Episode 5 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 somebody 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...

when Stephen McKinnon moved to London,

he was messed around by a lettings agent.

I came home one day,

and there was another person living in the living room.

At this point, I'd had enough.

His deposit was never refunded.

Can the sheriffs get him his money?

As we're here, now, with a High Court warrant

we have to insist on full payment.

Mechanic Dilwyn Stoole was sold a duff second-hand engine.

It was in a dreadful state. The sump was smashed.

There were parts of the engine broke.

It really wasn't the engine that these people had promised me.

But when the sheriffs enter the scrapyard which sold it to him,

things get nasty.

It's a dangerous place where you are, Mr Khan.

Tommy and Craig pay a visit to one of the country's best known

engineering firms.

Can they get the money owed to a former worker?

I need to speak to someone in finance. Is that possible?

In London, enforcement agent Ken Warby is headed

to a lettings agents in Camden.

We're on our way to a place called Education For London Limited,

trading as London Homes.

The claimant has got a judgment against them

for withholding a tenancy deposit.

It's just over £5,000.

The claimant is Stephen McKinnon.

The saga began when he moved to London from his native Scotland.

I'm actually from Glasgow. I do like to travel.

Lived in Greece for a while.

Travel quite a lot to America and Europe.

So, I decided to move to London,

one of the biggest cities in the world.

He'd got a new job, but needed somewhere to live,

and found property hunting in the capital a daunting experience.

Compared to the prices back home...

you know, I could get a mansion back home for the price of a studio here.

Online, he managed to find a two-bedroom flat-share

he liked the look of in Belsize Park, in the north-west of the city,

and arranged a viewing with the agents, London Homes.

Based in Camden,

they're not to be confused with any other company of a similar name.

The flat seemed perfect.

It was a good size, it was a nice area that I liked.

It was close to the Tube for work.

There was another couple sharing another room

in the property, which I was fully aware of.

By the time I got on the Tube back to work,

I'd decided that was going to be the flat for me.

He signed a tenancy agreement, and arranged to move in.

But the welcome into his new home didn't go as planned.

It was the first time I'd been in the property since I viewed it.

And I put the key in the door

and opened the door and the chain was locked from the inside.

They hadn't told the other tenants who were there that I was moving in.

It turned out to be the first in a long line of problems

with London Homes.

About three weeks later,

I had someone come to the door from one of the energy companies,

basically telling us that the bills hadn't been paid

for the property and therefore

they were coming to switch off the electricity and the gas.

The bills were supposed to be paid by the agents,

as part of the contract.

Then there were the unwelcome wake-up calls.

Contractors coming out at 8.00 in the morning,

basically coming to do work that we didn't know anything about.

There was no warning, no nothing.

Basically just came in with their own keys,

and started drilling holes in the walls.

And things were about to get worse.

I came home one day,

and there was another person living in the living room.

Yes, the agent had rented it out.

There was now four people living in a two-bedroom flat.

At this point, I had had enough.

He tried to raise the issues with the agent,

but with little success.

Basically just stopped talking to me.

They stopped replying to e-mails,

they wouldn't take my calls.

And it got to the point where I just got fed up

and basically said to them I would really like to end the contract

and move out the flat.

I tried to come to some kind of agreement with them

about the rent. They basically said that I had a contract

and they hadn't broken their contract,

and that that was that.

So, I eventually just cleaned the flat, took the keys back,

got them to sign, just to say I've returned the keys,

and I moved out a month earlier than I was supposed to.

Nevertheless, Stephen honoured his side of the contract

and paid the final month's rent, leaving him out of pocket.

Then there was his deposit.

I was expecting my deposit to be returned,

cos the flat was in the same condition as it was when I moved in.

And I expected to receive that within maybe two or three weeks

of moving out of the property, if not sooner.

But...that didn't happen.

That left him another £1,000 down.

Time, he thought, to pay a visit to London Homes in person.

So I decided just to go down to the agents

and try and speak to the manager.

The manager basically... came and spoke to me.

Halfway through the conversation, she up and left,

and went into the back office and never returned.

So I was sitting for about 20 minutes,

waiting for her to come back out

and eventually I had to ask someone else, you know, "Where is she?

"What's happening? Is she coming back out?"

And they told me she was in a meeting

and wouldn't be able to continue the conversation.

Despite a number of e-mails and calls to the office,

Stephen never heard any more about his deposit.

Not receiving that money made it very difficult

to the fact that I ended up moving back to Scotland.

But Stephen hadn't given up on his money.

And after doing some research,

he realised that the agents should have put his deposit

into a government-backed protection scheme.

Only, they hadn't.

I was obviously quite angry that they hadn't followed, you know,

followed the legal procedure that they should've done.

So, where my money went, I don't know.

And I presume it's in the company's bank account.

But, you know, it should've been protected for me.

On the plus side, that meant he was entitled to compensation.

Up to three times the value of the deposit.

The only way to get it, though,

would be to take the lettings agent to court.

When the company didn't defend the case,

he got the outcome he wanted.

This is now nine months after I moved out of the flat.

So, it just felt, you know, that I was getting somewhere with it.

The court ordered that he be paid back his last month's rent,

his deposit, and compensation.

But London Homes never paid.

I've now contacted the sheriffs.

because they are basically my last hope.

The company which owes Stephen money

is actually Education For London Limited,

which trades as London Homes from their office in Camden.

Sheriff Ken Warby is on his way there now

to try to get the debt paid,

and he's anticipating a tricky job.

As it's an estate agents,

chances are you're not going to get too much

in the way of assets there.

Usually the odd PC, bit of office equipment.

But we'll see how it goes when we get there.

Ken's North London patch has its unique challenges.

There's no parking outside the business.

Let's have a look here.

No, no, no.

The joys of working in London.

There we go, yeah. We can park here.

Ah, that's not going to happen, is it?

Second time around the block.

Ah, yeah.

Bingo.

After managing to bag a space, he heads in.

The staff are busy with customers.

Ken's in no mood to hang around in the queue.

Excuse me, sir. Sorry to bother you. Is there anyone in charge here?

I don't have an appointment, no,

I just need to speak to the person in charge here.

-Yes, sir, are you in charge?

-No.

-You're not?

-No.

There appears to be some confusion.

Nonetheless, the man seems willing to help.

I need to speak to someone at Education For London Limited.

-Yeah, yeah, we are they.

-That's you?

-Yes.

Right, OK, my name's Mr Warby.

An individual called Stephen McKinnon has a judgment

against the company for, originally, £5,146.

Do you know about this?

At first, the man says he knows nothing about the case.

But Ken is able to jog his memory.

You remember the name now, yes?

Well, I'm here now for the money in full.

So, that's where we are.

Do you make the...

Can you get him on the phone?

OK, thank you.

The boss of the company is apparently out to lunch.

But the staff appear to be co-operative.

They're going to get the boss on the phone and explain why I'm here.

I've told him I need payment in full now,

so we'll see where we go with that.

The boss can't be reached.

Instead, Ken is introduced to another senior staff member.

-Hi, how are you?

-Hello.

-Hi, my name is Alejandra.

-Hello, I'm Mr Warby.

The woman says the company knew the tenant had been to court,

but she says they didn't know the final details of the payment

they needed to make. It also sounds like she can't pay today.

Of course. The problem you've got is if you don't pay...

I have to list the items, and organise removal of them.

The woman is asking if they can pay in instalments.

But Ken is holding his ground.

The situation's this.

As we're here now with a High Court warrant, we have to execute it.

Unfortunately, we have to insist on full payment.

What are you able to pay now?

The woman does seem willing to pay,

and with a substantial offer on the table,

and few sizeable assets to remove in the office,

Ken is now willing to consider it.

OK, so you make the first payment, that will be 3,270.06.

When are you looking to clear the balance of 3,270?

On the 16th of this month.

Yeah, OK.

-It will not kill me that much.

-I can agree to that.

-I can agree to it. Everyone's happy.

-Yes.

-That's cool.

OK.

They've struck a deal, and it looks like half of the money owed

will be paid today, with the rest to follow in a week's time.

But to be on the safe side,

Ken will also get them to sign a controlled goods agreement

for the assets here.

I have to list items here as well and...

..in case you don't do it and then we come back.

-LAUGHING:

-Don't worry.

-It's not going to happen,

I understand that. It's just something we have to do.

Meanwhile, the employee gives his side of the story

of how the writ came about.

In this case, the court clarified that Stephen was owed

more than £5,000. The man claims the company was never told.

Additional fees and interest mean the bill's now more than £6,500,

with the company stumping up half today.

-KEN LAUGHS

-That's all right, sir, thank you.

What a nice chap.

-Thank you very much for being so nice about that.

-Pleasure. Bye.

Bye-bye.

All in all, it's been a successful visit.

That's a good deal.

They happily paid the half,

I've taken that,

and I'm pretty convinced they will pay the balance within seven days.

London Homes did pay the balance,

and Stephen McKinnon got his money back.

I'd just like to say thank you to the sheriffs,

they've done exactly what they said they'd do.

I've received all the money that was due back to me,

so I'm absolutely ecstatic. It's been a long year.

His message to other people is don't be put off.

I've done all this without any help from, you know, lawyers,

done a lot of research myself.

And it just shows you that if you took the time and patience,

you know, you can win.

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 £66,

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.

All too often, the sheriffs deal with cases

where there's more than one company trading from the same address.

Debts owed by companies like these

are among the hardest for the sheriffs to collect,

as it can be difficult to determine which business owns the assets.

In Manchester, Sheriff Alan Pennington

is about to become embroiled in just such a case.

Yeah, I'm off to serve a High Court writ.

The company's called Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Limited.

Sal-Ford & Vauxhall,

which has no connection to the car manufacturer Vauxhall,

owes £2,500,

but the chances of getting paid aren't looking good.

The company has applied to be dissolved.

Alan has been to visit once already,

but found it shut.

We did leave a letter at the first instance.

We've had no reply from that letter.

Whether they've actually been back to the premises

since we went the first time, I'm unsure,

but it's one of those cases where we need to really make contact

to try and get this resolved for the claimant.

That claimant is lifelong mechanic Dilwyn Stoole

from Newport in South Wales.

He came into contact with Sal-Ford & Vauxhall

when he was looking for a new engine

for a second-hand car he was fixing up.

I bought a Fiesta which had an engine problem.

It was overheating, so, obviously, we had to replace the engine,

so I thought, "Well, I'll put a nice, low-mileage engine in

"and it'll last me a few years."

To find the engine he wanted, he posted on internet forums,

and received a number of offers,

but one particular engine stood out,

from a dealer based in the Manchester area.

31,000 miles.

Came out of a very modern vehicle.

Despite having lower quotes, I picked Sal-Ford & Vauxhall

because they promised me this engine was a low-mileage,

clean, tidy engine.

Dilwyn paid £705 to Sal-Ford & Vauxhall for a new engine

in exchange for his old one,

and within a few days, a van arrived with the new engine.

The minute he dropped the pallet on the floor

and I took off the wrapping, the engine was in a dreadful state.

The sump was smashed. There were parts of the engine broke.

I've taken a video which proves the problems.

-ON VIDEO:

-'The gold plug is snapped in the block,

'and the injector is totally loose.'

There was no vacuum pump on it.

'This engine supposedly has done 30,000 miles,

'and this is a clutch we've taken out of it,

'and as you can see, it's on the rivets.'

I honestly think this engine had done 130,000 miles.

It was almost a scrap engine.

It really wasn't the engine that these people had promised me.

Dilwyn wasted no time in ringing up Sal-Ford & Vauxhall to complain,

and spoke to a woman there.

On the Wednesday or the Thursday, some parts arrived,

which were the parts I'd described to her as being broken.

I immediately got on the phone to her and said,

you know, that wasn't enough. I needed for the engine to go back.

After a few days of bickering and barking,

she promised that the engine would be picked back up.

A week later, it hadn't been.

Back on the phone again.

She explained there was another problem.

The van wouldn't come down the lane.

The excuses Sal-Ford & Vauxhall made were absolutely ridiculous.

Dilwyn was now £755 down,

and still didn't have a working engine for his van.

Eventually, a cheque arrived from Sal-Ford & Vauxhall,

but for just £250,

so Dilwyn refused to cash it,

holding out for the full refund he'd been promised.

I was really, really polite. I wasn't going to wind anybody up.

I wanted somebody to help me,

but I was just fobbed off week after week after week.

It was promises, and the engine wasn't forthcoming.

It was never going to come.

So, I'm probably into this the best part of a grand now.

I'm thinking, "Whatever. Now I've got to go all the way."

So, I did.

Dilwyn filed a claim against Sal-Ford & Vauxhall

in the County Court.

I won by default. They've lost the case

and they're still not forthcoming with the money,

so I'm really annoyed to think that this guy has supplied me

with an engine that wasn't what he said it was.

He's taken my money,

he's made me send it back at my expense,

and now he's doing a runner.

And that's why the next step for Dilwyn

has been to enlist the help of the sheriffs.

You can ignore letters.

You can't ignore someone who's there with an order

and a bit of authority, you know, so...

I've seen the programmes and I've watched the sheriffs in action

and I'm still hoping that

the sheriffs can go in there and retrieve my money, yes.

Sherriff Alan Pennington is determined

to get Dilwyn's money back

before the company dissolution is completed,

and its assets are gone,

but will today be his day?

Looks like the gates are padlocked again.

Or maybe they're not.

Let's just have a quick look.

It's open.

The gates are open after all,

so Alan is allowed to go in.

Hello?

Hello?

At first, there's no sign of life,

but then a man appears, keeping his back to our camera.

Oh, hello, sir. Looking for Mr Khan.

Mr Khan.

This is Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Limited, yeah?

Can you get him on the phone for me?

I'm from the High Court. I've got a High Court writ.

Thank you.

Although Dilwyn applied for a writ

in the name of Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Limited,

the company's full name is Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Spares Limited.

-Mr Khan is its owner.

-Is he coming, bud?

Is he coming?

Thank you.

Alan's on the phone, when Mr Khan arrives.

I'll explain to you in a minute, sir.

Mr Khan asks our cameraman to leave.

Put the camera down.

He tells Alan the business here is a different company,

and he's got the documents to prove it.

He then marches him off the premises.

-You go and get me your proof.

-I will.

Obstructing the work of a High Court enforcement agent

is illegal, and Alan gets straight on the phone.

Hello, sir. My name's Mr Pennington from the High Court Sheriffs Office.

Can I have the police, please?

It's 1A Sutherland Street.

Meanwhile, Mr Khan walks off.

Just basically told me to get out of the property

and for my own safety, I did that, but he manhandled me out.

And Alan isn't impressed by Mr Khan's behaviour.

He wasn't prepared to listen to me.

He was being abusive and basically escorted me out,

manhandling me to the gate.

He's then left,

and there are two other people still in the property.

I've called for the police cos as far as I'm concerned,

I've been assaulted whilst doing my duty,

and whether we speak to Mr Khan today again, I'm not sure.

The company which sold Dilwyn the duff engine

is based at this scrapyard,

but it sounds like Mr Khan might have a second company here, too.

Finding out whether any assets belong to the debtor,

Sal-Ford & Vauxhall, could be tricky.

Now Mr Khan's returned brandishing some paperwork.

I'll speak to you, Mr Khan, when the police arrive, OK?

-Take my number.

-You've assaulted...

-I assaulted nobody.

-Yes, you have.

No, I haven't. I asked you to leave the premises.

You've assaulted me, manhandled me.

You've assaulted me and manhandled me out of the premises.

-I escorted you out.

-No, you didn't.

-It's a dangerous place, mate.

You can't be in there. That's why the gate's shut.

It's a dangerous place where you are, Mr Khan,

because you assaulted me

-and forced me out of the premises.

-I barely touched you.

Alan doesn't want to speak to Mr Khan without the police present,

but they still haven't arrived, and Mr Khan's come back for more.

-You opened that gate and walked in.

-That's right. It wasn't locked.

-You're not allowed to do that.

-I'm entitled to move in.

If it's open, I'll walk in peacefully.

There's the stuff you need.

-Let's see.

-OK?

Mr Khan hands over paperwork relating to his second company,

Sal-Ford Auto Spares Limited,

including invoices for some of the items in the yard.

There's an invoice for Sal-Ford Auto Spares.

That's the company here.

Everything in there is owned by that company.

With that, Mr Khan makes his exit.

You've got my number.

The gates to the yard are locked and the police never turned up,

which means Alan's hands are tied.

There's nothing we can do at this stage.

I've only gone in the premises this morning because the gates were open.

Those gates have now been locked,

and I don't have right of access unless the court allow me,

so I'll take direction from the office,

over the next few weeks, and we go from there, really.

The sheriffs now know this case is going to be tough to enforce.

It's likely Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Spares Limited

has few, if any, assets left.

Also, as Dilwyn didn't use the company's full name

when he took them to court,

the sheriffs are now concerned the debtor will use that

as yet another excuse not to pay.

They've advised Dilwyn to apply for a new writ,

but instead, he's decided to let the matter go.

It was disappointing.

Just annoyed to think this man has got away with

what he's got away with.

Although Mr Khan remains

the owner of Sal-Ford & Vauxhall Spares Limited,

he told us that...

It's 9am and Craig Wild and Tommy Coyle are in the van,

travelling through the East Midlands.

They're on their way to see a household name

normally thought of as the best of British.

Rolls-Royce, in fact.

Rolls-Royce owes money as a result of a personal injury claim

made by a former worker,

who suffered hearing loss from operating machinery.

Although the company settled the majority of the claim,

some legal costs are outstanding.

£1,500. We're off there now to try and get the money.

It's the aerospace division of the business

that the sheriffs are visiting,

but the name on the writ is just one part

of a complex company structure.

It's Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Engineering...

(Overseas Projects) Limited.

So, we've done a bit of digging.

It is, as a limited company, non-trading,

but it's part of a group of companies belonging to Rolls-Royce.

This'll be a massive place, mate.

I've got a feeling it's going to be big, yeah.

It's not long before the Rolls-Royce complex comes into view.

Big old place, this, isn't it?

It's all that over there.

We want the main reception, don't we?

The site's huge,

so finding the right person to deal with is not going to be easy.

Time to start knocking on doors.

Hello there, sir. I'm an enforcement agent.

Can I speak to someone from finance?

-G wing?

-G wing.

-How do I get there?

-Turn left.

-Turn left.

-And head through this way.

-Brilliant. OK, thank you very much.

Simple, easy-to-follow directions.

-Are you sure it's the G wing or G zone?

-G something.

G zone, G wing or something.

-G something like that, though, isn't it?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Is it that way or this way?

-This way. This way, mate.

C wing, this is. I'm sure he said G wing.

-Well, we'll try.

-We'll ask in here.

It's just a case of getting through to the right person, isn't it?

-Somewhere this big.

-These places always are, aren't they?

Hello there. I need to speak to someone in finance.

Is that possible?

I don't think they do, no.

They're not going to know I'm here, no.

Thank you.

Despite being in the wrong wing,

the sheriffs are offered a seat.

and promised someone will come along to deal with them.

I think he's finding whoever authorised that initial payment.

As an £11,500 payment's already been made towards the claim,

the guys are hoping the finance department

will know the details of the case,

but it might not be that simple.

Most people go, "Yeah, I remember him cos it's 11.5 Gs,"

but 11.5 Gs to these is small change.

Moments later, we're asked to stop filming...

..and we have to leave.

After an hour of talking to various company representatives,

Craig comes outside to update us.

As we thought,

we've had to go through several layers of the hierarchy.

They've found the details.

The majority of the actual payment was made by Rolls-Royce's insurers.

However, they've neglected to pay the court costs for the claimant.

As the matter was being dealt with by its insurers,

the Rolls-Royce staff are unsure why it hadn't been settled in full,

but they've agreed to look into it,

and an hour and a half later,

Tommy and Craig are back.

It's all about talking to the right person and going up the chain.

Yeah, we took some time, eventually got the company lawyer down.

He agreed this needs to be paid.

And now it has been, in full.

It's another successful result for the sheriffs.

If we have the writ,

the court's saying you have to pay it, and you will pay it.

Rolls-Royce told us, "Once we were made aware of the oversight

"that led to the non-payment in this case, we..."