Episode 1 The Sheriffs Are Coming

If you're owed money but aren't getting paid, it's time to call the sheriffs.

My name's Mr Grix. My colleague and I are enforcement agents.

I'm here to issue a High Court Writ.

I've got to do what I'm instructed to by the courts.

They're Enforcement Agents of the High Court

and, if a court's ruled in your favour, they're on your side.

If the debtor doesn't want to pay...

You currently owe £9,461.80.

..the law says the sheriffs can get you what you're owed.

If you don't come to the door, we HAVE to remove the vehicle off the drive.

You'll have a week to pay in full before it gets sold at auction.

Whether it's a small company...

Can I speak to the person in charge, please?

..or a household name...

We're here to see someone from G4S.

..if they owe you money - the sheriffs get it paid.

I'm not going anywhere. You get him to come in here.

We're not going to be waiting around like that. It needs to be done now.

I just collected 42 grand.

Coming up,

dental hygienist Paula Ball didn't get paid for working with

one of the UK's biggest security firms.

I really couldn't believe it.

I thought, "What on earth are they playing at?"

This is a huge company - why didn't they just pay?

So what will happen when Lawrence and Kev arrive on the company's doorstep?

We have a High Court Writ, so we don't have to take any notice of your security protocol, I'm afraid.

The gold and silver are just out of reach when Sheriff Ken Warby tries

to recover a debt owed by a jeweller.

Can you come to the door, please?

I can't shout through the letterbox - that's ridiculous.

Unfortunately, she's not letting us in.

But can he get the company to pay?

Steve Lee was let down by a customer

who'd booked one of his motor homes.

I lost income as result of them suddenly

cancelling at the last moment

and I thought it was most unfair. Most unreasonable.

Will the sheriffs be able to get what he's owed?

We sent out a notice of enforcement.

We've had no contact, so that's why we're here.

Central London, and enforcement agents Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally are battling

their way through the morning traffic.

They've got a High Court Writ against one of the country's biggest security firms.

We're actually going to G4S. We're going to their main building.

Obviously sort of famous for providing the security for the Olympics.

Often, smaller debts can be missed by large corporations,

but that's not an excuse the sheriffs will accept

and G4S owes £1,100 to a contractor.

A dental hygienist that did work for them in a prison

in East Yorkshire.

She did five sessions and hasn't been paid for them.

Would you like to open really wide?

That dental hygienist is Paula Ball.

For nine years, she worked regular sessions in the Wolds Prison

near Hull, where G4S had the contract to provide health care.

It was work which Paula loved.

It was very, very rewarding.

Most of the patients hadn't seen a dentist for many years.

Their teeth were not in the best condition.

They were very, very pleased at seeing a hygienist.

It changed my perception of prison life, to be quite honest.

But when G4S lost the contract, the new health care providers

didn't want to hire a hygienist, so the work dried up.

To make matters worse, G4S never paid Paula for her final sessions.

This became beyond a joke.

Money from March still hadn't been paid by July.

Paula was owed nearly £1,400

and despite repeatedly chasing up the payments,

the money never arrived.

I sent e-mails.

I spoke to people on the phone. Difficult to speak to

people on the phone cos you get a different person each time.

Whether I just got lost in the system, I don't know.

Paula had assumed that, if she persisted,

then sooner or later, G4S would pay up.

But as the months went by, her patience ran out.

She began to realise the only way she was going to get paid

was if she took some kind of legal action.

I think I just got the bit between my teeth

that this really was unfair.

I still have bills to pay, like everybody else.

It was quite scary, taking on a company as big as them,

so I was talking to a friend one evening

and she said, "Oh, you should try Money Claims Online."

Money Claims Online is a government website which allows

consumers to lodge their case with the County Court.

Paula filed her claim against G4S

and while the company initially said they'd defend it, they didn't.

Paula was awarded a judgment in her favour,

ordering the company to settle the debt.

I then thought that they would pay up...

..but they didn't. I really couldn't believe it.

I thought, "What on earth are they playing at?"

This is a huge company.

It's just unbelievable.

Just when Paula had given up hope, she received an e-mail

out of the blue from G4S to say they'd made a payment of £825.

They never explained why it was less than what she was owed

and Paula didn't appear to have received it.

They said they'd paid it

and there was no record of it going into my account.

And then they discovered they'd tried to pay it into the wrong

account - an account that doesn't exist.

Eventually they did pay £825 into my bank account.

Whether it was to shut me up, or to stop the process, I don't know.

Paula's still been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket

and, having had to fight to get this far, she's not about to give up.

I have worked for that money and I've earned it...

..so I will go after the remaining balance.

And left with no other alternative, that means turning to the sheriffs.

I can think of no other way of retrieving the money.

I'm a bit at a loss and this is the last hope.

It's now up to them to see what they can do.

In the capital, Lawrence and Kev are on their way to see G4S.

They're confident of getting paid, though they are expecting

that the sheer size of the company might complicate matters.

Just getting them to recognise the claimant and find the claimant

in their system is normally half the battle with big companies like this.

Another challenge is parking in Central London.

This time, Lawrence thinks he's got lucky

but he might be getting ideas above his station.

"Diplomatic cars only"?

That's handy.

The G4S office is in a shared block and the first challenge for Lawrence

and Kev will be getting past reception.

Morning. My name's Mr Grix.

-My colleague and I are enforcement agents. We're here to see somebody from G4S.

-Mr?

-Grix.

We're not meeting with anybody.

We're here to execute a High Court Writ against G4S.

-What are they on, floor five?

-Yeah.

-We'll just go up. It's all right.

But the reception staff have other ideas.

No, we'll just go up.

-The thing is...

-We have to call them.

-We have a High Court Writ,

so we don't have to take any notice of your security protocol, I'm afraid.

If you want to phone them and your phone call gets

through before we do, that's fair enough.

Lawrence and Kev have got past the security firm's security with ease.

Upstairs, and it's reception number two.

Morning, my name's Mr Grix.

My colleague and I are enforcement agents.

We've got a High Court Writ to execute against G4S,

so I'd imagine we need to speak to someone either in your accounts or your legal department, please.

Yeah.

The sheriffs are asked to wait while the staff make enquiries.

I think this is about the biggest security company

in the country, isn't it?

Turnover - nearly seven billion.

That's a few quid.

So they should be able to cover the £1,100 they owe today -

provided they can find the right person to deal with it.

Hello.

No, we've just got G4S.

We don't...we haven't got a division, specifically.

As Lawrence predicted, no-one seems quite sure who the right person

is to deal with the sheriffs' unannounced arrival,

let alone finding details of the claimant.

But within a few minutes, someone more senior arrives.

Hello.

Our cameraman's told to leave the building, while Lawrence and

Kev stay inside, trying to persuade G4S to pay Paula's missing wages.

An hour and a half later, they emerge.

I don't think they actually managed to find out what it was about.

They're such a big organisation,

with so many different branches and so many sub-contractors,

they didn't actually bother to try to find our claimant on the system.

Basically, they just went away and arranged the transfer,

and they're going to look into where it went wrong later on

and kick the appropriate person up the posterior, probably.

Bit boring, sitting there for the best part of two hours

waiting for someone to manage to do a bank transfer,

but a success is a success.

The sheriffs have been paid in full

and, back in Yorkshire, Paula Ball is delighted.

I would like to thank the sheriffs.

They've done a very good job. Very relieved that it's all over now and

that the money's actually in my bank account. And I would like to say to

people - don't be intimidated by doing something like this

and taking on a large company.

It can work out and you can get your money back.

G4S told us that they...

..for her services.

The company has been making...

However, they say the...

If you've been ripped off,

and the person or company responsible refuses

to pay you back, the first step is to make a claim in the County Court.

It's simple to do this online,

for a small fee, depending on the size of the claim.

The court will review the evidence

and, if it finds in your favour, the debtor will be ordered to pay up.

If they don't, then for a further £60, the High Court will grant

a Writ, authorising the sheriffs to act on your behalf.

If they're successful - you get all your money back.

While Lawrence and Kev are chasing the big fish,

sheriff Ken Warby is in Finchley,

looking for a very different kind of business.

He's pursuing a debt owed by a small shop.

We're off to a place called Gina Jewellers.

The debt is £1,600.

The only thing I know about it is

it's unpaid invoices to a jewellery wholesaler's.

The wholesaler is a family firm called Jenny Brown Ltd.

After Gina Jewellers ran up an unpaid bill of over £1,000,

they took the matter to the County Court

and won a judgment in their favour.

It's not been settled and now Ken is on his way to chase the debt.

Ken's looking forward to the job.

It's not just diamonds that are a sheriff's best friend -

he'd settle for gold or silver if it comes to it.

They're very easy to remove - goods from jewellery shops.

You can usually demand the full amount straight away.

So, yeah, pretty confident we can get a result on this one.

Oh, there it is. And it is Gina Jewellers, yes.

Ken parks up and heads for the door,

but it turns out he's not the only one aware of how easily

the shop's stock can be removed.

They've got a button entry system, so Ken won't be just striding in.

The lady's seen me standing here.

Hello!

See if they'll come.

Hello? Sorry, can you come to the door, please?

The staff have decided they don't like the look of Ken

and our camera, and they're not opening up.

Instead, they're battening down the hatches.

It's an intercom to get into the door.

Now they're behind the protective screen and they're on the phone to someone now.

It could be the police or anyone - I don't know.

Ken can't do anything unless he can get inside the shop,

or at least speak to the staff.

With no leverage, he's got to try and be diplomatic.

I'll explain what this is about. I've got identification on me.

Can you not come to the door?

I can't shout through the letterbox - that's ridiculous.

That is, however, EXACTLY what he'll have to do.

Right. It's regarding a debt owed to someone called Jenny Brown Ltd.

Is that making any sense?

Right, OK. You've got an amount outstanding as at today's date of £1,668.88.

The staff member says the shop has recently changed hands

and that the debt dates back to the previous owners.

What Ken will need to find out is whether any of the assets

inside actually belong to the company named on the Writ,

but that's going to be tricky as the woman still won't open the door.

Unfortunately, she's not letting us in and the owner isn't back

until later on this afternoon.

She's told me to wait for now, so I'm wondering what she's

going to come back to the door and talk about,

but at the moment she's only talking to me through the other side.

Bit of a shame because there's certainly plenty of assets in there.

But unless the woman is willing to open the door,

he won't be getting his hands on any of those assets today.

Faced with little alternative, Ken decides to call it quits for now.

Will you take this? All right?

This just explains what the debt is about. That's the breakdown.

All I will suggest, OK, because this is our first attendance,

is that this gets paid today because, failing that,

we will be back again and, when we come back,

there will be extra charges on there.

All right. Thank you.

Cheers.

Ken's hoping the threat of a growing bill will prompt the company

to respond and that's best he can do.

I'm hoping that she's going to give me a call

later on today or get the debt paid.

We'll be back another day. It doesn't bother me that much.

Ken heads off to the next job

but, a couple of hours later, he gets a phone call.

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

Two ways you can pay that - you can either go online

and pay it by card or you can do a bank transfer.

Ken's presence at the shop earlier clearly had an effect.

Even though the shop's being taken over by a different company,

the sale hasn't yet completed

and, in the meantime, the new boss is willing to settle

the debt on the previous owner's behalf.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Apparently they're under new ownership,

but the guy that's bought the jewellers still wants to clear

the debts. The debt outstanding is £1,668 as at today's date.

He said he can pay the £600.

I said, if he can pay the £1,000 today,

I'll give him two weeks to pay the balance.

He's going to give me a call back,

so hopefully that will get sorted soon as well.

Later that day, the boss did pay the £1,000

and cleared the remaining balance within two weeks.

Jenny Brown Ltd have now got their money back.

Sheriffs are now officially known as High Court Enforcement Agents

and they'll collect the money you're owed.

My job is to collect in full or remove goods.

They've got more powers of entry than bailiffs.

We don't have to take any notice of your security protocol, I'm afraid.

And there's no limit on the size of the debts they can pursue.

£1.6m.

Their fees are set by the government,

which debtors have to pay on top of what they already owe.

Thank you very much. See you later.

If the sheriffs can't recover any of your money,

there's a fee of £75 plus VAT.

After a disappointing start to the day,

Lawrence and Kev are now heading for the south coast,

where they're hoping to have better luck chasing a debt

owed by a company specialising in some kind of motorsport.

Bit of a dreary morning.

Apart from that, we're going to Sam Thomas Racing Ltd.

We are looking for £3,075.

Sam Thomas Racing Ltd was taken to court after cancelling

a booking to hire a motorhome from a company called Jumbocruiser.

Jumbocruiser is based in Newport in Wales

and was set up by its MD Steve Lee just over ten years ago.

The company specialises in renting out plush motorhomes for events.

It's been quite an interesting business to go into.

We've been renting out vehicles to motor racing drivers,

for production crew,

even for private families to go to a music festival like Glastonbury.

Here we have a sofa which turns into a double bed.

Lovely American fridge-freezer with ice-making machine.

Don't know which one, but I can tell you that One Direction

even slept in this bed.

It's taken longer than I expected to become profitable,

but we are profitable now.

But Steve doesn't want anything to jeopardise the success he's

worked hard for and, as Sam Thomas Racing are about to discover,

that includes unpaid bills.

Sam Thomas contacted me about a month before a major

event at Silverstone, asking for a motorhome.

I sent him pricing and links to photographs of example vehicles.

This motor home was available

and, as Mr Thomas liked the look of it, he booked it for four days.

The paperwork he signed spelt out the cancellation policy

and what money had to be paid upfront.

It's normal to take a deposit up to 25% immediately

and, then, the balance usually a month before.

The cost of the hire was just under £2,400

and Steve expected the payment to arrive shortly.

After about a week, I noticed we hadn't received the money,

so I contacted Mr Thomas. He said he was away at the moment,

but his secretary should have done it.

But when he gets back, he'll get it sorted.

And then a week later, I still hadn't received it

and I had got another customer wanting that particular vehicle.

And asked him if he want to come out of the contract and that's OK

because I've got another customer. He said, "No, no, no, no.

"I really do want the motor home.

"I'll get it sorted."

Reassured that Mr Thomas was committed to his booking,

Steve turned the other customer away.

But as the date of the hire approached, the money still

hadn't been forthcoming and then Steve received a call.

A few days before the event, Mr Thomas contacted me

to say that his partner has got a brand-new motorhome,

it's being delivered now, and they won't need our one.

I thought that it was most unfair, most unreasonable.

Steve wasn't about to take that lying down.

So, I said, "Well, I'm sorry, you've left it rather late now

"and I have been chasing you over this.

"I'm sorry but I have to hold you to the contract now because

"it's very unlikely I'm going to be able to get another hirer.

"If I do, that's fine,

"but otherwise you'll be liable for the full amount."

He said, "No, no. There was no contract.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to know."

Mr Thomas wasn't willing to pay it

but, as he'd electronically signed up to the terms and conditions,

Steve sent him the bill anyway.

I lost income as a result of them suddenly

cancelling at the last moment and I wasn't prepared to accept that.

As a business owner, I just feel I have to do the right thing

for my company and for my employees, by definition,

and make sure that any money I feel is fairly owed to us is collected.

And with Sam Thomas Racing still refusing to pay,

Steve decided there was only one way to go.

I had no choice really, at the end of the day, so I took him to court.

The strange this is he didn't respond to the summons,

so I was able to get a default judgment.

Steve assumed that, once he had a court judgment in his pocket,

Sam Thomas Racing would admit defeat and make the payment.

When they didn't, Steve turned to the sheriffs.

I've tried the county court bailiffs in the past

and, to be honest, I don't think they've really got the powers

to do what I need. I've not really found them very satisfactory.

So, you know, I thought I'd give the sheriffs, the High Court enforcement

guys a go because they've got more powers. We'll see how it goes.

Back on the south coast,

Lawrence and Kev are about to pay Sam Thomas Racing a visit,

but it's hard to tell how this one's going to go as they don't

really know what the company does.

If it's a motor racing team or something like that,

then you'd expect there to be assets for sure.

The obvious thing to look for is the cars,

but it all comes down to who owns them.

As for car buff Lawrence, he's hoping for something

a cut above the typical car garage that the sheriffs visit.

We don't know a lot about it,

but they may manufacture cars for a certain class of racing.

The mystery is about to be solved.

-We're here.

-Yeah, we're here.

-Sam Thomas Racing.

-There's lights on.

-There's someone in there.

-Morning. Sam Thomas Racing Ltd?

-Morning.

My name's Mr Grix. My colleague and I are enforcement agents.

-All right, yeah.

-We've got a High Court Writ against

Sam Thomas Racing Ltd on behalf of Jumbocruiser Ltd.

You're not the boss, I take it.

Are you able to get him on the phone?

While the man tries to contact the boss,

Lawrence and Kev look for clues as to precisely what the company does

and whether there are any assets.

-Is it going to voicemail or...?

-Yeah, it does, yeah.

Yeah, £3,075.98.

It sounds like they may have to wait

and, in the meantime,

they're itching to find out what's out the back.

Right, we need to have a little look round, just to see what

you've got here in case we end up having to remove.

Basically, we're ordered here by the courts

to take goods into control to clear the debt.

-What sort of racing do you do, anyway?

-I'll show you what there is.

Have a look.

Oh.

-Don't touch.

-HE LAUGHS

That's lovely.

Lawrence can't believe his luck -

the garage is full of classic racing cars.

These are amazing, aren't they?

I'm in heaven.

That Mustang's lovely.

-Proper old Batmobile there, as well.

-What we looking at?

-The multi-coloured BMW.

-Oh, right.

Why's it called a Batmobile?

I suppose because it looks a bit like the Batmobile, doesn't it?

If you say so, Lawrence.

This is just awesome.

Problem is, though, they're going to belong to other people.

They're not going to be their own cars, I wouldn't think.

So, these are all customers' cars, I take it, are they?

They are and so they can't be removed to cover the debt.

Meanwhile, the man has managed to get hold of the boss,

but only by text message,

and he says the case is in dispute.

We don't take cheques, anyway,

but it needs to be the full amount.

It doesn't matter really what negotiations the solicitors are in.

-Yeah.

-Just because they want to get it sorted

doesn't mean that anything's happening.

And once that judgment went into place and didn't get paid,

the claimant is perfectly within their rights

to transfer it up to the High Court.

But the boss has been taken by surprise

and wants a bit more time to look into the matter.

No.

We're not going to be waiting around like that.

We sent out a notice of enforcement.

We've had no contact,

-so that's why we're here.

-OK.

The debtor has been given notice

and, as time's run out,

the sheriffs can insist on immediate payment in full.

Any legal challenge will have to come later.

We hold the money for 14 days anyway and then he's got breathing

space to speak to his solicitors, do whatever he needs to do.

OK, yeah. No worries, yeah. So...

-It needs to be done now, before we leave.

-It needs to be done now? OK.

The boss is stalling for time, but the sheriffs are standing firm

and Lawrence is in his element...

-Proper Le Mans Silk Cut Jaguar.

-Isn't it?

..whilst Kev looks increasingly bored.

That one there, dark blue one, Sunbeam Tiger.

Remember Dr No, James Bond's in a little Sunbeam,

when he goes up to the top of the mountain, that's the Tiger.

That's a V8.

Is he wrong on any of that?

-That's annoying.

-THEY LAUGH

But on the plus side, it looks like the sheriffs are making progress.

The man is now asking how he can pay - in full.

It can be cash, it can be done by bank transfer.

Yeah. It needs to be immediate, as well.

We need to be able to see it hit our bank account before we can

issue a receipt and leave.

The company opts to do a bank transfer,

but there seems to be a problem.

I don't know what it is, so I said to him I'll do it again.

Then when payment does go through,

the sheriffs can't find it in their bank.

Hmm. That's bizarre.

After half and hour of toing and froing, frustration is growing.

-No.

-No, we have to wait on the premises.

-We have to wait here until the payment's gone through.

-No worries.

Just when the atmosphere in the room is getting tense...

..it's all sorted.

It's there.

And it's case closed for the sheriffs.

Yeah, that's it. It's dropped in.

Right, we'll leave you in peace. Thank you very much.

-See you later. Bye-bye.

-See you later.

The debtor's solicitor apparently had been trying to

communicate with the claimant's solicitor to get things resolved

but it hadn't happened...

certainly not enough to stop the Writ.

It was one of the better places we visit, to be fair.

It was good, there were some nice motors in there.

Lots of old historic cars, so I was in my element, really.

And we got paid as well, so can't complain at that.

Back in Wales, Steve Lee has got the news he was hoping for.

Well it's actually amazing. They acted really quickly, the sheriffs.

They've managed to get my money in already.

I think it's absolutely brilliant.

Sam Thomas told us that he and his team were...

As a result, he was...

He says it...