Episode 5 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the sheriffs.

-Let's go and 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 from 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 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.

Let us 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...

..Adrian Skeats paid £3,000 for a car, but got a load of problems.

He was blatantly... Take my money and sell me a car.

It's not two weeks old. It's full of problems.

Can the sheriffs get him his money back?

We'll have to get him on the phone while we're here.

If we can't, we're going to remove goods.

Pete's attempts to unpaid wages from a roofer

sees the debtor hit the ceiling.

He tried to knock our teeth out. Says, "I'm going to kill you."

So police can deal with him now.

And sheriffs Lawrence and Kev stand their ground chasing up a debt in Kent.

We're here today to remove goods from the premises to clear his debt.

-I'd suggest you stay outside.

-No.

It's 5.30am in Stockport.

Sheriffs Pete Spencer and Dave Crabtree are visiting Burgess Roofing Services.

They employed Conrad Money as a site supervisor for 15 years before he was made redundant.

He wasn't given any notice or redundancy money.

£3,000 in holiday pay and pension contributions were also withheld.

Conrad took legal action.

But Burgess Roofing Services settled out of court,

agreeing to £15,000 being paid to Conrad over six months.

But despite this agreement, not one payment has been made.

The case went back to court,

and a judge ordered Burgess Roofing to give Conrad his money back.

And this morning, Pete already has some valuable assets in his sights

he'll seize if need be, to get Conrad his money.

We believe there's some expensive motorbikes at the property.

This morning, we've got some intelligence that they might

be kept in the garage to the rear. Woke somebody up, I think.

Pete and Dave are determined to get Conrad what he's owed.

Pete finds the front entrance, and someone to greet him.

-Good morning, Mr Burgess?

-Yeah.

-Enforcement officer from...

Got an High Court writ, regarding a Conrad Money. Conrad Money.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

Mr Burgess is far from pleased with this early morning visit.

As Pete explains what he's come for, we're asked to leave...but continue filming from the pavement.

It's £24,220.60 outstanding.

That's what we've been ordered by the High Court judge to collect today.

Some garages to the rear, I believe, are yours.

There's motorcycles in there. Do they belong to you?

DOOR CLOSES

This defendant doesn't seem keen to pay up.

Getting nowhere at the front door, the sheriffs badly need

some leverage and go in search of the motorbikes.

Neither of them are prepared for what happens next.

Mr Burgess tries to forcibly remove Dave from the property.

He then threatens to knock his teeth out.

With the situation rapidly deteriorating,

Pete decides it's best to call the police.

I'm a High Court enforcement officer.

We're actually being threatened by the defendant at the moment.

He's threatening to knock our teeth out. Knock us out.

I do need assistance, as soon as possible, please.

He threatened to knock our teeth out.

-Sort of aimed at you, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Rather than me.

-He went to get hold of me, round there.

-Says, "I'm going to kill you."

End of the day, police need to deal with him now.

Unfazed by the seething Mr Burgess's threats,

Pete goes back into the garden and calmly explains the law is on his side.

I'm staying here. I'm got the authority to be here.

I've got a High Court writ which is live.

You're stopping me from doing my job. It's an arrestable offence.

The police will deal with you when they arrive.

With the threat to murder them on hold, Mr Burgess changes tack

and insists as the claim is against his business, not him personally,

the sheriffs have no right to be there.

Pete disagrees. And has the paperwork to prove it.

Let me show you. The writ from the High Court in your personal name at this address.

As Mr Burgess storms back inside and with the police en route,

all Pete and Dave can do is sit and wait for them to arrive.

Later we'll see whether they can get any money back for Conrad.

Sheriffs can go anywhere in England and Wales to execute writs.

It's a job that takes them all over the country.

Today, Sheriffs Marc Newton and Tony Smith are on the South Coast,

on their way to visit a second-hand car garage in Portsmouth

called the Low Mileage Centre.

A quick five-mile journey.

Marc and Tony have little information about the dealership

apart from the fact the owner is a Mr Dave Morley who's 45 years old.

Hopefully we'll get someone at this premises.

If not, we'll just sit and wait for a little while until it does open.

The sheriffs are attending on behalf of Adrian Skeats,

a self-employed bricklayer, also from Portsmouth.

He travels widely for work

and a reliable car has always been an essential tool of his trade.

I always need my car.

Without a car, there's no point me having any tools.

No car, no work, basically.

Deciding to upgrade to a new car was therefore a major investment,

which made it all the more galling

when he was sold a dud packed full of problems.

It's left him out of pocket for repairs, dragged through the courts

and desperately in need of the sheriffs' help.

I just spent all my money on a nightmare.

When he decided he wanted a new car,

Adrian searched numerous local showrooms

looking for the perfect vehicle.

And it wasn't long before he thought he'd found it.

The showroom in question was the Low Mileage Centre in Portsmouth.

When I first saw the car, I liked it.

It was a reasonably good price.

It had one lady owner, full service history, very low mileage...

Can't go wrong.

Adrian paid a £1,600 deposit

and five days later, turned up to collect the car

and pay the remainder of the £3,800 cost.

But when they produced it, all was far from right.

When they brought it round the front,

that's when I noticed a lot of damage on the door.

I questioned it straightaway,

and they said, "Bring it back in three days and we'll fix it."

Adrian agreed to return the car for repair and paid in full.

But before it was time to take it back in,

he started noticing other even more serious faults.

When I parked the car up, the steering wheel was at an angle,

and that's when I noticed that the tyres were bald.

And the tracking was out.

We noticed that the windscreen wasn't fitted to the panel.

They've glued the panel to the windscreen.

That windscreen has to be fitted correctly to protect the airbag.

So my passenger has no safety.

The windscreen at the back here leaks.

The water went over all the electrics in the back here,

and there's water damage.

And then there's just a multitude of bits and pieces

going wrong with the car.

After the three or four days, I said,

"That's it, I want my money back."

But the Low Mileage Centre point-blank refused

to return his money.

Needing to know just how bad a condition the vehicle was in,

Adrian took it to an official Mercedes garage for a health check.

All the red show up a failure,

and the yellow should be on the advisory list -

the exhaust, the suspension, the steering,

I mean, that was both of them,

and then the tyres.

A red mark indicates a problem so serious that in the Mercedes garage's opinion,

it would cause the car to fail its MOT.

With health check in hand, Adrian confronted the Low Mileage Centre

and demanded a full refund.

I was very angry.

Very angry that he thought that he could blatantly take my money

and sell me a car that's going to cost half the price again to fix.

I'm thinking, "I've just bought this off you, it's not two weeks old,

"it's full of problems."

He decided he had no option but to take the garage to court.

With Adrian representing himself,

the Low Mileage Centre's director, Dave Morley, contested the case.

But the judge agreed with almost all of Adrian's points,

and awarded in his favour.

Despite this, Mr Morley still hasn't paid up.

And having been forced to find the money himself to make repairs

and with still more required, Adrian remains out of pocket.

It was hard. It was hard.

Because I spent most of my money on the car

and now I'm faced with £1,500-£1,700 worth of repairs.

Where am I going to get that money from?

It's mind-boggling that he should be allowed to sell his cars like this.

Desperate to get the money he's owed,

Adrian's last hope of seeing it rests with the sheriffs.

And so it is that Marc and Tony arrive at the Low Mileage Centre,

which is very much open for business.

As they head in, a figure exits out of the back door of the office,

while a second older man is still inside -

Marc's suspicions are aroused.

Was that the owner making a swift getaway?

-Geezer nipped out the back when we walked in.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Is it?

-I reckon. He's 45, isn't he?

Before speaking to the man in the office,

Marc wants to check something.

Just hang around there and I'll walk down the back.

Marc's sheriff's senses are tingling,

but unfortunately the man matching the description of the owner has vanished.

The sheriff's attention turns to the other man still in the sales office.

Time for some introductions.

It's about a High Court writ that's been issued for Low Mileage Centre.

From a Mrs Webster and Mr Skeats.

They've sent us here today to collect payment or remove goods.

The man left holding the fort claims to know nothing about the case.

With two sheriffs and a live writ on the premises,

he needs to deal with it quickly or the dealership's vehicles will be seized.

Right, first of all, I'm not anything to do with...

-Well, I work here, but it's...

-OK, yeah.

So I need to tell...um...

..my boss about this, basically, and he's not here.

OK. You're going to need to give him a ring, while we're here.

-Get him on the phone now, mate.

-Yeah, while we're here.

If you can't, we're going to remove goods.

The seemingly-confused employee agrees to get his elusive boss on the phone.

Meanwhile, Marc and Tony take the opportunity to browse the goods on display.

That's clean, ain't got a scratch on it anywhere, either.

-I like these.

-Mm.

-But...

Wouldn't have one. They're proper juicy, in't they?

Trying to sell me a BM as well as a Mini.

You don't work here, and you're trying to sell me a car!

With the minutes ticking by and no sign of the owner,

the sheriffs may be forced to call for the tow trucks.

Then Marc's called back into the sales office.

Has the mysterious owner resurfaced?

The employee tells Marc his boss won't be back until the afternoon

but has given him his credit card number to make the payment.

But there's still a problem. He doesn't have the card.

I can't do that.

-We've got a chip and PIN machine.

-I have to have the card here.

This car salesman doesn't seem too familiar with the concept of chip and PIN.

Card goes in the machine and you just bang in the PIN number.

For Marc and Tony, it's now a case of card or cars.

Where is he? Is he far away?

Time for another hasty phone call to the boss.

Thanks. Right. Bye.

Right, he's going to get somebody to drive the card to me.

Yep. No problem.

Half an hour later, as Tony continues his sales pitch to Marc in the showroom,

unbeknownst to them, the credit card's been mysteriously delivered

through the back of the office.

I've got the card... It was dropped off round the back.

They now have both the card and the PIN number.

Still minus the owner.

It's now a case of stick a PIN in it and it's done.

Payment in full.

Lovely.

-Right, well, I hope I won't see you again.

-Hopefully.

Well, not under these circumstances!

With the debt cleared, there's no reason for the sheriffs to come back.

Unless it's for a test drive.

Despite no direct contact with owner Mr Morley,

it's been a successful hour's work for Marc and Tony.

I think basically that the owner of the company was quite keen

to not actually meet us in person.

Yeah, it's a good result, to be honest.

Wasn't in there more than an hour, and we got a paid in full.

And for Adrian Skeats, it means getting the news, and the cheque,

he's desperately hoped for.

It's a shame not everybody knows how much power the sheriffs have.

But I'm so pleased that they've got it.

I'd like to have seen it when they went down to get the money,

because I would have been smiling all day long.

But it's very pleasing to know that there are people there on your side

that will just go and get it.

The Low Mileage Centre told us they addressed the faults Mr Skeats raised,

including the paintwork, tyres and windscreen,

and that an MOT testing centre had passed the car as roadworthy.

For these reasons, they said, they refused to return Adrian his money.

Boss David Morley said at the time of the sheriffs' visit,

he had left the office to attend a previously arranged meeting

and had he known they were coming,

he would have made a point of being there to meet them.

He said the only reason they hadn't paid the court order

was because the appeals process was still ongoing

at the time of the sheriffs' visit.

Sheriffs cover the length and breadth of England and Wales

enforcing over 70,000 High Court writs every year.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own enforcement system,

but they're all about the same thing -

getting people back the money that a court of law says is rightfully theirs.

-Hiya.

-Good morning, sir.

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

Their enforcements can come at any time...anywhere...

These days a High Court writ costs £60.

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

We've got a live High Court writ to attend here today to remove that vehicle.

If they're unsuccessful, the only cost is a £60 admin fee.

Back in Stockport, sheriffs Pete and Dave are still after over £20,000 owed to Conrad Money

by building boss Alan Burgess, who's so far refused to cooperate.

They're waiting for the police to arrive

so they can make peaceful entry into his garage where valuable motorbikes are stored.

30 minutes later, the police finally arrive.

Morning, gents.

It's left to Pete to explain to the police exactly what the powers of the sheriffs are.

Basically, I'm commanded by the High Court judge to attend here

either to collect that amount or seize goods to that value.

Obviously, it's a threat to kill, that's why I've called you guys.

They just weren't listening.

He thinks we're bailiffs, but we're not. We've got different powers.

While the police go to speak to Mr Burgess, Pete waits patiently outside.

They're going to speak to the gentleman now.

They've looked at our paperwork, erm...

My interest is in that garage there, rather than the property.

We'll just see what's said once they've spoken to him.

With the police acting as peace-keepers,

Pete wants to get on with seizing the motorbikes locked in the garage

that Mr Burgess now admits do belong to him.

I'm not proposing to remove any goods.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to seize them on paperwork

to protect the outstanding debt.

But Pete's offer to only seize on paper doesn't placate Mr Burgess.

He's still refusing to let them into the garage,

but Pete's going to go in...one way or another.

You can either let us through the door or we'll go through the window.

Either way, makes no difference - we will seize those goods today.

Mr Burgess asks the police to intervene and stop the sheriffs entering his garage.

Don't matter. There's an open window now. It's irrelevant.

But by now, Pete's patience has run out.

It's all right, we'll go through window. It's fine.

-You all right? I'll pass you the paperwork.

-Pass the pad?

-Yeah.

I think the pen's on the floor and all.

Grab one off his top in there.

You'll be able to come out the back door, I'd have thought.

So now he's in through hard work, do you want to walk around with us?

Finally inside, they find and seize on paper, two classic motorbikes.

They'll remain on the premises,

and if no payment is made in the next five days,

Pete can come back to remove them.

Just list the bikes, rather than going through everything.

After a morning of aggravation,

it looks like Pete and Dave are almost done with this enforcement.

But then Mr Burgess's temper gets the better of him again

as he threatens that the bikes won't be there by the time Pete comes back.

With what is now the court's property in jeopardy,

Pete decides he's got no choice but to remove them today after all.

With night turning to day,

it's time to remove the bikes and call the tow truck.

We believe they will be at risk if we do leave them here.

He did say they would be set on fire if we came to take them.

Just waiting for the removal truck to come and take them to safe storage.

The removal of goods is the ultimate sanction the sheriffs have at their disposal.

If necessary, the motorbikes can now be sold to pay Mr Burgess's debt.

This particular one is supposed to have a bit of history with it.

There's one on eBay now, worth £20,000.

With his prize machines on their way out of his property,

Mr Burgess goes from making death threats to trying to elicit sympathy.

The motorcycles that have just been taken away...

The black one, I've had for 50 years. I bought that when I was 16.

My wife and I are absolutely heartbroken over the loss of that machine.

Now I have to go back to a solicitor

and see whether or not I can recover my motorcycles.

Pete takes no pleasure in seizing family heirlooms

but has to ensure the debt he's ordered by the court to collect gets paid.

We've come and done our job -

removed items to the value of the debt.

And he's got the option to pay now.

We've got the goods, unfortunately, so it's down to him.

It's been a hard day's night for the sheriffs, but a successful one.

Conrad Money will finally get at least part of what he's owed -

one way or the other.

Going home for a while.

I think he's just let principle get in the way

and that's why he's not dealt with it.

Obviously, he's going to have to deal with it now.

Hopefully, he'll get it sorted out, get the money together,

and pay for them before they go up for auction.

But for the moment they've gone into storage for five days,

with a view to sell them.

Despite the sheriffs' high rate of success,

it can be hard to get people their money back,

especially when taking on companies

operating with multiple trading names,

or businesses that don't exist any more.

Today, sheriffs Marc Newton and Tony Smith are heading to Bromley

on what will turn out to be just such a wild goose chase.

They've been asked to take on a tooth-whitening company

who appear to be less than whiter-than-white.

We're after a company that seems to have three different names.

It's got a company name with trading as another name

with another limited company on the end.

Just going to have to try and get in there

and see if we can find them.

The man they're on their way to help is Stephen Todd from South London.

When's he's not working, he likes to walk up to this local airfield

to watch the gliders landing.

Unfortunately for him, it's a walk he's had a chance to do

all too frequently since he was made redundant two years ago.

It had been a job at a bookmakers

that Stephen had been in for 20 years.

Determined to find himself a new career,

he decided to invest his redundancy money in a business venture,

and came across an advert for a tooth whitening franchise online -

SmartSmile.

When you're made redundant, it's a bit of a shock to the system.

Obviously you're keen to try and move on.

And when I saw the advert for the teeth whitening,

I thought it looked like a really good opportunity, you know.

Excited by the idea of the new business,

he met with self-styled franchise expert Robert Yorke,

the man brokering the sale of SmartSmile franchises

on behalf of the business owner, Edward Hills.

He gave a presentation.

This was going to revolve around this top-of-the-range website.

I was the first person to be buying into this franchise,

so I had my reservations, cos there was no track record.

To put Stephen's mind at rest

about the fact he was the first franchisee,

Mr Yorke added a clincher to the contract.

Mr Yorke then gave me a 100% return on investment policy.

He told me if there was any problems going forward

and I wanted my money back,

then that's what would... He was willing to do that.

After getting the policy in writing,

Stephen was satisfied he had the protection he sought.

He went ahead and used all his redundancy money

to buy the franchise for £14,000.

With big plans for his new franchise,

Stephen visited SmartSmile owner Edward Hills

for the training and equipment that came as part of the £14,000 package.

But all did not go to plan.

'I received a little bit of training.

'He then started to produce the leaflets,'

which did have the company name on without any doubt.

However, my details weren't on the actual leaflets,

and he said, "Oh, just write it in in ink."

You know, there's, like, 3,000 of these leaflets.

And the top-of-the-range equipment he was promised was no better.

I received this lamp from Mr Hills.

It was broken.

Doesn't stay together properly. Also the lamp itself doesn't work.

Stephen realised he'd made a big mistake.

With so much of his money at risk,

he decided to exercise his 100% return of investment policy.

Only problem was,

neither Mr Yorke nor Mr Hills were interested in honouring it.

Basically, the contract that I'd signed,

and also what was stated in the prospectus,

he'd effectively thrown it in the bin.

Stephen took both Mr Hills and Mr Yorke to the county court.

The case was contested,

but Stephen won judgment against both defendants' companies,

who were ordered to give Stephen his money back.

To date, he's still not received a penny.

This was going to be, you know, my future.

This is er...my living, so it was, er, you know...

Well, hopefully it was going to be my living. It obviously wasn't.

Stephen's last hope now rests with Marc and Tony.

They arrive at the business address

of Robert Yorke's latest tooth-whitening company,

Diamond Teeth Whitening in Bromley.

Diamond Teeth Whitening.

Sixth floor.

Marc's hoping there'll be assets in the company's name at the premises.

Time to find out.

-Hiya.

-Hi.

..High Court writ that's been issued to Diamond Teeth Whitening,

from a Stephen Todd.

Have you any way of getting hold of them at all?

Cos we're here today to seize goods.

The woman leaves a message for boss Robert Yorke.

Marc agrees to wait until Mr Yorke calls back.

In the meantime, he gives the woman more detail on the writ,

but she's quick to point out a potential problem with it.

It's all in the name.

It's got the writ against Gold Cross Investments,

Diamond Teeth Whitening and Smart Europe Ltd.

This is Diamond Teeth Whitening Contracts.

The writ is against Diamond Teeth Whitening Ltd.

The woman says the company

is Diamond Teeth Whitening Contracts Ltd.

Only one word's difference,

but it could have major consequences for Stephen.

Right, have you got anything to say who you are,

any Companies House certificates?

And then I'll just do a few checks.

Marc gets in touch with his office to see if they can get any details

to back up what the woman's claiming.

I'm here now.

The company we got here is Diamond Teeth Whitening Contracts Ltd.

Saying that the other company, Diamond Teeth Whitening,

went into... Is that what you're saying?

Went into administration.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

While the office checks on the company names,

Marc and Tony have a quick scout of the premises,

which shows that there is a tooth whitening business on site,

with assets.

That's theirs.

They do do it in there. They do do it in there.

It's equipment Marc could potentially seize

if he can prove it belongs to Diamond Teeth Whitening Ltd.

Moments later, the woman manages to raise boss Robert Yorke.

Hiya.

Well, unfortunately, we have to act on the High Court writ

that we've been issued, so it would mean we have to seize goods today.

Mr Yorke isn't pleased to hear from the sheriffs,

and even less pleased about Marc's threat to seize goods.

He argues that his new company is a completely different entity,

but that won't stop Marc seizing the goods on paper

until Mr Yorke can prove it.

What I'll have to do today is I'll have to list the goods,

leave a copy of the inventory, then you get seven days to...

I won't take anything away,

I'll just have to list everything that's in here,

then you get seven days to send the stuff into our office, yeah?

But after speaking to their office, Tony's got bad news for Marc.

Cheers, darling, thank you. Bye-bye.

-That's closed.

-Yeah?

The other two don't exist.

Yeah.

The office confirms that Diamond Teeth Whitening Ltd has now closed,

and that Diamond Teeth Whitening Contracts Ltd

is a different company.

It's a body blow for Stephen Todd's hopes of getting his money back.

-OK?

-All right.

-Thanks very much.

-Cheers, bye-bye.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

'They've basically closed that company down.'

Unfortunately for the person who's owed the money,

I don't think they're ever going to get that.

All too often, the sheriffs are left chasing debts

from companies that are no longer trading,

and which have no remaining assets to pay off their debts.

For Marc,

Stephen's story is something the sheriffs see all too often.

He probably invested all the money he had into that.

And...I wish I could go in there and get that back for him, but I can't.

And...I wish I knew where it went or where it is,

but I can't find that out, unfortunately.

So...it's just one of those things.

Sheriffs Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally are in Kent,

on their way to see a man who's got previous with the sheriffs,

and not kept his word.

The defendant is a Mr Andy Chance.

He was supposed to be paying us in full.

Despite having a couple of follow-up letters, he just hasn't paid,

so we're off down there today to see if we can collect £6,285.53,

or potentially remove goods.

They're going back to Mr Chance's computer company

on behalf of a man who wasn't paid for work he carried out

for the company.

When the case went to court and Mr Chance failed to contest it,

a judge ruled in the man's favour,

and awarded him damages of just over £6,000.

When the sheriffs first visited Mr Chance

after the deadline to settle his debt had passed, he paid £2,000,

but has since stalled on paying off the rest as promised.

Today is the last chance for Mr Chance.

We're not there on a seizure visit this time.

We are there to remove.

Because he's had a previous visit where goods were seized.

We're looking for full payment or removal today.

-What number have we got, then?

-Unit 15.

-Unit 15.

First, though, they need to find the right unit.

"Leave parcels with Panelcare," it says.

Yeah, that's the wrong door.

All right.

This is the door.

Door, unit, door, unit...

Hello there.

We're looking for Andy Chance.

My name's Mr Grix, I'm the enforcement officer.

While they're in the right place, there's no sign of Mr Chance.

The woman inside explains Mr Chance has nipped home,

and is due back in a few minutes.

Basically, we're here today to remove goods from the premises

to clear his debt.

I suggest you stay outside.

-No.

-Please, I mean, I'm not going anywhere.

We won't be going outside.

We're going to start making an inventory

of what we're going to be taking.

Just wait for him to turn up.

And if he doesn't, we'll call in trucks.

With the threat of trucks hanging in the air, Lawrence and Kev go to work

making a list of goods that can be seized against the outstanding debt.

21 boxes of Cat 5E cable.

No-one knows stuff like that. How do you know it's Cat 5E cable?

-It says it on the box.

-You need to get out more.

It says it on the box!

HE LAUGHS

Their hi-tech list-making is interrupted

by the arrival of the man they've been waiting for -

the defendant, Andy Chance.

Hi there. Hello.

It's time to find out why he's failed to pay as agreed.

We've written to you and got nothing,

cos you said you wanted to pay it in full.

You asked for the bank details, according to what I've got here.

-Right.

-We had a letter from you requesting the bank details

-so you could make an instant payment in full by transfer...

-Right.

..and then you didn't.

Oh, sorry, I thought we'd agreed we'd pay it in stages.

Um... No, I've got nothing...

-Nothing to that effect on there at all.

-OK.

-So we're here today for £6,285.53...

-Right.

..and we are today on a removal visit, not a seizure visit,

because my colleague was already on the seizure visit.

At this point, we're asked to leave the premises

as Mr Chance explains that he doesn't have the £6,000 he owes.

Right, is there anybody that can help you out with it at all?

We take debit, credit cards...

Mr Chance maintains he's got no access to the necessary funds

right away, and asks for a few days to sort out payment.

Given the situation, this isn't good enough for Lawrence.

No, it needs to be done today.

Because that's the problem, because we are on a removal visit.

We can give you a little bit of time

if you need to make a few phone calls.

Kev spots something that could give them the perfect leverage

to make Mr Chance pay up what he owes -

an expensive saloon parked right outside.

Time to bring out another tool at the sheriffs' disposal.

With the clamp safely on,

Lawrence now has Mr Chance exactly where he wants him.

Right, um...

Bad news for you, unfortunately, I think, potentially.

The Audi, yours?

No?

Even sheriffs can make mistakes.

It turns out the car's nothing to do with Mr Chance.

Oh, my colleague said you turned up in an Audi.

I'll go tell him to unclamp it. HE LAUGHS

While Kev swiftly removes the clamp from the vehicle...

..inside, Lawrence's firm but fair stance has had the desired effect.

Mr Chance agrees to pay £1,000 straightaway,

and the rest in two more instalments by the end of the month.

There's your copy of that, sir.

That's your balance, £1,000 by the 14th, which is Friday,

balance by the 30th.

It's a great result for the sheriffs,

and means the man who originally lost out to Andy Chance

will now finally get his money back.

OK, so if you could just sign and print for me?

OK, then, Mr Chance.

Bye-bye.

For Lawrence, it's what he came for -

cash up front, and a concrete arrangement in place

for the debt to be cleared.

Mr Chance's brother came and paid the £1,000 for him on a credit card.

He's going to pay another £1,000 by the end of the week.

But we've seized everything.

He's signed a walking possession agreement, so, um...

I shouldn't think there's going to be any more problems.

I shouldn't think we'll have to come back.

For the sheriffs, some payments are easier to collect than others,

and heading deep into the English countryside,

Marc and Tony are hopeful that today their luck might be in.

They're on their way to visit Jenny Tooley,

former landlady of the Shepherd and Dog pub.

Chef Sam Morton was promised a bonus

if he stayed in his job as chef for the pub.

But after agreeing to stay on,

his bonus never materialised, so he resigned.

The matter went to court, but the Tooleys didn't attend.

The judge awarded Sam Morton £703, but he's still not been paid.

Aiming to get the former employee their money back,

Marc and Tony pull up and head in.

KNOCKS AT DOOR

Can Marc convince the former landlady

that this is a debt she needs to pay?

-Hiya.

-Hello.

-I'm after Jenny Tooley?

-Yeah.

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

Says, "Jenny Tooley, the Shepherd and Dog Ltd."

By Mr Morton.

That's been written back to.

Written back to...?

A letter's gone off to them.

The landlady says the Shepherd and Dog Ltd business

has now been wound up, so any debt it owes is now void.

But Marc's got some bad news for her.

They took the judgment against you personally

and the Shepherd and Dog Ltd.

It's against... Well, I'll show you the paperwork.

-It's "Jenny Tooley, the Shepherd and Dog Ltd."

-Yeah.

And we're here to collect the money or remove goods.

The landlady argues that it was her husband that dealt with the case,

which she knows little about.

But, as the sheriffs point out,

if your name's on the writ, it's no-one else's problem.

Technically, it would have nothing to do with your husband.

Because it's in your name.

And...

This is the address the court's got.

Yeah, I mean, this is the first address we've been to,

so this is the address that was on the writ here.

We haven't even got an address for the pub, so...

So this is the address that they've wrote to.

£1,431.

Well, best thing I can do is just pay it, then.

Result.

Only seven minutes at the property,

and Marc and Tony have scored a home run.

Mrs Tooley puts up little opposition,

instead agreeing to pay

without a walking possession or clamp in sight.

All the sheriffs have got to do now is find a way for her to pay.

A simple card transaction.

Not always easy when your chip and PIN machine

needs a mobile phone signal, and you're in the middle of the country.

Problem we've got...

We're going to have no signal here, are we, at all?

We might have. It's coming on.

It's connecting. Not much, but...

It's all right. Let's try and see.

Pop your card in first.

I don't think this is going to work, to be honest with you.

Every time we come to a little place like this,

we always struggle to get a signal.

Just had one and it's gone.

Oh, no, it's back.

-Don't move, Tony.

-I'm not.

I'm not.

-BLEEP

-Yeah.

Finally, Tony finds a signal, and payment goes through.

Despite the obstacles presented,

the sheriffs have got a result on behalf of Sam Morton.

I'll leave you, um...

There'll be another piece of paper with my name and number on as well...

our office details if you need to ask any questions.

Time to head to the next job.

-Cheers, thanks.

-Thanks very much, goodbye.

Almost.

Got the machine?

Yeah, it's in my back pocket, I think.

I got... No, it's on the bin there.

THEY LAUGH

I've got so many things in my pockets,

I don't know where things are.

Yeah, it was a good result, I mean, we got it paid quite quickly.

We've had a couple quicker than that, but, yeah, that wasn't long.

It was a good result.

I think the lady realised

that someone at her end had made a mistake

and just passed on the paperwork, so...

They were actually liable.

She could quite clearly see her name was there.

And she done the right thing and paid straightaway.

At least we got some money today, which is quite good.

Mrs Tooley told us she didn't agree with the court's verdict,

as in her eyes, Mr Morton's bonus was to be paid

at the end of his year's work, not before.

She said she'd received no notification

of the final court hearing, and felt her correspondence

wasn't properly taken into consideration by the court.

She said she was trying to contest the award,

and is waiting to hear back from the court on this.

It's one of the quickest £1,500

that Marc's ever taken on behalf of a client.

They can head on to their next job,

while Sam Morton can expect a cheque in the post very soon.

Since Pete and Dave visited Burgess Roofing

to try and seize boss Alan Burgess's motorbikes,

the bikes have been sold at auction.

Despite this, a considerable debt

owed to former employee Conrad Money still remains,

and the sheriffs are currently planning a further visit

to Mr Burgess to try and get that back as well.

Stephen Todd, meanwhile,

is continuing to pursue other legal avenues

to try and get his money returned to him.

I don't intend to just let it go,

because I do have other forms of redress which I intend to pursue.

'However, it's a learning experience,

'that's all you can really say,

'and I hope other people will learn something from it.

'Just be careful.'

-HE LAUGHS

-And watch out.