Episode 7 The Sheriffs Are Coming

Let's go and introduce ourselves.

We're High Court enforcement officers.

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

Their job 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.

It's time to call The Sheriffs.

-I've seized your car, sir.

-Let us through the door or we'll go through the window.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

They're enforcement officers of the High Court,

and the law says they're on your side.

Just collected 42 grand.

Coming up, golfer David Stefanovic had a 12-hour delay

on his flight home, but airline Jet2 hasn't paid his compensation.

Regulations say they're due to pay compensation,

and that's what they should do.

Sheriffs Chris and Steve check out the check-in.

We need to speak to somebody in regards to a High Court writ.

But can they get Jet2 to pay?

In Lancashire, sheriff Pete pops into a camper van company.

You need to put them off for 20 minutes

and do this, I think, cos it's more serious.

Can he get a disgruntled former customer the money he's owed?

Recovery truck's en route.

When he arrives in about 40 minutes,

obviously some vehicles will be going.

And in Birmingham, a Chinese education centre

owes a former student £34,000.

But when sheriffs Tom and Craig visit, they can't identify the boss.

We've met a gentleman here

who wasn't prepared to tell me who his name was.

The money isn't paid, so the sheriffs start seizing computers.

-Oh, hey!

-Sir, get your hands off me.

In West Yorkshire, it's the sort of weather that makes some people

think of jetting off to sunnier climes.

But for sheriffs Chris Pearson and Steve Hockborn,

the only warmth they'll feel

as a result of their visit to Leeds Bradford Airport

will come from knowing they've helped someone

to get the money that's rightfully theirs.

-MAN CHUCKLES

-What was that?

I've just seen the price list. You'll have to sell your van to get it back.

They're £2 for 30 minutes, £6 for an hour, and then it just went up.

Right, we're at Leeds Bradford Airport, looking for Jet2.com.

We're here on behalf of David Stefanovic

and Mrs Catherine Stefanovic, who are owed a relatively small sum,

to be honest. It's £1,788.73.

So what we're looking to do is go to the Jet2 desk.

We'll probably be invited up to the office.

And we'll take it from there, see what happens when we get there.

Should be pretty straightforward,

it normally is when it comes to airlines.

Should be straight in, straight out, no problems,

but you never know, we'll see when we get there.

The man the sheriffs are helping today is David Stefanovic.

His profession is chartered accountancy,

but his passion is golf, and that's what he likes to do on holiday.

20 years ago, we discovered a really nice resort

called Lagos in the Western Algarve,

so every year I take the opportunity to book an apartment so that I,

my wife and any family members who happen to be free at the time,

we can all meet up in Lagos and have a really good holiday.

In August 2012, David and his wife Catherine

went on their annual holiday to Portugal.

Two weeks booked of pure rest and relaxation.

Their holiday teed off brilliantly...

..with David playing like a tiger on the golf course.

And we had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect

and it's always nice to say I played quite well.

I came back from the holiday feeling quite good about my game.

You want it to run smoothly.

The last thing you need on a holiday is a hiccup either at the start,

or even at the end. You just want it to go...

You just want it to be plain sailing there.

The hiccup occurred on their flight back home.

Not the result of too much bubbly, but thanks to airline Jet2.com.

It was about ten minutes into the flight, er,

the captain came onto the Tannoy to say that unfortunately,

there was a problem with the aircraft,

and because of that, they had decided they would have to go back to Faro.

The captain explained a little bit more.

He said, "Unfortunately we can't land

"until we've used up some of this fuel,

"the aircraft has to be of a weight to land safely."

An hour and a quarter later, the 140 passengers landed safely.

Then they spent another hour on the plane

while engineers tried to fix the problem.

Eventually, they got to the point where they said,

"Sorry, we can't fix this.

"We're going to have to take you off the aircraft."

Although there were Jet2.com staff on the ground,

they themselves really didn't know what was going on

in terms of how we would be delayed.

Finally, passengers were informed that the plane couldn't be fixed,

and they would have to wait for a replacement to arrive from Italy.

It's frustrating, it's just inconvenient,

and there's nothing you can do about it yourself.

You are totally dependent on Jet2.com sorting this out for you.

They gave everybody a five euro voucher so they could go

and feed and water themselves, which was quite tricky in Faro Airport.

The spare jet finally arrived from Italy

and was ready to take them home.

In total, they were over 12 hours late.

David was disappointed with how Jet2 dealt with the delay.

He was determined to get what he was entitled to and sought legal advice.

The regulations say they're due to pay compensation,

and that's what they should do.

Determined to get what was rightfully owed to him,

he and his wife wrote separate letters to Jet2,

explaining they were on the 12-hour delayed flight,

and under European legislation they were entitled to compensation.

The response was mixed.

Jet2.com didn't ever get round to acknowledging my letter.

I was just completely ignored.

But my wife got a letter back saying, on this occasion,

they'd looked into the complaint,

but they had decided that it was a delay, certainly,

but it was beyond their control,

and therefore there was no compensation due.

But no details in the letter, it was simply "not our fault."

Over the next few months,

David wrote Jet2.com further letters asking for more details.

But there was no response.

I think the disappointing thing, from a customer experience,

is that we just felt we were being completely ignored.

Or fobbed off, in effect.

David wrote again, threatening legal action

if they didn't supply more information.

But again, there was no response.

This was the final straw, and David took the matter to court.

Jet2 didn't contest the case,

and a judgment was issued in the Stefanovics' favour,

awarding them 400 euros each.

But like the flights, the payment is delayed.

To get what's rightfully his, David has called in the sheriffs.

The weather at Leeds Bradford Airport is distinctly un-Portuguese.

Ah, it's lovely. This is summer up here.

Jet2 is based here, so Chris and Steve are heading

for the airport check-in desks in pursuit of David's money.

Jet2 isn't hard to spot.

We're from the High Court.

Just need to speak to somebody in regards to a High Court writ.

-A High Court writ?

-Yeah, there's been a High Court writ issued.

Our camera is asked to take the emergency exit.

Inside, Chris and Steve are taken to meet the Jet2 boss.

With the sheriffs in their office wielding a High Court writ,

Jet2.com consult their lawyers.

Following a recent European Court ruling,

dozens of airlines are being pursued by thousands of passengers

for the compensation they are due for flight delays.

It's not long before Jet2.com agree the debt should be settled,

and as soon as they have worked out how to pay, they do.

We spoke to the front desks and they contacted head of security,

who came down, took us up to the main office.

There wasn't much ado about anything,

everything went pretty smoothly, to be honest.

They didn't ask why the debt was outstanding,

who it was outstanding to.

All they asked for was a court reference, which we gave them,

er, and they got the information they needed from that.

They were quite happy to pay.

Relatively speaking, it was pretty brisk.

Got rid of it quite quickly, so, yeah, we're happy with that.

It was fine, nice comfortable seats. Couple of cups of coffee.

Bit of chat. That was about it.

And even happier than the rain-soaked sheriffs

is the man delayed by Jet2, David Stefanovic.

I'm really pleased.

It's disappointing in a way that Jet2.com kind of left it

to this stage that I felt I needed to employ the sheriffs,

but I think it demonstrates just what can be done if you're minded to.

For the effort that was involved, it's been an interesting exercise,

but I think in the end of the day, I'm really pleased with the outcome.

Jet2 told us that a miscommunication

between their solicitors and the courts

led to the default judgment and lack of payment.

They said they'd reviewed

their compensation review processes in light of this.

They added that given the size of the debt,

they were very surprised by the extreme way the writ was served.

There have been sheriffs since Saxon times.

Who's the sheriff? Are you the sheriff?

Today, they're called enforcement officers of the High Court.

We are High Court enforcement officers.

We're ordered here today to seize goods to the value of £1,640.95.

They can go to any address in England and Wales to enforce a writ.

I've run a trace on the company.

I'm not leaving, I'm an enforcement officer with a High Court writ.

Whatever the weather...

..and whatever the time...

Just after 5 o'clock at the moment.

..whether it's planes, boats, bikes, or even livestock...

The full amount - we're going to remove vehicles to that value.

..they can seize goods to remove and sell at auction if necessary,

to get YOU back your money.

It needs to be paid today or we will be removing goods.

If you have a county court judgment of over £600,

you can pay £60 to take it to the High Court

for enforcement by the sheriffs.

-The claimant has sent us out to collect the money.

-Yeah.

They've gone to the High Court, that's why we've become involved.

If they're successful...

Yay!

..there's no more to pay.

If not, there's a £60 admin fee.

You've been going on for four hours, 45 minutes.

If you're acting on his authority to pay it, pay it!

Enforcement officer Pete Spencer is heading into the northwest

on behalf of a claimant who's turned to the sheriffs to get him

a substantial sum of money he's owed.

We're heading up to Tarleton,

looking for over £12,000 today from this company.

I don't know if it's a private address we're attending

or the company address.

But the enforcement address we've been given, um,

potentially could be a private address.

It's in connection with a vehicle that's been sold to the claimant,

um, and the claimant's made a claim back.

Obviously, he's not been happy with the vehicle.

So that's the reason for our attendance today.

The money is owed to the purchaser of a custom-converted VW van,

from a company called Extra Special Vehicles.

When it eventually arrived, the vehicle was anything

but extra special and had numerous faults.

The owner has been fighting to get his money back ever since,

and took the company to court.

He also complained about them on a camper-van website.

Extra Special Vehicles then sued him for libel.

They lost both cases, but the money hasn't arrived.

It's time for the sheriffs to help.

The address Pete's been sent to

doesn't look much like a vehicle conversion company -

extra special or otherwise.

It's looking like it might be a private, er,

private residence down here.

It's not unusual for companies to have a registered,

or mailing address at someone's home.

-So Pete presses on.

-DOOR BELL RINGS

Hiya. I'm an enforcement officer. I've got a High Court writ.

I'm looking for Extra Special Vehicles.

Is there somebody here that I can speak to regarding that?

The woman says Pete should speak to her husband, Mr Pendlebury,

who runs Extra Special Vehicles.

He's not at home today,

but instead at the industrial unit where he works.

Pete heads off to find him.

The lady there's confirmed he does operate from there

and he's just got some lads working there for him,

although she believes he's not going to return there today.

More than likely, there will be assets belonging to

Extra Special Vehicles at that address.

So it's back on the road for Pete.

He heads off, looking for an industrial unit

where the business should be.

This looks quite residential as well, doesn't it?

There's some units over there behind those houses, so...

I think that's where it's going to be.

Finally, Pete locates his target.

And as expected, there are plenty of valuable vehicles on site.

And something unexpected too.

-Hiya.

-Are you after someone?

-Yeah, Extra Special Vehicles.

-That's me, yeah.

-All right, OK.

I'm an enforcement officer.

I've got a High Court writ to attend here today.

This is Mr Pendlebury, the owner himself.

-Can you just give us a...

-Yes, sure, yeah.

-Yeah.

We might be half an hour or so with these lads.

They've just come from Holland today.

-Is that all right?

-That's fine. Yeah.

Mr Pendlebury wants to attend

to some customers before he talks to Pete,

perhaps unaware that Pete's about to start listing vehicles

to be seized and towed today.

Right, I'll go back in and see

if I can get any joy out of what he's doing now.

But just then, Pete spots something that might prove useful.

That's the key for that. That's nice, isn't it? Does that work?

If it comes to towing vehicles, having the keys will certainly help.

But that won't be necessary if Mr Pendlebury pays up in full.

We've come to collect £12,056.76.

I've got a High Court writ. I'm executing it today.

For the full amount - we're going to remove vehicles to that value.

I've got these two lads that've come from Holland this morning.

I'd better sort these kids out and get them out of the way.

Is that the VW over there? The black transporter outside?

-No, that's a customer's vehicle, that.

-OK.

You'll have to inform your customer that it's been seized.

Pete knows he may have seized vehicles that belong to customers.

The owners will have to prove ownership

to prevent them being towed.

-Have you got any means of payment today?

-Um...

I don't know just yet. Is there any chance you guys can come back?

No, no.

-I can't come back.

-Where do we go from here, then?

-When I say come back, I mean today.

-No, we can't do that.

-We'll potentially be looking to remove goods today.

-OK.

Mr Pendlebury wants to deal with two customers from Holland.

Pete thinks he should pay attention to the serious threat

to his business of having vehicles and equipment seized.

I'm just going to show him where they make the frames for it.

I suggest you should really be dealing with this.

You need to start putting them off for 20 minutes and doing this, I think, cos it's more serious.

-The owner calls his wife and puts Pete on.

-Hiya.

Yeah.

-Yeah.

-She says she's about to apply to have the judgment set aside.

She thinks it will stop the enforcement in its tracks.

Have you got a number there that I can ring you back on?

Pete knows an application doesn't prevent enforcement,

but phones the office to find out exactly what's going on.

You'll like this one. He's rung his wife up.

She's just said to me she spoke to somebody called Andrew.

He's advised her to apply for an N244 this afternoon.

But while Pete was on the phone,

the owner has headed off with his two Dutch customers to look

at pop-up roofs for campervans, leaving his mobile phone behind.

The now phoneless Mr Pendlebury can't be contacted.

We'll return to Lancashire to see if Pete gets the van owner his money.

High Court enforcement officers

will go to any address in England and Wales to enforce a writ,

no matter how large or small the company.

Today, Darryl Oreton is on his way to Birmingham

to one of the country's largest insurance companies, Direct Line.

I'm just coming into Birmingham city centre now.

The defendant is Direct Line insurance.

They're looking for just over £12,000.

Quite a large amount.

Got to be one of the leading insurance companies, aren't they?

So, yeah. Not short of a few quid, let's put it that way.

The claim is being made by Davinder Ubhi.

When his BMW was in an accident,

he had it repaired by a Direct Line-approved garage,

but there were numerous problems.

Eventually, he had them fixed by another garage

and sent the bill to Direct Line, but they refused to pay.

When he took Direct Line to court, they didn't contest the case

and an award was made in Davinder's favour.

But it was never paid.

Although £12,000 is a lot to Davinder,

with revenues of over 4 billion,

it should be a drop in the ocean for Direct Line.

With High Court writ in hand, Darryl heads in to ask for the money.

Afternoon.

Um... I'm a High Court enforcement officer.

High Court enforcement officer.

I need to speak to somebody managerial or in accounts.

-I'll see if I can contact someone.

-OK.

-Take a seat.

-Yeah, thank you.

Darryl's only too happy to take the comfy seat.

But it's more than just a chance to have a sit-down.

Just listing a few assets of what's here. Not a great deal!

He gets to work inspecting assets he could potentially remove.

Just these four sofas, two coffee tables and that big yellow picture!

Depends who the artist is there, but a few hundred pounds,

I would have thought.

Moments later,

-a Direct Line representative comes down to talk to him.

-Hiya.

I'll just show you my ID. I'm a High Court enforcement officer.

We're here to execute a High Court writ.

It's against Direct Line Insurance plc.

-It's on behalf of a Davinder Ubhi.

-Right, OK.

I'm here to collect just over £12,000.

-Can I just take that with me for a second?

-Yeah, of course you can.

-Yeah.

-And I'll be back.

-OK.

After another brief wait, a second man comes down to deal with Darryl.

-He asks our camera to leave.

-Hiya.

The man says the matter relating to the writ is still in dispute

and that Direct Line have applied for a stay on the writ

as they want to have the judgment set aside.

But neither of these has yet been granted,

and Darryl's writ is still very much live.

There's two options for you to go down at the moment. Um...

..seizure of goods which, obviously,

we don't really want to go down that route.

The only other route is for you to pay this money today.

It's held by law for 14 days, giving you the right to appeal.

The man insists he's not going to pay the writ today.

Darryl agrees to take walking possession

of Direct Line's assets instead.

What I will do, I'll make a list of assets worth this value, OK?

And I'll give you seven days

to either pay in full or get it resolved.

Darryl's taken to view what's on offer for his seizure list.

It's mainly office furniture and computers, and he lists it all.

They're now technically the property of the High Court.

If Direct Line don't win their set-aside,

it acts as a guarantee on the debt.

So, they weren't going to pay any money there and then.

Realistically, we weren't going to be removing any goods from there.

So, we made a seizure of goods. Pretty much all office equipment.

We're looking at about 500 monitors,

250 hard drives, keyboards, desks, chairs.

Just general office equipment, but a lot of it.

I've given seven days to pay in full...

..or for them to hurry on their court action, really.

They want their day in court, pretty much,

so if they go back to court and lose, I'm sure they'll pay.

And since we filmed,

Direct Line's application for a set-aside was dismissed.

Davinder Ubhi now has his money.

Direct Line told us that they had tried to engage with Mr Ubhi

to better understand his allegations about the disputed repair work

and resolve the matter.

They said, at the time, they had received the court's order.

These discussions remained outstanding

and their solicitors had applied to the court

to have the judgment reviewed

but this was not processed in time to prevent the sheriffs' visit.

Near Preston in Lancashire, Sheriff Pete Spencer has been trying

to recover over £12,000 from Extra Special Vehicles

on behalf of a disgruntled campervan owner.

He bought a custom-converted campervan from the company,

but when it arrived, it had numerous faults.

The owner's been trying to get his money back ever since.

The business owner, Mr Pendlebury,

has ignored Pete's pleas to deal with his debt

and has been away with customers for over an hour.

Mr Pendlebury's wife just applied to the court

to get the judgment set aside, but Pete knows this doesn't prevent him

enforcing today, so he passes the news onto the wife.

Hi, it's Mr Spencer.

Obviously, an application doesn't stop the enforcement process.

It's just an application, and that could take a couple of weeks

or even a month to be heard by a judge.

We're here to enforce the live writ,

and the High Court writ is live, as of today.

With the owner still away,

it's looking more likely Pete will have to seize goods.

He doesn't want Mr Pendlebury's white campervan

-making any unexpected journeys.

-Potentially looking at taking this.

So we'll just block this in.

And we'll wait for the defendant's wife to give us a call back.

Just then, a man turns up, claiming he owns the black van.

He says he's the one who does up the interiors

and is keen to show off his handiwork.

Look at her! She's mint. Fridge here.

DVD player. And that drops down into a bed. And there's a bed up there.

But Pete is only interested in who owns it.

All I need to see is proof of purchase, that's all.

-So, an invoice or anything like that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Do I need to get it now?

Well, we booked a recovery truck. He's coming back in half an hour.

No, it can't be moved until... It's property of the court at the moment.

-This is?

-Yeah.

-How can it be?

It can be, because we've not determined who owns it yet.

Pete still doesn't care about the bus

but realises he might learn something useful.

-What's this worth, finished, then?

-20 grand, that is.

-Is it?

-That's what I knock them out at, anyway.

-Right.

I've not sold any of that yet.

THEY LAUGH

Even if it fetches nothing like that at auction,

the surprisingly high value of the vans makes them well worth seizing.

But Pete would prefer the debtor to pay up.

He calls the owner's wife to see if she can persuade him.

Has he no means of any payment today whatsoever

to not have them removed or anything? OK, thank you. Bye-bye.

With no prospect of payment, Pete arranges the tow truck.

You're just showing off now, aren't you? He's not back now.

-He's coming back.

-Is that what he said?

-About an hour ago, yeah.

He's on his way. Sat in traffic.

Have you spoke to him?

I've only spoke to his wife.

He's left his mobile here, so I can't speak to him.

Mr Pendlebury told Pete he'd be away for half an hour.

Finally, over two hours later, he's back.

-Have you brought some money or...?

-No.

-No? Right, OK.

Recovery truck's en route

so when he arrives in about 40 minutes,

obviously some vehicles will be going.

Pete's powers of persuasion fail to get the owner to pay,

so now he's going to exercise his power to seize goods.

The tow truck arrives.

He's not paid. We're removing one vehicle today,

which he said is his. He's given us the key for the vehicle now.

Taken some stuff out of it.

He did a walking possession agreement for the remainder of the goods on site, basically.

And with the truck loaded for towing,

Pete has done what he can to recover the money.

We've removed one vehicle, we've seized all the other vehicles.

He's now got five days to pay

or this particular vehicle goes to auction

to recover the outstanding. He's done a walking possession agreement

for the remainder of the items in the warehouse,

ie, the compressor, the paint and everything else,

so obviously, if he doesn't pay, we'll be back to remove those items.

Thanks to the sheriffs, the disappointed van owner

WILL be getting his money.

I think he's looking to try and raise the funds

and pay in full and get it cleared.

Since we filmed, a stay was granted on the writ

and the campervan was returned to Extra Special Vehicles,

pending a further court hearing.

On a bright morning in the Midlands,

enforcement officers Tom Coyle and Craig Wild

are in pursuit of business

that's likely to challenge Tom's linguistic prowess.

Right, we're in Birmingham today.

We're after a David Xiang

and Shidai Education.

It's £34,311.74.

The £34,000 Tom and Craig are hoping to collect today

was awarded by the court to a former pupil

who was in dispute with the Shidai Education Centre.

But they haven't paid up,

so the sheriffs have been ordered in.

It's the Chinese quarter.

You've got the Chinese supermarket there. Brilliant.

Spices and all your food.

-That's it, that massive thing there. Yeah.

-Is it?

It's all Chinese businesses and that in there.

Their powers mean that if the money is not forthcoming,

Tom and Craig will seize goods to be sold at auction.

Xiang... Xian...

Watch that step.

But first, they have to find company directors named on the writ.

'Doors closing.'

Hello. We're trying to get in contact with a Mr David Xiang.

My name's Mr Wild, and we're from the High Court.

Is, um, Xiang...

-What's on the door.

-That's here?

-Yes.

-Two different names.

-Two names there.

-Two names.

And the company here.

-Shidai Education. Is that yourself?

-It is.

-Right.

Is the boss about?

David Xiang...

Xiang...

-I have no idea about that.

-Right.

-So we are trying to connect...

-OK.

Would you mind...?

What you have to do, the court order commands us

to obviously stay here until it's resolved.

Finally, someone arrives.

But he's accompanied by security.

Sorry?

-Who are you, sir?

-The security of the building.

-Oh, right.

-My name is Mr Wild, I'm an officer of the High Court.

-Right.

I'm here today with a court order.

Craig's credentials have an instant effect on the security man,

leaving the new arrival

looking for other ways to get rid of the sheriffs.

If you want to phone the police, that's your prerogative, sir.

Not a problem at all.

But this is a civil recovery action against the education company here

as well as also a David Xiang.

-He's not our staff.

-Who's he, then?

-I have no idea.

-Right.

He's not with us.

Have you ever heard of the lady called...?

Craig points out the name of the claimant,

who wants to remain anonymous.

A student?

She has taken David Xiang...

and the Shidai Education, which is the company here, to court,

and I'm here with a court order

to collect the sum of £34,311.

-We have contact through the High Court...

-Yes.

..because that's not our business.

It is your business. It says it there.

-And you're Mr...?

-Why do you record my name?

The man seems reluctant to give his name,

but he is familiar with the case.

We sent to the call and the call said it's nothing to do with us.

-Show me...

-We've got all the paperwork.

You show me the paperwork then, sir.

-Have a seat.

-I'm going to carry on doing my job, because this order tells me to carry on doing my job.

Are you saying you've actually received paperwork

from the High Court saying that we are not to come out

and execute this order? I don't think you have.

I'm going to carry on doing my job if the money isn't paid.

Excuse me, sir.

The man heads off, apparently to find the High Court paperwork.

Meanwhile, Tom and Craig start seizing the company's assets on paper,

with a view to removing them later.

-ST2.

-ST2.

-08.

-08.

-100.

-100.

It's a significant task, if they are to raise over £34,000.

They're starting with the computers,

hoping the threat of seizing those and effectively stopping

the office from working will persuade the company to cooperate.

-Zoo storm.

-Zoo storm.

-Yeah.

We can, sir.

-Excuse me. Excuse me. You cannot take...

-Sir, get your hands off me.

-Anything for you to damage...

-That's fine, sir.

I've told you what we're here for today.

With Craig and Tom doggedly listing the computers they're seizing,

the man heads off.

WOMAN: Excuse me, sir, I really want to talk to you.

Finally, the pressure seems to have had an effect.

The company's solicitor, Mr Sumner, is on the phone.

First and foremost, who was the gentleman with you?

Because we met a gentleman here

wasn't prepared to tell me who his name was. Right.

Shortly afterwards, the solicitor turns up.

Hello, sir. Mr Sumner?

-No.

-Oh, right. You are?

-My name's Peggs. I'm a solicitor.

-Right.

I've come to speak to you. Is there a room we can go into and have a chat?

In the corner over there. Give me two seconds.

It's a different solicitor,

who wants to have the case explained to him, away from our camera.

Craig tells the solicitor that he's got trucks on stand-by

and will be seizing and, if necessary, removing goods.

The first solicitor's back on the phone.

Basically, Mr Sumner has told Mr Xiang

to get himself down the bank as quick as possible

and get as much money as he can.

But a quarter of an hour later, nothing's happened.

Tom and Craig are concerned

that the man who they think might be the company director

isn't coming back.

No problem. Five minutes, he's going to be here.

His solicitor sent him off 15 minutes ago, to go down the bank.

With no company director and no money, it's back to plan A.

Time to turn off the computers.

Due to start shutting this one down now,

because I'm going to start packing this away from this end.

I'm sorry. I'm not waiting any longer.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

-They're in the lift?

-Right.

-Hello again.

-Hello.

-Can we have another quick word?

-Yes, by all means.

The second solicitor is back

but there's no sign of the man from earlier.

The solicitor explains that the woman waiting outside

is one of the company directors.

He says they can immediately raise between £2,000 and £3,000.

But Craig says he's spoken to his office

and the minimum they'll accept is £10,000.

The director agrees to pay £10,000 of the £34,000 debt now,

with the rest to follow.

It's a great result for the former student,

who will now get some of the substantial sum he is owed,

and for Craig and Tom, whose persistence has paid off.

As the payment goes through,

the solicitor wants to put the company's side of the story.

My name's Regan Peggs. I'm a solicitor.

The company does not accept that it owes this debt to the claimant

and in fact, there are three defendants on this order.

They don't accept that they are linked to the other two defendants either.

It's their intention in due course to apply to have the order set aside.

From a practical point of view, of course,

they know that they need to open up tomorrow,

so they are paying £10,000,

which they will hope to reclaim in due course.

Thanks for your time. Take care.

The sheriffs are walking away with a third of the debt paid

and the goods seized on paper until the remainder is with the claimant.

It's a reasonable outcome,

given that the value of the computers in the office

came nowhere near the £34,000 owed.

We had to push them a few times

because they were seeking legal advice

and it was getting a bit stale sometimes, with not a lot happening.

They were biding time.

We had to push the point and it had the desired effect.

They got the solicitor there and Craig had a chat with the solicitor

and managed to get the £10,000.

It's just short of a third of the liability that they've paid. Um...

with the proposal to pay the remaining balance

within the next five days.

To be fair and honest with you, we had ten desks and ten chairs

-and ten computers. Sorry, nine computers...

-Limited value.

..of limited value and to walk out of there with £10,000

is a good result, compared with the fact that the asset value

in the premises was minimum.

A good result, I think, all in all.

Enforcement officers of the High Court execute 70,000 writs

and collect £64 million a year.

We are here now, sir. You need to make the payment now.

Money rightfully owed to their clients.

We are here to seize goods from the property.

Sheriffs have more powers than County Court bailiffs

and obstructing them in their work is a criminal offence.

No, it's being removed.

Craig, do you want to ring the police?

This gentleman's stopping me doing my job.

Sheriffs can enter residential premises

through an open or unlocked window or door

and climb perimeter walls and fences to get there.

And in commercial premises, they can even force entry...

He's got five minutes to call me before I call locksmiths. OK?

..whether it's to seize goods...

or return a building to its rightful owners.

-Yeah, what?

-Don't get violent.

They can even search through company documentation

for paperwork they believe might be relevant to a writ.

It's called diligent search, sir.

All in the cause of getting members of the public money

that's rightfully theirs.

Enforcement officers Lawrence and Kev are heading into Essex,

trying to find a place with a rather unusual name.

At the moment, we are on our way to a place called Matching Tye

in Essex, to a company called Better Removals And Storage Limited.

They've got a store on a farm in Matching Tye

and we're looking for £3,688.65.

Matching Tye is not far from Harlow in Essex

and is the location of Better Removals.

The company certainly didn't live up to its name for the claimant.

The case centres around a set of shiny black surround sound loudspeakers,

which were damaged by the company when they moved them.

Once alerted to the damage, Better Removals made things worse.

When the speakers were returned, instead of being repaired,

they had suffered further damage.

The claimant eventually took the company to court.

The case wasn't contested

and he was awarded the cost of replacing the speakers.

But he hasn't been paid.

So now Lawrence and Kev are going to get him the money he's due.

-Can't be a big removal lorry, can it?

-Not getting under these trees.

Farm entrance. Got it.

We're here.

As usual, Lawrence and Kev haven't advertised their visit.

-Hello. Hello, there. Better Removals And Storage.

-Yes, mate?

My name is Mr Griggs.

I'm an enforcement officer. We've got a High Court writ today

to execute against the company.

-Are you the governor?

-No, I'm just a manager.

-I'm not, no.

-You're the manager. Is the governor about?

-I can ring him on the phone, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, sure, no problem.

We're going to take an inventory of goods that we are seizing

to clear the debt because that is what we are ordered to do,

by the court.

The most valuable goods on site are the vans which seem to have names.

It's not just the sheriffs' visit which is a surprise for the manager.

He says he doesn't know about the case.

Paperwork was sent here, but nobody replied to it.

It's therefore ordered that you must pay that much,

-and interest, blah blah blah.

-OK.

Obviously, because that wasn't paid, because that was sent here as well,

they've then transferred it up to the High Court,

which has incurred more costs.

We are now commanded to seize an execution of goods,

chattels and other property of the defendant

and raise therefrom the sums detailed in the schedule.

We are here with a High Court writ today and it's live.

We have to execute that writ today.

Is that your phone? It's not mine.

The manager is trying to get the business owner on the phone.

Meanwhile, Kev has been listing goods for seizure.

Just a load of vehicles, really.

If they come on the phone and they say they're not paying,

one of them will be going.

There's definitely enough assets to cover the debt.

But the boss is on the phone for Lawrence.

Yes. The outstanding amount at the moment is £3,688.65.

You can't argue it is now, no, but the money's held for 14 days.

It's not disbursed,

so it's not going to be paid out to him for 14 days.

So in that 14 days, you can seek independent legal advice.

And take whatever...

No, no. We're enforcement officers with the High Court.

We're higher than a bailiff.

Faced with the onslaught of information from Lawrence,

the company immediately agrees to pay.

Payment appears in the form of the manager's company debit card.

Also making an appearance are some less welcome visitors.

Midges.

-I told you.

-Yeah.

-That's his Hercules pose.

-Yeah.

Another unwelcome feature of the rural location

is a lack of signal for the chip and PIN machine.

-It's a bit better in there, is it?

-Over there, I got a signal.

-Over here somewhere? Yeah?

-A little bit...

-Oh, yeah.

It jumped up to three bars. Connection made. Come on.

Yay!

There's your receipt and your card.

-Thanks very much.

-Take care, mate.

This has been a textbook operation for Lawrence and Kev.

Having heard their case, the company immediately paid up in full.

So a good day for the sheriffs,

and of course for the midges.

There's little midges. There's little midges in everywhere.

-There's loads of them.

-Oh, yeah.

-Cor!

-Give me a shower scene.

That's better. Let's get out of here.

Oh! What a horrendous place.

It was a little bit remote, finding it,

up some country lanes, but we got there.

There was plenty of vehicles,

three or four Luton vans, smaller vans, big lorries, trailers,

so loads of assets. The manager was there.

He didn't know anything about it at all,

so he got the guv'nor on the phone,

um, basically, the guv'nor said they'll pay.

They know the money's held for 14 days,

so they were quite happy to pay it.

The manager was a nice chap, no issues.

He just got the owner on the phone and they paid it.

The only problem we did have, the only issue,

was apparently corn midges.

We were standing there scratching, and there are some still on me now.

There's one there, one there. One there, one up there.

SLAP

That's just an excuse.

Better Removals told us

they felt the damage caused in moving the speakers was only minor.

They said that, despite this,

they had sought to repair them to the claimant's satisfaction,

sending them to a restorer.

They dispute that they caused any further damage to the speakers.

They said they had been prepared to make a payment

to the claimant for the damage caused

but they could not agree on an amount,

and the claimant had refused to return the old speakers to them.

They also said they had not realised the matter had been taken to court.

They added that the managing director had not been available

on the day of filming.

They said this was not a regular occurrence

for a family business that had high standards

and in this instance, had tried to do the right thing.