Lawless isn't keen to pay.

Can Pete convince him that a High Court writ

isn't something he can ignore?

I'm just commanded by the High Court judge who's deemed this

to come here today to collect the outstanding amount or remove goods.

It's as simple as that, really.

Pete would rather get paid than have to remove goods for auction.

He tries to explain to Mr Lawless

that it's also in his interests not to go down the auction route.

It might be 2,700, but we'll have to remove goods up to about £4,500,

because they're auction prices.

There's VAT and interest per day going on.

If it goes to removal, there's another £475 plus VAT

put on top of that amount automatically,

plus any removal costs incurred.

And Pete points out that by listing the assets he's seen,

he's technically seized them, and they now belong to the court.

The only way for Mr Lawless to get them back is to pay up.

Everything here that I've listed is now possession of the court.

As soon as you remove any item, it's a criminal offence.

It's theft.

It's not, I've seized it on behalf of the court.

With the bill rising, Mr Lawless accepts defeat.

Pete's convinced him this is a court judgment that isn't going away.

How would you like to pay - cash, credit card, debit card?

Payment made, Mr Lawless invites us to hear his side of the story.

He says he believes his garage carried out suitable repairs

on Mr Sumner's Jaguar and was as surprised as anyone

that it ended up in court.

He remains unhappy at the judgment awarded.

It's a chain of events that has escalated,

but for what reason, I'd like to know.

We did everything right.

We don't do dodgy jobs, as you call it, because that's not me.

That's not my personality or who I am.

I'd rather not do it at all.

Sheriff Pete, however, is just pleased to get the result,

and the cash in hand.

We've had a payment in full.

They were just struggling a little bit with the card payment.

They've paid £1,200 in cash and the remainder in a bank transfer.

That's the cash there, so paid in full.

That'll be into the client's holding account today.

So good job, no problem.

I've got a feeling we'll get a full payment on this one.

Sheriffs Lawrence and Kev are on the road again, this time in Kent.

They're on the trail of a convenience store which owes money

for rent arrears to a client who doesn't wish to be identified.

We're heading to a defendant by the name of Ashok Aramayachalandringham.

It's a convenience store,

so we're hoping we'll find sufficient assets in there.

Has been visited before, has paid money before.

There's a total of just over £10,000 already been paid,

but despite writing to him, the balance hasn't been paid.

So we're looking today for £1,401.08,

and hopefully in a convenience store, and given the fact that he's paid

so much money already, we should be able to collect in full on this one.

As a true professional,

Lawrence wants to make sure he gets the debtor's name right.

Mr Arumaichandrilingum, Arumaichandrilingum...

That settled, they head in.

-Hello, is this number 112?

-Yeah.

I'm looking for a Mr Arimachandrilingham.

Yeah.

Is that who it is?

Is that your boss, Ashok? Who is Ashok then?

You think he's what, sorry?

Oh, he's a cousin.

The shop assistant offers to get his boss on the phone.

Lawrence needs to establish what relationship Ashok has to the shop.

As the writ is against Ashok personally, and not the shop

as a limited company, they can only seize goods if he's still the owner.

Hello, sir. My name's Mr Grix, I'm an Enforcement Officer.

I'm here to execute a High Court writ against,

is it your cousin Ashok Arimachandrilingham?

The boss tells Lawrence that he's now the owner and not Ashok.

But Lawrence will need more convincing.

Have you got proof of that, sir?

Right, what we're going to have to do is seize sufficient goods

within the premises to clear this debt.

Because there's no evidence here that Ashok doesn't own the premises

or doesn't own the business.

Right, so you're coming here now, yeah? OK, sir, thank you.

He'll be here in five. Not Ashok, though - he's in India.

The boss is on his way down to talk to Lawrence face to face.

In the meantime, Detective Kev has spotted something else.

Got Mr Ashok on the alarm.

Ashok's the first name, Aru... Ashok Aru, yeah.

The debtor's name is on the burglar alarm system,

more evidence to confirm Lawrence's suspicions that the debtor, Ashok,

is indeed the owner and liable for the goods within.

The Sheriffs put together an inventory of the most

valuable bottles of spirit behind the counter.

Soon after, the boss arrives,

still arguing that he shouldn't have to pay.

Yeah, it's me who's taken over the business, from last year.

Right, have you got any proof of that? There's nothing current.

The boss also argues that he's not been properly informed

of any debts that might be owing, but Lawrence disagrees.

It's not fair, you didn't even send us a letter saying that,

OK, this much money you are supposed to pay.

If you don't pay within this time, we're going to do all these things.

Since June, we've written to you a couple of times,

so you know, unfortunately, sir, the ball is in your court,

and the blame comes down to, well, Ashok, basically.

Unable to prove Ashok is no longer the owner,

and with the shop's assets in jeopardy...

I've done the Aftershocks, Sidekicks...stuff like that.

The boss has no other option but to give in.

So you got a card machine? I can pay now.

-Sorry?

-If you got a machine, I can pay straightaway now.

My colleague will go and get the machine out the van.

Not even Lawrence was expecting that.

But will payment really be this simple?

Can I give you a cheque?

No, my colleague's got the card machine, it needs to be done...

I haven't got my card.

Well, you need to get it then, sir.

We only take cleared funds, we don't take cheques.

How much is the total?

It's on there - £1,401.08.

With no card to hand, instead the boss heads for the till.

Can someone count this, please?

The Sheriffs are in business. Finally, some hard currency.

100, 200, 500.

£1401.08, that's it, yeah.

I've got no 2p piece to give you, I've got no change.

OK, so if you sign and print for me you've paid in cash, no balance,

you won't see anybody again.

And with that, the Sheriffs are off to their next job

with £1,400 in pocket.

Another successful enforcement means another debt paid in full.

That should be the end of that.

-OK, sir. Thank you.

-All the best for the next show.

The defendant, Mr Arumachandrilingham

apparently is in India at the moment.

His cousin came down.

Apparently, he's taken over the lease of the shop,

and everything in there is his, but he paid on behalf of the debtor.

He just paid us in cash.

Today, Sheriffs Marc Newton and Tony Smith

are heading to Weston-super-Mare.

They're there on behalf of a charity,

which wishes to remain anonymous.

They paid for a buffet function at the Arosfa Hotel,

but were so appalled by the standard of the food,

they demanded their money back.

The matter ended up with a court ordering the hotel

to pay the charity £650.

But so far, they've received nothing.

Just off to a hotel, it's called the Arosfa Hotel.

Hopefully it's still the same owners, and we can a bit of joy, hopefully.

Arriving at the address, Marc finds a parking space.

For the Sheriffs, it hasn't been the smoothest of journeys.

This morning, Marc's van failed to start,

meaning a tight squeeze into this rather smaller vehicle.

With a relieved Tony finally extracted,

it's check-in time at the hotel.

Hello.

Hi. We need to speak to someone

about a High Court writ that's been issued.

I don't want you coming in here, so you can turn it off now.

Our cameraman leaves the premises

but continues filming from outside, as Marc and Tony finish explaining

to the manager who they are and what they've come to do.

We're not bailiffs, we're court enforcement.

We'll start listing goods for removal.

Straightaway, the manager claims nothing can be removed,

as all the goods inside belong to the landlord

and came with his lease as fixtures and fittings.

This includes, he says, the computer equipment in the office.

No, it's not. No, it's not.

Fixtures and fittings will be maybe beds, sofas, curtains -

stuff like that. Laptops don't come under fixtures and fittings.

That screen here, that printer there, that TV over there.

Luckily, there's an easy way to clear up who owns what.

I need the inventory of goods.

-Have you got it?

-We need to get an inventory.

We need to see the inventory of what exactly is owned by the landlord.

The man happily produces his tenancy agreement.

But instead of the comprehensive list of goods

the Sheriffs need to see, this document merely states

"all fixtures and fittings are included,"

but not what those items are.

That could be anything. That could be one bed.

-We have to see the whole inventory.

-You're saying all fixtures and fittings,

but not everything is fixtures and fittings.

We're just asking to see the inventory.

The man's still adamant everything in the hotel is a fixture or fitting

and belongs to his landlord who has the only copy of the full inventory.

But, unfortunately, he can't get hold of him.

You should have a copy of it. There's always a copy of an inventory

attached to your side of the tenancy agreement and his side.

With the man unable to provide any proof of what he's telling them,

Marc and Tony get on with listing assets inside ready for removal.

And this soon prompts a rethink from the manager,

who now wants to know how he can pay

and get Marc and Tony out of his lobby.

£1,448.35.

Credit card, debit card, bank transfer, cash.

Grudgingly, the man produces a card and pays in full.

There's your card, OK?

After 45 minutes going round in circles,

Marc and Tony have got what they came for.

It means the unhappy charity getting back the money they were owed,

in full.

There is a lot of goods in there

that probably do belong to the hotel.

He didn't provide any proof to say they didn't,

so I think that he knew.

Time for another deep breath

and a cosy 150-mile journey back to London.

The Arosfa Hotel told us they thought the price per head charge

to the charity for the meal was fair, and that they should have

no reason to complain. They added that they hadn't charged

for six extra guests who had turned up on the night.

They said the only reason they paid the debt is because

there were guests in reception at the time the Sheriffs visited,

and they wanted the Sheriffs out of the hotel.

Today, Lawrence and Kev are in south London on their way

to a substantial new assignment.

They're going to the head office of a company

that made a profit last year of £77 million.

We're on our way to Bromley to Churchill Insurance Limited.

We're there to collect £41,512.05.

The Sheriffs have no detail on what the debt's for,

but whatever the size of it, the Sheriffs' aim is always the same -

to get back the money that people are rightfully owed.

With a company of this size and prestige,

Lawrence certainly won't be taking no for an answer.

Obviously, Churchill is a massive insurance company.

They're well capable of paying this, so hopefully we'll be able to walk

straight in, make contact with the appropriate person

and get this dealt with, collect in full.

Arriving at Churchill HQ,

they park up and make their way straight to the main entrance.

Time to ask for £41,000.

Might surprise us, might be, "Please, come in."

Churchill is part of the Direct Line Group,

one of the largest insurance companies in the world.

The staff on reception certainly seem surprised to see them.

Morning. I'm here to see somebody, don't know who it would be

with regards to Churchill Insurance Company. My name's Mr Grix,

I'm an Enforcement Officer here today to execute a High Court writ.

Normally, it's Lawrence and Kev who want to see proof

of who they're dealing with. Today, it's the other way round.

Grix - Golf Romeo India X-ray.

Lawrence, with a W.

And the receptionist wants photos of both of them too.

-Don't like having your photo taken.

-Try not to break the lens.

With their IDs printed,

the Sheriffs make themselves comfortable in the lobby and wait.

All right, thank you.

Moments later, a female staff member arrives to speak to them.

Hello, there. I'll just show you some ID.

At this point, we're asked to leave while Lawrence and Kev

explain what's brought them to Churchill's head office.

It's now crunch time.

Can Lawrence and Kev convince the multi-million-pound company

to part with the £41,000 they owe?

Less than half an hour later, and it's all over.

It went really well. Invited in.

Generally with big companies, you don't get any grief.

It appears to be an oversight. They paid in full.

Just over £43,000 on a credit card.

Good start to the day.

Lawrence and Kev came looking for £41,000,

and with a credit card surcharge added, that's payment in full.

Result.

Did we get a payment from Churchill?

"Oh, yes, yes, yes."

Churchill Insurance told us that...

They said that once they were notified of the judgment

in the case, they paid it, in full.

Since we filmed Lawrence getting payment in full on behalf

of Matthew McWilliams, the director of Mediterranean Leisure,

David Stewart, has filed a High Court motion, claiming that

as the funds he paid with came from another of his companies,

they cannot be used to pay the debt and should be returned to him.

Until the court rules on the ownership of the money,

it will remain in the Sheriffs' care.

For Matthew McWilliams, the wait for his outstanding wages continues.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd