Episode 4 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 do 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're allowed 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...

Swikruti Soni was left more than £1,000 out of pocket

after being denied a refund by a dress shop.

That's, like, near enough a month's wages for me,

so it's a lot of money and I was, you know, really, really annoyed.

When Ken goes to meet the boss, it all kicks off.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

God punish you! BLEEP.

All your dresses are now on the floor, OK?

I turned my back on the debtor and the debtor has just punched

me in the head.

Laurence and Kev visit a limo company,

but will there be enough assets to cover the debt?

There's hundreds of thousands of pounds worth here,

if not going into the millions.

It's an early wake-up call at a house in Stratford.

But will the man inside open up?

If he doesn't want to come to the door,

we'll make arrangements now to get the vehicle towed away.

And Steve Lee was let down by a customer

who'd booked one of his motorhomes.

I lost income as a result of them suddenly cancelling at the last

moment and I thought that it was most unfair and most unreasonable.

Will the sheriffs get him what he's owed?

We sent out a notice of enforcement.

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

This morning, Sheriff Ken Warby is in his home patch in North London.

He's heading to Hendon to visit a clothing business

with an unpaid debt.

We're going to visit a high street dress shop.

The claimant is an individual.

The shop is called Beautiful Dresses and is not to be confused with any

other company of a similar name.

It was taken to court by customer Swikruti Soni,

a childcarer and mum with an eye for a bit of sparkle.

She came across the shop when she was looking for something special

to wear for some important social occasions.

I had a friend's christening coming up and a friend's wedding coming up,

both best friends of mine,

and I wanted, you know, to make the effort,

so I wanted to get something nice.

So I went on the internet and I found a company

called Beautiful Dresses.

It seemed to be just what she was looking for.

They were lovely, they were gorgeous dresses.

They were, like, embellished, nice dresses which were lovely.

You can't just get them in an every day-to-day shop, really.

So, I thought I'd order from them.

In fact, she ordered three,

telling the store owner that she planned to return one

once she tried them on. They didn't come cheap.

The dresses were over £1,000 for three dresses.

They were about £300 each, just over £300 each.

The owner of Beautiful Dresses requested

that she paid by bank transfer.

As Swikruti's events were coming up soon,

she paid extra for next day delivery.

She didn't send them next day delivery -

over a week I was waiting.

With the events rapidly approaching,

Swikruti decided to cancel and had to go last-minute shopping

for some replacement outfits.

It was a panic to get it all done, which was...

I was fretting, as well as having...

At the back of my mind about this money...

Trying to get this money back, as well as trying to find

two different outfits.

So, it was a lot of stress.

She managed to buy the clothes she needed,

but when it came to cancelling her order with Beautiful Dresses,

that was a different story.

When I asked to cancel them,

she just refused to cancel them and sent me them anyway,

even though the christening and the wedding had both gone.

In fact, only two of the three dresses

she had paid for ever arrived and they were the wrong size.

So, I was obviously really upset and I was, you know, really,

really annoyed.

The shop initially agreed to take the dresses back,

so Swikruti put them in the post.

But getting the refund she'd been promised

turned out not to be that simple.

First, the owner claimed she'd never received them,

but then appeared to back down.

At one point she did say, "Give me your bank details

"and I'll put the money in." Then nothing.

I constantly rang her, she put the phone down on me.

That's, like, near enough a month's wages for me,

so it's a lot of money to be spending

for her not to send me the money back.

In the end, Swikruti had no choice but to take further action.

I went to Citizen's Advice who recommended Money Claim.

Swikruti used Money Claims online to file a case in the county courts.

Beautiful Dresses didn't defend it,

so Swikruti won a judgment in her favour,

but she's still not got her money back and has turned to the sheriffs.

It's definitely my last hope, otherwise the money's just gone,

there's nothing I can do about it, the money's just gone.

In London, Ken's approaching the shop

and is determined to get that money back for her.

I'm assuming that there's going to be stock in the shop.

A proper dress shop, there should be enough in there

for me to get payment in full, I'd say.

I'm pretty confident before I even get there.

Ken's confidence seems justified as he enters the shop -

there's clearly value on the rails here.

Hello. My name's Mr Warby.

Are you the owner of the shop?

Is the owner around?

She isn't, but the staff member calls her on speakerphone.

PHONE RINGS

Is it Lily?

That's the name I've got down here.

The boss, Lilian Chidoka, isn't picking up.

You hang up, let me have a go.

You never know.

The staff member says her shift ends after lunch and whether or not they

can reach her, Lilian should be arriving later.

She's not due here for another hour and a half,

when she's due to take over from this lady,

so we're just going to have to wait.

In the meantime, Ken start's looking through the shop's assets.

They're certainly not cheap.

£1,200.

550.

420.

Excuse me, madam.

High-value, easily removable goods are ideal for the sheriffs.

Ken's in a strong position to demand full repayment.

All good-quality dresses.

A good couple of dozen of them as well.

So, yeah, all good gear.

The staff member, meanwhile, has got the boss on the phone.

Hello.

I'm here because we have a judgment against Beautiful Dresses

from Swikruti Soni.

Our company sent a notice of enforcement

to this address on the 10th March.

Because we haven't had a response from you,

I'm here now to collect in full

and the total I'm looking to collect is £1,658.08.

Lilian Chidoka says she hasn't got the money to pay.

Yeah, that is unfortunate if you haven't got it.

I'm going to have to list the items in the shop and remove them.

That is the normal procedure, yes.

The boss tells him that he can't remove her goods.

Ken is entitled to,

but doesn't need to if he can secure a reasonable payment plan.

Can I just ask you a question?

How much do you have to pay now?

If we have to make the phone call and get goods removed,

then obviously the costs are going to go up

and that's what we need to try and avoid.

What do you have now?

She says she won't make a part payment of anything.

There doesn't seem much chance of a negotiation on the phone,

so Ken let's her know where he stands.

What I'll do, I'm going to wait here until one o'clock for you turn up.

However, I am going to require full payment now, OK?

I'm not walking out of here without this payment or removal of goods,

so that's what you need to sort out.

I'm sorry I can't help you, but we do require payment in full.

So, what I would suggest you do is get payment in full

and meet me here at one o'clock.

Otherwise, I'll be listing items and we'll be removing them.

She seems convinced that isn't going to happen.

We can remove goods.

Yes, first visit, we can remove goods.

Thank you.

It hasn't been a very encouraging conversation.

What she's saying is she wants to get into an arrangement with me.

She has nothing at all to pay me today. That's not good enough.

We've got goods in the shop that will fetch the value of the debt.

So, I'm going to start listing the items here.

She's not due in the shop for another hour.

By the time she gets here, if she hasn't got the payment,

then goods listed will be removed.

Later, we find out what happens when Ken gets to meet the boss.

I don't want you here.

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

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.

In the south-east, enforcement agents Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally

are en route to their first job of the day.

They're looking for a company specialising in limousine hire

which has an unpaid debt.

This morning we are in Northfleet, in Kent.

We're going to Wild Stretch Limousines Ltd.

The amount we're looking for is £1,982.

So we're getting there early-ish, 8 o'clock.

It should be open then, hopefully.

The debt actually stems from a matter

unrelated to the company's luxury transport fleet.

It's boss sold a second-hand car,

which later turned out to have problems.

The buyer was Simon Pruce,

a physiotherapist with a keen interest in motor racing.

I started motor racing with karts

and I moved into Formula Ford racing.

But I'm very fond of anything that has a motor in it,

motorbikes or cars, both on the track and off.

Mr Pruce came across Wild Stretch Limousines when he was looking for

a newer Ford C-Max car to replace the one he'd been using

to tow his racing car.

He found one advertised on eBay and went to see it at the home

of the seller, a Mr Hunt.

When I first saw the car, I had some misgivings.

Erm...

The first thing I noted was that the seat was wet and that there

certainly seemed to be water coming through the sunroof.

I mentioned this and it was explained that the car

had been parked in Mr Hunt's garden over the winter,

under the trees, and it had gathered a lot of leaves

and crud on the roof, so they'd jet washed

it prior to me looking at it, which seemed perfectly reasonable.

Satisfied with what he'd been told,

Simon thought the car might be what he was looking for.

The car wasn't perfect, but the price was reasonable.

I made a deal with the guy and bought it.

He gave me an invoice from a company called Wild Stretch Limousines

and gave me a three-month warranty.

The car cost £1,800 and at first Simon was pleased with his purchase.

But after only a few days, he began to notice problems.

I was concerned with the road safety element

because the indicators didn't seem to work when I wanted them to.

It subsequently turned out that the sunroof leaked very badly

and the inside of the car was very wet

and had clearly affected the electrics.

Mr Hunt offered to make the repairs at his expense,

only it wasn't that simple.

He had the car back, returned it to me and said he'd fixed all the

problems, but nothing had changed.

'He handed it back a second time.

'This time he did fix the leaking sunroof,'

but the electrics were still faulty.

'He agreed with me to engage a professional auto electrician

'to look at the car and he said he would pay for that,'

but I never heard from him again.

The auto electrician did inspect the car, although Simon paid for it.

The findings were even worse than he had feared.

The report stated that the fuse box was damaged and the instrument panel

was also damaged and that both would need replacing.

The car will cost in the region of £1,200 to repair.

With Mr Hunt no longer responding to any of Simon's attempts to contact

him, the only way he could recover his costs was through legal action.

Simon made a claim against Wild Stretch Limousines Ltd

for the full cost of repairs.

They responded by filing a defence to the court but, for Simon,

its contents were rather surprising.

It stated quite clearly that Wild Stretch Limousines

are a limousine hire company and do not sell cars -

"We did not sell this car," and then he signed it at the bottom.

The signature on that form was exactly the same signature

as we got on the used car sales invoice.

Simon wrote to Mr Hunt to point this out but received no reply.

When the court date came around,

no-one from Wild Stretch Limousines attended.

The judge simply awarded the sums required, plus the expenses,

to me and gave Wild Stretch Limousines ten days to pay.

They didn't and so Simon escalated the case to the High Court.

And now it's down to the sheriffs to collect.

The sheriffs are my last hope to get the money in order to fix the car.

Lawrence and Kev are on their way to Wild Stretch Limousines.

They've got a High Court writ which empowers them to get Simon's money

back. It turns out Lawrence isn't normally a limousine kind of guy.

I've never been in a limousine.

Long, useless, cumbersome things with no appeal to me, to be honest.

Though today might be different.

They're worth quite a bit of money...

HE LAUGHS

..there might be some there for us to take control of,

that's the appeal of them.

The sheriffs are approaching the address on their writ...

-There it is.

-..and it looks like Lawrence is right about the assets.

There's loads of limousines, aren't there?

Cars as long as trucks are parked all over the place.

Looks like he's taken the opportunity

to park the things everywhere, doesn't it? Anywhere and everywhere.

He's got a lot of them, hasn't he?

The sheriffs park up and head for the unit named on the writ.

Cheers, mate.

Morning. Do you work here?

-Are you the owner, by any chance?

-No.

-No. Is he in?

-Not at the moment.

-I'll show you some ID.

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

We've got a High Court writ

to execute against Wild Stretch Limousines.

The man is an employee,

so gets the boss on the phone and breaks the bad news.

I don't know, what's it for?

The creditor is a Simon Pruce.

Yeah, yeah. Hang on...

The man on the phone isn't Mr Hunt, but another of the company bosses.

Lawrence gives him the lowdown.

We're here today to take control of goods to the value of £1,982.49.

So, basically, to prevent that happening,

somebody needs to pay in full.

So, just under two grand.

The boss asks for more time.

Lawrence isn't having any of it.

It needs to be today, sir.

Unfortunately for you,

you've got loads of goods here that we can take control of to sell

to raise the money, which is what we're commanded to do by the writ.

Faced with the threat of removal, the boss offers to pay,

but only half of the amount owed.

No, it needs to be all of it, sir.

No, sorry, sir, it has to be payment in full.

We're not bailiffs, sir. We're not bailiffs.

We're here with a High Court writ that commands us to

take control of goods that can be sold at auction to clear this debt,

because it wasn't paid when the county court were dealing with it,

when the judge ordered it be paid.

So, it's deemed that...

It's deemed that you haven't got the money to pay, therefore,

you have to have your goods removed.

It's got to be payment in full, sir.

OK.

All right, bye-bye.

Cheers.

The gentleman, I believe, knows about the debt,

but he wanted to pay half today and half next week after his money's

come in from next weekend.

But we're only on Tuesday today,

so he should have his money from last weekend, really,

you know, when you've got this much money tied up in stretch limousines.

The boss is apparently now on his way here

with a view to making the payment.

In the meantime, Lawrence and Kev are counting limos -

Hummers, to be precise.

12 of them, 12 Hummers.

These limo companies normally have like three or four. That's loads.

That's loads of money, absolutely loads of money.

It turns out, Kev has some experience of Hummers

after hiring one in Las Vegas.

We went and saw the Grand Canyon in it.

We didn't find the Grand Canyon.

We got lost.

The Grand Canyon is a long way from Vegas.

Yeah, we left about midday and never found it.

It was dark... Dark before we got anywhere near it.

I was giving directions.

That's about right, then!

The Hummers aren't the only assets here.

There are plenty of other limos, too,

not to mention the flashy motor Kev's just spotted.

If you have a look at the back of the old garage in here,

there's a very nice Ferrari sitting back there,

a nice little asset.

That could only be removed if it belonged to the company,

which it probably doesn't.

Still, it's worth bearing in mind, just in case they don't get paid.

Lawrence is confident, with the boss on his way, that they will.

If he hasn't got the money to pay in full, I'd be very surprised,

you know, despite the fact that he was wrangling half now,

half next week. There's hundreds of thousands of pounds worth here,

is not going into the millions.

So we'll just see if he comes up with the money

and if he doesn't then we'll start looking at what vehicle

we're going to take.

After a short wait, a car pulls up.

Only it then turns around and drives off.

It seems whoever was in it didn't like the look of our camera.

Soon the staff member comes out to say that it won't be the boss that's

making the payment after all.

-Our transport manager's going to pay the bill off his card...

-OK.

-..but he doesn't want the camera on.

-He's got a card here, has he?

-Yeah.

-In here? OK.

Yeah, our transport manager's going to do it off his private card,

then, obviously, the owner will pay him back.

The sheriffs head in to seal the deal.

All paid and onto the next job.

Yeah, it's done now, so happy days.

Happy days, too, for Simon Pruce.

I feel delighted that it's all over and done with now and I can

concentrate on my racing.

Back in North London, Ken's in a shop in Hendon

called Beautiful Dresses.

He's spoken to the owner who told him

she isn't going to pay the £1,658

owed to her former customer, Swikruti Soni,

While he waits for her to arrive,

he's checking out what's available

if he needs to take control of goods.

I'm struggling between pink cerise,

beige and salmon, but we're getting there.

I used to work in a paint shop,

so I know a range of colours.

A skill he's keen to demonstrate.

We're getting there. Arsenal red.

A nice turquoise one for a change.

Where was I? In the middle of the turquoise, red and the plum.

But he's not quite so au fait with the specifics of ladies' fashion.

What would you call that?

It's not a dress. What would you call...?

A cape? Thank you.

OK. Cape.

We're at 35, 40 dresses,

ranging retail price from £1,200 to...

..£350.

As they won't fetch anything like that at auction,

Ken is listing enough of them to guarantee they'd raise a sum which

would cover the full debt.

He's hoping it won't come to that and the shop will make an offer

of payment instead.

We'll have to see what the lady can come up with when she turns up.

She previously told me she had no money, so that's not good.

Hopefully, we'll get it resolved.

Ken's been in the shop for a little over an hour when the boss arrives.

Hello.

She immediately asks our camera to leave

and the shutters come down.

Inside, Ken explains he really is going to remove her dresses

if she can't come up with some money.

She doesn't think he can...

..and invites us back in to explain.

What he's trying to do is remove goods first visit.

He's not supposed to remove goods first visit.

It's never done. That's what he's trying to do.

In fact, enforcement agents are entitled to remove goods

on a first visit.

The debtor didn't make an arrangement

within the seven days after the notice of enforcement.

So now it's down to the sheriff's discretion to decide the best course

of action to get their claimant's money back.

Ken, meanwhile, has made the mistake of nipping out to his car.

Ms Chidoka tries to shut him out.

Call the police first.

Call the police first.

With Ken back safely inside the shop, Lilian continues.

You make an arrangement, OK?

And then if you breach the arrangement

you come back the first time,

if you breach the arrangement you come back second time.

If there's a third time, that's when you remove goods.

He doesn't know his job. Fuming.

Look at him, he doesn't know what he's doing.

You don't remove goods first visit.

You don't, it's never done.

But Ken isn't on the phone to one of his wives or girlfriends.

I'm executing a High Court writ of control at a shop.

I just need a police officer here to prevent a breach of the peace.

The woman is already agitated

and Ken doesn't want to see the situation deteriorate further.

They will be here within the hour.

They are going to turn up here just to prevent a breach of the peace

so that I'm able to remove these dresses myself.

I understand that. That's fine.

Convinced she's right,

the shop owner has decided to start filming herself.

The second time they warn you.

The third time, that's when they'll remove goods.

They're here for the first time and he's planning to remove goods.

It's never done. It's against the law.

I've watched... What do you call that programme again?

-CAMERAMAN:

-The Sheriffs Are Coming.

-The Sheriffs Are Coming.

I watch it, too, and what the bailiffs normally say...

OK, they list the items and make an arrangement with the debtor.

I'm putting this on YouTube. I'll send a copy to the BBC

and I'll send a copy to David Cameron's office.

Once again, Ken's taken the opportunity to pop out to his car

to pick up some more paperwork.

The shop owner thinks she sees a second chance to lock him out.

-I don't want you here.

-I wouldn't do that if I were you.

What will you do?

I don't want you here. You have to leave.

Ms Chidoka has no right to lock Ken out of the shop and it's

an arrestable offence to obstruct him in his work.

With the atmosphere fragile, he's now just waiting for the police.

-BLEEP.

-Later, we see what happens when they arrive.

You've just assaulted him in front of two police officers.

All your dresses are now on the floor, OK?

In the Midlands, enforcement agents Tommy Coyle and Craig Wild

have an early morning call to make,

in pursuit of a debt owed by a businessman.

We're on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon.

It's the second call that we're going to this address.

This particular case is just short of £7,000,

it's £6,900-odd outstanding.

But there are some details of the case

which Craig is struggling to get to grips with.

The gentleman's name is Mr Igor...

Yeah, forgive me on this...

LAUGHTER

His name is Mr Igor Kolodotschko.

Mr Kolodotschko was taken to court four and a half years ago

over unpaid legal bills.

Although judgment was found against him,

he's never paid back what he owes.

When Tommy visited his home a few weeks ago, there was no answer,

but he did clock an expensive looking Volvo

parked in the driveway.

I took the details so we could do our checks within the office.

The DVLA checks, HPI, to make sure the car's not stolen.

It's come back to a rough value of about 23,000.

More than enough to cover the outstanding debt

and when they get to the house under cover of darkness,

the good news is it's there.

That's the Volvo. Yep, the car's there.

It appears to be quite a reasonable sort of sized property,

especially for Stratford.

At residential addresses,

the sheriffs have to arrive early so there's more chance of finding

the debtor in, but the drawback is they're often still in bed.

There's no response from the bell, so Tommy tries again.

Still no joy.

It is quite early, though, isn't it?

It could be that the man's not there.

Either that or he's a very heavy sleeper.

No signs at the moment, no lights coming on yet,

and you can clearly hear the bell working,

so we'll just keep doing that for now until

some signs of life come to fruition.

They soon do, but not the kind they're after.

-I can hear dogs.

-Can you?

-They're barking now.

Tommy and Craig are convinced the debtor's at home,

but if he won't speak to them,

then they'll have no choice other than removing the car.

It's now half past seven. I'll give him to 8 o'clock.

Give him the opportunity to get it sorted.

If he doesn't want to, then we'll have to sort it for him.

After all, there's only so much banging on the door they can do.

Keep knocking his door like this, he might ring the police and say,

"I've got some guys, some big guys, trying to break in," or something.

But before they call a tow truck,

Tommy makes one last attempt to make contact with Mr Kolodotschko.

Hello, it's the sheriff's office here!

You've got to say the surname as well, Tommy.

Kolo...dotschko.

Is that...? Would you say that, Kolodotschko?

Kolodotschko, or something like that.

Mr...Kolodotski!

LAUGHTER

Can you come to the door, please?

-I didn't say that right, did I?

-No, you didn't.

-Try again.

-Mr Kolodotschko, it's the sheriff's office here.

If you don't come to the door so we can have a chat with you,

we have to remove the vehicle off the drive,

that's why we're here today.

Clearly, we know he's in there, because his vehicle's here...

-You can't not hear that, can you?

-..and the dogs are barking.

So, he's aware of us. We've just given him the ultimatum now.

If he doesn't want to come to the door, then that's his prerogative,

but we'll make arrangements now to get the vehicle towed away.

Tommy makes the call to book a tow truck,

then turns his attention to making sure

no-one else can move the Volvo first.

-Tommy.

-What?

-This side's better.

No, mate, you'll just have to go on the other side. Hang on.

They need to get a clamp on as quickly as possible,

just in case anyone thinks they can try to stop them.

This isn't going to go on. Too thick.

Try another one.

-The bottom there.

-Yeah, I've got it.

That'll do.

It's on and a sticker on the windscreen is the final touch.

If he jumps in the vehicle and says he didn't realise it was clamped,

with a big yellow clamp on the front,

the sticker's another secondary sort of warning for him.

The debtor's not likely to try to drive off but, as much as anything,

the clamp's about sending a signal.

Hopefully it'll spur him on a bit,

showing we're seriously going to take it,

because some people don't think it's going to happen

until the last minute.

Hopefully this shows that it is.

Tommy and Craig aren't in any rush to take the car as recent changes

to legislation mean they can't do it until two hours after they got here.

The idea's to give the debtor a reasonable chance

to get the matter sorted first but, in Mr Kolodotschko's case,

that looks increasingly unlikely.

We've done everything we can to try to make contact with him.

We have no number for him on file, otherwise we'd call him, too.

By the time the arrangements are made

and the contract has come here to remove it,

it will be well over the two hours, which has given him,

under the new regs, plenty of time to, if he wanted to,

-to get this addressed.

-But just when they're giving up hope of that

happening, Craig spots movement at the house,

-a shutter has been opened.

-Did you actually see someone?

Yeah. No, I saw it open up.

-Oh, did you?

-Yeah.

There's definitely someone home and whoever it is,

they're not trying to be subtle after all.

Lights on now. The middle room right here on the top.

I can hear footsteps downstairs.

Yet, still, no-one will come to the door,

much to the sheriffs' frustration.

If the debtor's determined not to cooperate,

then the car will have to go.

So, Tommy starts preparing it for removal.

Just doing the damage report on the vehicle.

It's just to cover ourselves really,

if he does pay and then get's it back.

-It's pretty good nick, isn't it?

-Not even a scuffed alloy, really.

Then, just as the sheriffs are resigned to waiting for the truck,

Tommy suddenly leaps into action.

-Hello.

-A man has appeared at the door.

Mr Kolodotschko?

Are you all right, sir? From the sheriff's office.

It's to do with a court order, a High Court writ of control,

that's why we've been trying to contact you.

You've had a letter before explaining the situation.

Mr Kolodotschko says he doesn't know anything about the case,

so Tommy shows him the details on the writ.

Does this ring any bells to you, sir?

You used their services for something.

Well, to be honest, it's gone a bit too far now.

But the courts are saying you are, because your name...

You've got a county court judgment logged against you.

Mr Kolodotschko says he's retired

and the debt must be to do with the company he used to run,

but the claimant has sued him personally and he's already had more

than four years to pay it.

The judgment was the 4th of May 2011.

So, you must have known about it back then.

The county court would have sent you a letter.

I know it's very tough at the moment, early in the morning,

the situation is as simple as we've got about an hour and the vehicle is

going to be removed or we need the balance paid.

Because it's a court order in your name.

It's a bit late at this stage.

Mr Kolodotschko's adamant that the debt isn't his,

but that's not what the law says and Tommy now need to know

whether he's going to pay.

What, you're saying you're going to pay,

because I can stop the removal truck coming?

You do.

You haven't, no.

But you get 14 days before the money goes to the claimant, OK?

So within that 14 days, go and seek your own legal advice.

If you want to go inside for a minute, keep warm,

and I'll come and knock you.

-He's paying it on card.

-OK.

Mr Kolodotschko has reluctantly agreed to pay in full,

although the lie in has cost him.

We've just cancelled the truck for now.

Unfortunately, this guy, had he have come to the door

and discussed it with us when we first got here over an hour ago,

would have saved himself the contractor fee,

which has been applied now.

But Mr Kolodotschko says the reason he didn't come to the door

is that he sleeps in the back of the house and never heard the commotion.

Haven't heard anything. No, no.

The only thing I noticed when I opened the curtains,

I saw some people wandering around outside and I came out.

As for the case in question, he thinks he might now know

what it's about.

Now I've been given a name,

I think it's something to do with somebody stole £1 million from my

company and this is to do with claiming money back from that.

Now I've got to take it up with my solicitors

and accountants and see what happens,

because, if nothing else, the company has to pay me back.

But one way or another, the claimant will now get the money he's owed

and, for the sheriffs, it's a case of justice served.

He kind of knows what it's about.

He's saying it's some old legal fees,

but he said he handed all the information to his accountant

to sort out. Well, he shouldn't have done that.

He should have complied with the court order

and got it paid a long time ago.

But that's nine o'clock now and we've got the full payment -

just over the 7,000, so a good result.

To quote Shakespeare, to pay or not to pay?

And clearly he did.

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.

£1.6 million.

Every year, sheriffs enforce more than 70,000 writs across England

and Wales and recover more than £75 million.

I'm here today to take control of goods to the value of £41,086.

We have to insist on full payment.

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.

Sheriff Ken Warby is still in Beautiful Dresses,

a North London clothes shop which owes £1,658 to Swikruti Soni,

who never received a refund for three outfits she bought.

The owner, Lilian Chidoka,

has already tried to lock him out of the shop twice

and Ken's been forced to call for police backup to continue.

I just need a police officer here to prevent a breach of the peace.

They've already tried to shut the door on me.

Lilian, meanwhile, has decided she'd like an officer of her own.

Sorry. I need a police officer,

but I want somebody who actually knows the law on bailiffs.

Have you got a warrant? Can I see it?

It says, "Writ of control." Is that a warrant?

It's not, but it does command Ken to attend the premises and demand

payment or remove goods with the authority of the High Court.

It's to his considerable relief when the police arrive.

-The lady owes some money. I've got a High Court writ of control.

-Yep.

She's unable to pay any money. That's the actual copy of the order,

a court order. It gives us authority to remove goods.

OK, help me here...

It's the duty of a police officer to assist an enforcement

agent in the execution of a writ.

Ken explains what he's going to do.

My job is, I'm going to remove these dresses,

some of the dresses over there, into the boot of my car,

leave the lady a receipt for everything, then my job here's done.

You'll go one by one, list it, which is done, you understand?

The woman is still complaining about procedure.

She is convinced that Ken isn't allowed

to take her goods away today.

You understand?

I want somebody that knows the law, a police officer that knows the law,

that knows where I'm coming from. This is the first visit.

You give the person writ of control, which means control of those goods

and then I make an arrangement with them to pay. You understand?

And then you will leave.

A writ of control, however, is a civil matter

and the police officers' only role is to prevent

anything stopping Ken from carrying out his duty.

For all her talk of an arrangement, she is refusing to offer any payment

and Ken is left with little choice.

The lady's been told a long time ago this stuff's going to go

and she's still not come up with anything, not a penny.

I was hoping she was going to come up with something, but she hasn't.

So, you know, she's already tried to lock me out the shop as well,

so, as far as I'm concerned,

the stuff's going in the back of the vehicle

and it's being taken to an auction house.

I'm going to get that done now.

Is this the door you tried to slam in my face?

You were forcing it.

Ken's not in the mood for further arguments.

He wants her goods and he wants to get out of here.

It's amazing what you can get in these estate cars.

I'll start getting these dresses out now.

No sooner has he got the first few in the boot, and the shop owner is

trying to take them back.

Ken puts the second load in the back seat.

Removed goods are sold at public auction

and rarely reach anything like their retail value.

So, Ken is having to take dresses worth far more than the debt.

But, first, Ken has to find an auction house which would take them.

It sounds like the office has found one.

Perfect. All right.

Hampstead, even closer, yeah.

These'll all be hanging up in about half an hour.

Ken heads back in to remove the last of the dresses.

But Ms Chidoka has other ideas.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

-BLEEP.

-Whoa, whoa!

You just assaulted him in front of two police officers.

I've done exactly what we're here to prevent.

All your dresses are now on the floor, OK?

Ken's pretty taken aback.

I was just grabbing some dresses, turned my back on the debtor

and the debtor's just punched me in the head from behind, so...

She's just locked herself in a room at the back now.

My job here's done, but she just assaulted me.

The officers have had to arrest her.

One calls for transport to take her away.

She returns from the back room.

Ms Chidoka was later given a caution for common assault.

Unsurprisingly, Ken's relieved this job is nearly over.

I've never been assaulted before on a job.

Not like that.

Loads of verbal, but I've never been...

I've never been physically attacked before.

That's in 26 years, so, I've done well, I guess.

It really surprised me.

She was moaning, but you didn't think for one minute

she would punch me in the ear.

There's just one last thing to do

and it's considerably less stressful -

delivering the day's haul to the auction house.

All I need is to be able to hang them up

because they can't just be left in a heap.

-Have you got coat hangers?

-I've got coat hangers.

13, 14, 15.

If I don't see another dress in my life, it'll be too soon.

I think they're hung up OK.

Yeah, as they were in the shop. Yeah, all good.

Ken might have had enough of the dresses,

but the auction house manager is delighted with them.

We've never had dresses in, as far as I know, so it's going to be very,

very interesting to have a collection of...

How would we call them?

Evening gowns, or ballgowns of various shapes,

sizes and colours.

Nothing will be sold for seven days, giving Ms Chidoka a chance

to settle her debt instead and get her stock back.

If she doesn't, then the dresses will be auctioned

to pay off her debt and costs,

with any additional proceeds paid back to her.

For Ken, it's been a tough day, so while he's here,

he decides he deserves a treat to cheer himself up.

My dog is a Hungarian vizsla and these basically

are 2st effigies of my dog. Front of the house, they'd look nice.

So I'm going to stick a little cheeky reserve bid on them...

while I'm here.

It's been an extraordinary ordeal,

but it goes to show the lengths the sheriffs will go to in order to get

back the money their clients are owed.

It's been a long old day from

the start of us walking into the shop.

I'm shattered, to tell the truth.

I'm absolutely shattered, because it's been a hard day

but it's been a successful day, I think.

Those dresses, I think they will fetch the value

and our clients... Our clients get paid.

Miss Chidoka failed to pay within seven days,

so several weeks later the dresses were sold at auction,

so Swikruti can now finally expect to get some of her money back.

It feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I was a bit worried when I heard that one of the sheriffs, Ken,

that he got assaulted and I hope he's OK.

The knock to Ken's ear has left no lasting damage.

He's also now the proud owner of pair of stone Hungarian vizslas,

pictured here with Gunner.

Ms Chidoka said that...

As a result...

After a successful start, Lawrence and Kev

are hoping to stretch their winning run and are now

heading for the south coast.

They're chasing a debt owed by a company specialising in motorsports.

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.

I 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 motorhome was available and, as Mr Thomas liked the look of it,

he booked it for four days.

The paperwork he signed spelled-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.

'So because it was about a month before,'

the invoice was for the full amount and that was payable immediately.

The cost of the hire was just over £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 the particular vehicle

and asked him if he wanted to come out of the contract, and that's OK,

because I've got another customer.

He said, "No, no, no, I really do want the motorhome.

"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, and 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 that

"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 him suddenly cancelling

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

As a business owner, I just feel that 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 thing 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 they need.

I've not really found them very satisfactory.

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

a go because...

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 at the racing.

The mystery is about to be solved.

-Hold up, 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.

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.

-Does it go to voicemail, or...?

-Yes, it does.

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.

-We need to have a look around

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?

-See what there is.

-Have a look.

-Oh!

Don't touch! 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.

Yeah, that Mustang's lovely.

A proper old Batmobile, there, as well.

-What are we looking at?

-The multicoloured BMW.

-Oh, right.

Why is 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.

The problem is, though, they're going to belong to other people, aren't they?

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 checks anyway, but it needs to be the full amount.

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

you know, just because they want to get it sorted,

doesn't mean that anything's happening.

And once that judgment has gone into place and it didn't get paid,

the client 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 round like that.

We sent out a notice of enforcement.

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

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, yeah.

It needs to be done now before we leave.

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

and Lawrence is in his element.

-A proper Le Mans Silk Cut Jaguar.

-Isn't it?

Whilst Kev looks increasingly bored.

That one there, the dark blue one, Sunbeam Tiger.

Remember Dr No when 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!

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.

It needs to be immediate, as well.

We need 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'd do it again.

Then, when payment does go through,

the sheriffs can't find it in their bank.

Hmm, that's bizarre.

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

-No.

-We have to wait on the premises.

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

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.

-Yes, that's it.

It's dropped in. Right, we'll leave you in peace.

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers, mate.

-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, or certainly not enough to stop the writ.

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

It was good. There was some nice motors in there.

Lots of old, sort of, 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...