Episode 4 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the Sheriffs.

-We'll introduce ourselves.

-I'm a High Court Enforcement Officer.

-We're here 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.

-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 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, whoa!

-It's time to call the Sheriffs.

-Collected 42 grand.

Coming up: Kath Parton was promised a new driveway,

but she was left with a pile of bricks.

It is rubbish. My savings have all deteriorated because of it.

Can the Sheriffs get her her money back?

It'll be a case of seizing the vehicles, whatever we can.

Internet whizz Paul Keene carried out work for this leafleting company,

but never received £3,500 of wages he was due.

The whole experience has been a constant annoyance,

it's been a thorn in my side, it's something I want to get rid of.

The Sheriffs go in search of his money.

The only way to prevent further action today is to pay in full.

And the Sheriffs get more than they bargained for at a North London car dealer.

You need to get him on the phone, cos if this isn't paid, we're going to remove several of your vehicles.

The Sheriffs collect 93p for every pound they're asked to enforce.

But despite this high ratio of success,

life isn't always easy for them.

On their way to get justice for someone else are Sheriffs Darryl Oreton and Mark Povey.

We're off to Bridgnorth now to try and find a Mr Julian Clifford Milner.

Mr Milner's a builder who owes a large debt to a lady he did some work for,

and Darryl has reason to believe it might not be a straightforward visit this morning.

It's a residential address.

We have reasons to believe he may not be living there.

The post has been returned, has gone away,

but that could all just be to throw us off the scent,

so we're going to go there now, and hopefully he'll be there.

If he isn't there, we'll find out if he is living there,

see what assets are around and seize whatever we can.

The person they're on their way to help is Kath Parton.

Two years ago, she decided to have a new block-paved driveway built.

She didn't know it at the time, but it was a decision that would see her

thousands of pounds out of pocket and having to go through the courts to try and get it back.

He said he'd do me a better drive than he did the one next door - far better.

Ha-ha! That's the biggest joke in the world.

Kath first came across builder Julian Milner when he was working on the house next door.

I thought he was a very decent man. I thought he was reasonable, and that he was an honest man.

Mr Milner quoted Kath £4,600 to do her driveway

and build a double brick boundary wall around the edge of the house.

He said he'd have it done in no time.

Yes, I was over the moon. I was telling the neighbours

I was going to have it done in two to three weeks' time, yes.

Thinking she was onto a winner, Kath paid Mr Milner up front from her life savings.

It was a decision she came to regret.

Within a few weeks of starting the job, Mr Milner's attendance had become sporadic.

And for Kath, worse was to come. While she waited for Mr Milner to finish,

she suffered a car accident, leaving her with her arms and legs broken.

She's still in constant pain and her mobility's severely restricted.

Now unable to drive, the driveway became even more important

to give her easy access for the mobility scooter that's now her lifeline.

But instead of aiding her recovery, three months after starting the job Mr Milner walked off site,

the driveway still unfinished and the wall barely started.

That is the wall that he laid. It's a disgrace. You can just shove them.

Look at this, how easy it is to lift a brick out.

This will not last very much longer. It is rubbish. What a bloody mess!

It wasn't just Kath that thought so. With Mr Milner refusing to answer her calls,

Kath decided to pay for an independent surveyor to look at the work he'd done.

His conclusion was it was all substandard.

Even the concrete he'd laid for the foundation of the wall was substandard.

It needed taking up and redoing.

That was enough for me to know that he hadn't done the work properly.

The surveyor estimated it would cost over £12,000 to rectify the work to a proper standard.

Kath wrote to Mr Milner demanding a refund.

He offered to finish the work himself,

but by this stage, Kath had had more than enough of him.

No. No, I didn't want him back here to do the work.

No, I wanted my money back.

Kath decided to start court proceedings against him to get her money back.

Mr Milner responded in writing, admitting to problems with the job

and offering a one-off £4,000 payment in response.

But by now, Kath needed more than that to cover her legal costs and rebuild the drive.

Had to use all my savings completely to pay for all the legal fees,

all the legal courts, everything. I've had to use it all up, so I'm not able to put the drive right.

The judge agreed with Kath, awarding her the full amount she was after, plus her court costs.

But despite her victory, Kath's still not received any payment from Mr Milner.

My savings have all deteriorated because of it.

I've got nothing at the back of me now for the latter part of my years,

or whatever's left of my life.

Determined not to give up, Kath's only hope now rests with the Sheriffs.

With her hopes on their shoulders, Darryl and Mark arrive at Mr Milner's home.

They've only got one thing on their minds - getting her back the money she so desperately needs.

They use their van to block in the expensive-looking vehicles on the drive

in case they need to seize them, before heading for the door.

DOG BARKS

Early signs at the house, however, are not looking good.

There's no-one answering the door...

..so Darryl goes round the back.

Sheriffs are legally allowed to enter residential properties through unlocked doors or windows,

and with the side gate unlocked, Darryl's straight into the back garden.

The only thing home, however, seems to be canine.

DOG BARKS Don't know. Like a chocolatey Labrador thing.

All the doors are locked around there. There's a dog inside. No sign of life.

Darryl gives the house one more knock,

but it's not looking hopeful.

There's a lot of cobwebs on this.

Darryl tries the neighbours.

Excuse me, sir. Hi, there.

I was trying to get hold of Mr Milner.

-No idea.

-He's not on holiday or anything?

But they can't help.

With no-one to talk to, all the Sheriffs can do is size up what assets are on site.

Luckily, there's no shortage of expensive cars or other goods.

Just go around the back and just see whatever goods are in the back garden,

barbeques or table and chairs or something.

DOG BARKS

Got no phone numbers.

It may just be a case of seizing the vehicles, whatever we can, and leaving the paperwork.

With full access to the garden,

there are plenty of assets for Mark to get listing.

The dog's not happy about the Sheriffs being on site,

but being locked inside, he is at least off their seizure list.

Other wildlife, however, aren't so lucky.

Koi carp in there, as well.

Darryl's seizure is, however, drawing to a close.

They deliver a walking possession through the letterbox.

What they've listed is now the court's, on paper at least.

Darryl and Mark are hoping they won't be unsuccessful for Kath,

but with no-one home, they're forced, today at least, to call a halt.

There's not much more we can do. There's no-one here, neighbours have no information.

So, we've seized the vehicles, what we can, around the back,

left them some paperwork, so hopefully they'll respond,

give me a phone call and see what they can do about paying it off.

But Darryl's not entirely disheartened, and is still hopeful of a good result for Kath.

Although we didn't make contact, it was actually a better result than I was expecting.

There's a dog inside, and cats inside,

chickens in the back garden. There's definitely someone here looking after these animals.

There's four cars. There's a whole family living here, so we'll be in touch with him today, definitely.

And indeed, Darryl's faith is well placed.

With the weight of a High Court writ behind them, sometimes just the Sheriffs' paperwork alone

is enough to get a result on behalf of their clients.

Some days after their visit, Mr Milner agreed to enter into a court-appointed payment plan.

Kath has already received the first contribution, and is understandably delighted.

Altogether it's been a beautiful day.

He's got to pay every month otherwise the Enforcement Officers will be back down on him

and they will take goods and everything else

to cover the cost of that monthly payment,

so whether he likes it or not, he's in trouble.

I feel not only have I been vindicated,

I can really jump for joy to know I was right.

Over nine million cars change hands every year.

I like these. They are proper juicy, aren't they?

And last year, the Office Of Fair Trading

received over 60,000 complaints from people about used cars.

It's perhaps no surprise, therefore, that of all the businesses that the Sheriffs visit,

there's one industry that they deal with more than most.

Just clamp it. Clamp it. Clamp it.

Car dealers.

It's about a High Court writ that's been issued.

And this morning, Sheriffs Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally are on the trail of just such a case.

We are on our way to Greenford at the moment.

They're heading west for a face-off with a Middlesex car dealership called Stylish Motors,

on behalf of Destiny Kedwell - someone who found the garage didn't measure up to its name.

Apparently they took her car in part exchange,

and then the car they sold her blew up or something like that.

Destiny bought an Audi TT from the garage for just over £3,200,

but found numerous faults with it, which she had to pay to fix.

Eventually, she rejected the vehicle and demanded her money back,

but couldn't come to an agreement with the garage, so the matter went to court.

When Stylish Motors failed to contest the case,

a judgment ordered the company to pay Destiny £4,900 in compensation.

So far, the garage has failed to pay a penny.

But today, Lawrence fancies his chances of getting her money back.

Hopefully, being a car dealership, we'll find some cars there,

and we might have a bit of luck on this one.

The garage is open and its forecourt full.

Hello.

You work here, do you? I'll show you some ID. My name's Mr Grix.

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

You need to get him on the phone, because we're here

to seize goods, and we will be removing cars from the forecourt

-to clear this debt.

-Can you get him on the phone?

The man's struggling to get hold of his boss, who he says is out of London.

Does his phone not work outside of London?

But does his phone not work outside London?

Perhaps you need to phone him back and tell him the cars will be going off his forecourt.

He might be a bit quicker to call you back, then.

Have you got the keys for these vehicles?

Are they in the office?

Can you grab them for us, or open up the office, as well?

While the man left holding the fort is proving very helpful...

Have you got the facility to pay on his behalf?

..he explains he has no means of settling the debt they've come to collect.

You need to get him on the phone, cos if this isn't paid, we're going to remove several of your vehicles.

With a garage full of cars to choose from, the Sheriffs are in their element.

It's just a case of choosing which ones to take and sell to pay Destiny Kedwell's debt.

Is there a BMW out there, is there?

-Can you see a BMW out there, Kevin?

-BMW? There's one there. Is that a BM?

-Oh, yeah.

No. It don't seem to be doing that one.

-Range Rover Vogue? That would cover it.

-I can't see one.

No, neither can I. We'll find it. Where's the Range Rover?

But Lawrence and Kev soon start to realise

that some of the most expensive vehicles they have the keys to are not on the forecourt.

These are the ones worth having, clearly.

You've got Mercedes key rings, BMW key rings, Range Rover. Where are all these cars?

And were is the other yard?

It's too far, is it? We decide what's too far.

Finally, the salesman succeeds in getting through to someone.

The owner's still off radar but his garage manager wants to talk to Lawrence,

who's more than happy to fill her in on what's happening.

We've got access to all the keys. We're just going through the documentation for the vehicles now.

So, we're looking to remove sufficient vehicles.

The manager says the vehicles can't be seized

as they are all being sold on behalf of customers and so, conveniently, don't belong to Stylish Motors.

It doesn't matter who they are registered to.

It's who they are owned by.

So why are they on your forecourt, then?

Lawrence doesn't believe he's being told the truth.

He wants to see who these vehicles are registered to.

Documentation for the BMW?

It's left to the unlucky sales assistant to find the paperwork and answer his questions.

The lady said these are all customers' cars. That's what she told me on the phone.

So, you're selling that BMW on behalf of Lothian and Borders Police, are you? I think not.

I don't think they are going to trek down to a little car dealer's in Greenford, somehow.

What Lawrence thinks is these cars are all owned by the garage,

they've just failed to send off the vehicle paperwork after buying them.

Having seen and heard enough, he gets on the phone to alert the office

they're likely to need a tow truck.

Can you get us indemnity to remove a couple of cars, please?

All we've got here is a salesman who doesn't know anything, can't pay anything.

With a garage full of cars to choose from, the Sheriffs are in their element.

We had the keys for that silver Mazda, didn't we? What's behind that?

Have you got the documentation for that, the blue Micra?

It's just a case of choosing which ones to take and sell to pay off what Destiny's owed.

-Honda Civic, green. No.

-That brace of BMWs looks quite good, doesn't it?

The grey ones next to the silver one. So, we'll have the silver Mazda and we'll have the BMW,

and we've got the keys to move the blue Micra out the way.

-The rest of it can go back, mate. That's it.

-I don't know what order they were.

With three of their vehicles standing to be removed,

the salesman decides to make another phone call.

This time he's managed to get straight through to the owner

and breaks the news there's two impatient Sheriffs with their hands on his car keys.

It's crunch time. Can Lawrence persuade him to pay up?

Because it's gone to court, sir. There is judgement against you.

There is now execution costs on it, there is interest going on it on a daily rate.

There's our fees for coming out today, and there's VAT.

Right, so you're saying you haven't got the money to pay it.

We're sent out to remove goods, and that's what we're here for today.

The only way you can prevent that is to pay in full. So, no part payments or anything like that.

It's got to be paid in full.

Right. It needs to be done by immediate payment, sir.

We cannot leave until that money hits our bank account.

OK, do you want me to hand the phone back to him? No, he's gone. Right.

The owner says he'll try to pay the money Destiny's owed by bank transfer.

He also explains why he's not there to deal with the matter in person.

Apparently the boss is out in Egypt on honeymoon.

Right. You said he was outside of London.

-Well, Egypt's is outside London, Kev.

-It is that. I don't know if I'd describe it...

Don't be splitting hairs. We're both bald, we haven't got any to split.

Lawrence supplies the salesman with their account details

to pass on to his honeymooning boss.

He also gives him some free sales advice.

Do you want to answer that? It might be a customer.

They might want to buy one of your cars for ten grand, then you can just pay me.

Lawrence and Kev wait to see if the payment comes through.

Are you texting him the details, are you?

Just make doubly sure you get it right, because if you get one digit wrong

and it goes into the wrong bank account, we'll be taking the cars.

A man arrives who seems familiar with both the business and the debt.

He demands our camera leaves the premises.

All right, Frankie.

15 minutes later, Lawrence receives confirmation from the office that payment's been made, in full.

OK, I'll issue a conditional receipt.

Well - almost, anyway.

63p short, but I'm not going to argue over 63p. HE LAUGHS

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers, guys.

-Bye-bye.

It's been a textbook enforcement from Lawrence and Kev,

and means Destiny will finally get her money, in full.

-Paid!

-Hallelujah, eh?

Today, Lawrence and Kev are heading for an Essex showdown

with the owner of a leaflet distribution company

who decided they'd rather not pay for work they'd had done for them.

Just coming into Loughton at the moment,

we're going to a business address, but for an individual,

a Miss Charlotte Walker. She's been sued by a gentleman.

We're there to collect £5,197.15.

It is an industrial unit, so hopefully at this time of day there will be somebody in there,

so we'll at least be able to get entry and make contact with somebody.

The man Lawrence and Kev are trying to help

is search engine consultant and computer whizz, Paul Keene.

Paul runs his own small business

specialising in a hi-tech form of internet marketing.

SEO stands for search engine optimisation,

it's the legal manipulation of a website

to get higher up on the search engines, for example, Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Paul's skills made him a man much in demand in this cutting-edge industry,

but have also left him with an old-fashioned problem -

being owed thousands of pounds and needing the Sheriffs' help

after taking on a client he quickly came to regret.

It was frustrating, it was an insult.

The work's been done, a lot of hours have been put in,

you've got the results for the client, and you expect to be paid.

Paul's problems began when he was contacted by leafleting business Walkers Distributions.

They wanted him to raise the business's profile on the internet.

Yes, they seemed like a very decent company, and a company I could work with,

being a smallish organisation, which we specialise in.

Making the company more prominent on the internet

would give it a big advantage over its competitors in attracting new clients.

Walkers Distributions signed a 12-month contract,

agreeing to pay monthly for Paul's services,

and the project got under way.

Initially when a campaign starts, more work is put in,

to link-building, adding content, checking over the website.

making sure there's no crawling errors or anything else.

Doing all these things will push their website higher up the rankings.

It can take any time between four to six months

to see the positive benefits of this.

Paul's small team worked hard putting in the hi-tech groundwork required

to boost the company's online profile.

But he soon realised all wasn't well

when Walkers' first monthly payment was hundreds of pounds below what had been agreed.

The second failed to arrive at all.

They were talking about cash flow problems within the company.

My answer was, you've just signed up a contract for £7,000 or £8,000 -

didn't you know you had cash flow problems when you signed the contract?

You shouldn't have done, if that was the case.

A lot of alarm bells started ringing then.

I became very suspicious of what they were doing and who they were, who I was dealing with.

A lot of work had already been carried out, the link-building was under way,

you know, it was a problem.

As months passed, Paul continued to work on the Walkers campaign, which was starting to show results.

But despite the company openly expanding and enjoying new-found prominence through the internet,

they were still refusing to pay for the work as agreed.

Some months there was nothing, some months there were small amounts,

you could never to speak to anyone in the company,

there was no-one there in accounts, they wouldn't reveal a name of anyone. It was all very hush-hush.

After the work we had done, they were now sitting on page one for everything,

it's generated a lot of business for them, they've opened up a new distribution centre,

yet they weren't paying the person that provided the extra business.

Despite clear signs of the benefits his hard work had brought the company,

six months later he was still constantly chasing the money he was rightfully owed.

Paul had reached the end of his tether.

So, I received an e-mail, a very abrupt e-mail, from Walkers Distributions,

saying, "We will pay you when we pay you. That's it, take it or leave it."

We're a small business, we can't write off debts like that,

especially for many thousands of pounds, and we have to pursue them.

Paul's only option was to take Walkers Distributions' boss, Charlotte Walker,

to court for the money he was owed.

Charlotte Walker contested the case,

but a judge sided with Paul,

ordering her to pay him £3,572.80 within 14 days.

But the company still failed to pay up.

At this point, Paul sent for the Sheriffs.

The whole experience, has been a constant annoyance, it's been a thorn in my side,

and it's something I want to get rid of.

It's like something on your shoe, and you want to scrape it off, basically.

Looking to get Paul the money he's owed,

Sheriffs Lawrence and Kev arrive at the business address.

Walkers Distribution, B2. B2, yeah.

B2, Walkers Distribution, yeah.

And take advantage of the company parking space.

Unit B2 parking only - well, that'll suit me.

-Hello, there.

-Hi, there.

-I'm looking for Charlotte Walker.

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

I'm here today to execute a High Court writ against her. Are you able to get her on the phone at all?

Erm, I don't know.

As the staff member gets her boss on the phone,

we're asked to leave the office.

So, you can wait outside.

Not wanting to waste any time, Lawrence asks to speak to Charlotte Walker directly.

Hello, my name's Mr Grix.

We're ordered here today to seize goods to the value of £5,197.15

with a view to removing them and selling them at auction to clear this debt.

The only way to prevent further action is for you to pay in full.

Charlotte Walker says she's had no warning of the enforcement

and has applied to the court to pay the money owed to Paul in monthly instalments.

But Lawrence isn't in the mood for excuses.

With respect, you can't say you haven't heard of it if you've applied to the court to make payments.

You've obviously been to court at some stage and spoken to a judge,

but you're telling me you didn't know anything about it.

Sending off forms to the court or applying for something at the court

does not prevent execution of this writ.

Lawrence is holding the highest card in this dispute.

His High Court writ trumps any other ongoing applications to do with this case.

And he's just getting warmed up.

The claimant is perfectly within their entitlement to transfer it up to the High Court

for enforcement purposes. And that is the bottom line.

The only way to prevent further action today is to pay in full.

Then goods will be seized and potentially removed to be sold at auction to clear the debt.

The defendant says it doesn't matter anyway,

as none of the goods in the office belong to her,

as she's no longer running the business as a sole trader.

Instead, she's formed a new company, Walkers Distributions Ltd.

The company that's trading is Walkers Distribution Ltd.

So where's the certificate of employer's liability and public liability

for Walkers Distribution Ltd as the law dictates?

Lawrence has noticed all the certificates in the office still have the defendant's name on them.

He calls the office to find out exactly what records exist

for the newly formed Walkers Distributions Ltd.

She's saying that the company is Walkers Distributions Ltd.

Can you have a check on Companies House for me?

Incorporated 12th March, 2012.

This stuff here is all older than March.

The office goods all pre-date the new company being formed,

so Lawrence is satisfied they were bought by the defendant.

Unless she can produce evidence proving she no longer owns them, they can be removed to pay her debt.

There's no way this is all brand-new since March.

So, it was bought previously.

But as minutes then hours pass, nothing arrives.

Whether anything does come in to support Walkers Distributions' claims,

or whether Lawrence can get the money owed to Paul Keene, we'll find out later.

Look at that bad boy, out there.

Sheriffs cover the length of breadth of England and Wales enforcing High Court writs.

We're on our way to a place called Nunney in Somerset.

We're off to Newhaven Marina.

They go out at any time...

It's just before 5am now.

..in any weather.

Prepared to seize anything in order to pay back debts that are owed.

It needs to be done by immediate payment, sir. We cannot leave until that money hits our bank account.

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

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

Hello, there.

These days a High Court writ costs £60.

If the Sheriffs are successful, there's nothing more to pay - all the costs are paid by the debtors.

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

-Lovely, thank you. Bye-bye.

On the rare occasions the Sheriffs don't get someone their money back,

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

Hallelujah, eh?

Being a Sheriff is not a 9 to 5 job.

This morning, for Darryl Oreton...

Ready for action.

..and Mark Povey, it's more of a 5 till 9 job.

This is probably our earliest.

They're on their way to Leighton Buzzard

to meet a debtor they've been warned leaves for work early. Very early.

It's just before 5am now. So we can hit the defendant, Michael Brown, first thing.

We're told he goes to work at 5:30am.

This is the earliest we're going to be getting to a job, knocking someone's door at 5am.

We're looking for £5,173.79.

Hopefully, we don't need to wake him up - he should be ready and waiting for us.

Michael Bown has fallen into a dispute with an ex-associate

over a BMW 5 Series he agreed to buy from them but has so far failed to pay for.

SAT NAV: You have reached your destination.

It may be pitch black and they may be tired,

but that won't stop the Sheriffs going to work to get back the money rightfully owed.

Arriving at the property, and the car in question is parked on the driveway.

Yeah, this is it, yeah. It's a Beamer, so it's at the high end of the 53 as opposed to the low end.

KNOCKS QUIETLY

No-one seems to be up. Have the Sheriffs arrived too early?

There's not much they can do, but knock.

And knock.

And knock.

Mr Bown. Enforcement Officers. Can you come downstairs, please?

And knock some more.

And wait.

But there's still no sign of debtor Michael Bown, and Darryl's knocking...

..is upsetting the neighbours.

Sorry about the disturbance.

Either Mr Bown isn't in, or he's dead set on ignoring the Sheriffs.

Concerned neighbour.

Either way, there's not much Darryl and Mark can do about it.

They decide to wait in the van to see if anything stirs.

Darryl takes precautions against what the dawn may bring.

40 minutes later, and dawn finally breaks over Leighton Buzzard.

But will the daylight bring a change of luck for Darryl and Mark?

He ain't coming. He ain't coming out.

Without any response from inside and unable to force entry at a residential property,

there's nothing the Sheriffs can do this morning.

I've seized the vehicle anyway. I'll just leave some paperwork.

Hopefully he calls us, otherwise we'll be back,

possibly remove the vehicle next time we come.

They post the notice of seizure for the BMW, and with that, head off.

Mr Bown now has five days to get in touch, or Darryl will be back to tow away the car.

Until he does, the previous car owner will have to wait to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Mr Bown told us he had not been in at the time of the Sheriffs' visit

and knew nothing of the judgement until he received their paperwork.

he said he believed he had paid for the car previously

and disputed that he owed any money.

He said he hadn't contested the case because he'd been tied up

in other legal action against the same claimant.

-Hello, there.

-In Essex, Lawrence and Kev are still at the offices of

leafleting company Walkers Distributions,

trying to get money back for their former internet consultant, Paul Keene.

We are ordered here today to seize goods to the value of £5,197.15

with a view to removing them and selling them at auction to clear this debt.

The company's refusing to pay the Sheriffs,

insisting everything in the office was transferred from the old business named on the writ

to a new company when it was set up some months earlier.

She is saying that the company is Walkers Distribution Ltd.

Finally, a receipt is e-mailed through

supporting the defendant's claim that she sold everything

to the new limited company when she set it up.

They've been sold to the new limited company, according to this.

A cash payment of £550, received in full and final payment for the goods.

But Lawrence has his suspicions about the receipt,

as it doesn't accurately list the items in the office.

After hours waiting around, he's not a happy Sheriff.

I've got the hump, now. It's taken this long

to type out something that isn't even worth anything, anyway.

They don't know what they've got here,

because they've just put down "office furniture and fittings and computers".

So, it doesn't detail any of this stuff, at all.

Enough is enough for Lawrence. All the goods in the office are seized on paper

and the defendant given five days to provide proper proof that they don't belong to her,

or the Sheriffs will be back to remove them.

He tells the woman in the office that her boss's stalling

means the Sheriffs waiting fees have also been added to her outstanding debt.

There's some paperwork for you.

It's been a long, frustrating afternoon.

-What a waste of time.

-Yeah.

Total rubbish. Ugh, that was painful.

Bored, hungry, ratty.

But as it turned out, Lawrence and Kev's efforts weren't in vain.

The surprise visit inspired a stark rethink from Charlotte Walker,

who decided to pay up in full.

Finally, a delighted Paul has received the money he worked hard to earn.

I'm really surprised they managed to get money,

cos I began to believe them there was no money there.

And it just goes to show that sometimes people say they don't have money,

but you never know what's under the floorboards or in the mattress.

On their way to try and get someone else back the money they're owed are Sheriffs Lawrence and Kev.

It's half past eight and we're on our way to Dorking.

We're after a business called Astute Management Specialist Resourcing Ltd.

I believe it's an employment tribunal matter, because it's an individual that we're enforcing on behalf of.

Arriving at the business park, they pull up and head to their target address.

There's somebody in.

So, there's a Michael Tupper who's the director of Astute Management and Aqua Mechanical Appliances.

-DOOR OPENS

-Hello, mate.

Hello, there, sir. My name's Mr Grix,

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

They're greeted by company director Michael Tupper,

who tries to convince Lawrence he doesn't have to pay because the claimant claimed

for the wrong amount. But Lawrence is having none of it.

The problem he's got is that the amount he's claimed for is the wrong figure.

Because obviously he's claimed for a figure which should have tax deducted from it.

I don't know if you're aware of it, there's what's known as the 42-day rule.

Doesn't matter what the dispute is, on the 42nd day, you have to pay.

But Mr Tupper has other reasons he says justifies not paying up.

There's nothing here for Astute because actually they don't trade any more.

-They're a company, but...

-They're still showing as active on Companies House.

They might be active, but they're not actually here.

So, who are you to do with Astute, sir?

-I'm actually a director of Astute.

-Mr Tupper.

-But Astute doesn't work here.

-Doesn't trade any more.

-Doesn't trade any more.

It's Aqua Mechanical Services are here.

Yeah, which is another one of your companies.

And Astute are here, but astute don't...

Astute used to have a little desk in the corner run by a bloke called Dave, but he's gone.

What proof have you got that they've got no money, no assets?

I haven't got anything. I don't know what proof I'm supposed to give you, I don't know.

Well, you would need to provide proof of all the assets of your other companies.

All this lot here is in my name.

-Your personal name?

-Yeah. All this lot here is owned by me.

Well, you would need to prove that, sir. We're here today to seize that.

-Because you haven't paid the employment tribunal award...

-Yeah.

..we're here today to seize assets to clear the debt.

There's nothing. I can show you the lease, it's all in my name.

That's all I can show as evidence it's all in my name.

Well, that just shows that the lease of the property is in your name,

it doesn't show anything to do with the assets, does it?

You can have a look. There's nothing here, mate. There's nothing in here.

Lawrence and Kev are invited inside to inspect the company offices.

We're asked to stay outside.

Lawrence wastes no time in checking out what assets are on offer, in case they need to seize them.

Take an inventory.

We'll need to see proof of actually who owns all the fixtures and fittings in here,

all the desks, photocopiers, fans, phones, computer systems, everything.

We're going to seize it all until such time as proof of ownership is shown.

To prove the company's got no money, the director takes the unprecedented step

of showing Lawrence the company bank accounts.

It shows there was money in the company account

but it was removed two days earlier.

Lawrence finds it odd that a company that hasn't traded for some time, according to the director,

can still be moving money around.

You can't have it both ways, sir. You can't have it as the company isn't trading,

but it's got £4,000, or over £4,000 has gone out of its account in the last two days

if it's not trading. So, who has used the bank account?

The director explains that another company

has been using Astute Management Specialist Resourcing Ltd's bank account.

But you can't just have one company using another company's bank account.

Because what that means is you're saying this company isn't trading,

the company that you say is using the bank account can therefore declare

a lot smaller turnover because it's using a bank account of a company that isn't trading.

So it can hide its turnover.

Sir, forget the money, then, we're not here for money, actually.

We're ordered here to seize goods to clear the debt, so that's what we're going to do.

And the only way to prevent that is to pay in full.

Lawrence might not be getting too far with the bank accounts,

but his diligent examination seems to have rattled Mr Tupper,

who expresses a willingness to come to an arrangement on payment.

Delighted, Lawrence suggests Mr Tupper offers a payment plan.

As a back-up, Lawrence carries out a walking possession at the same time,

seizing what assets there are for the court on paper.

So, we'll do that, we'll give you a walking possession agreement over the stuff.

You offer an amount to get the ball rolling.

You might stand a chance if you offer the £1,272.44 straight up, maybe,

and then £1,000 a month over the next couple of months,

that might be accepted.

OK, then Mr Tupper. Cheers. Bye-bye.

Finally, the Sheriffs emerge and Lawrence is pleased to hail an unexpected success.

We've taken a walking possession. We've given five days

for the other companies to prove ownership, and they're going to submit a proposal.

We've seen the bank account, there's no money in it.

And there's no assets. He's saying the company isn't trading.

To get any kind of proposal really,

if the company genuinely isn't trading,

hasn't got any assets and hasn't got any money...

You know, if he'd have just said "I can't pay, do your worst,"

then there's not a lot you can do,

so to get any kind of proposal is quite good, I think.

And following their visit, the director did begin paying off the debt

in accordance with Lawrence's payment plan.

Which means the former employee getting back the money that's rightfully his.

Mr Tupper told us:

He does not believe that Astute Management Specialist Resourcing Ltd did anything wrong.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd