Episode 3 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet The Sheriffs...

-My name is Mr Grix, my colleague and I are enforcement agents.

It's to do with a High Court order...

They work for the High Court, and if it says you're owed money,

it's their job to go and get it.

I'm here for £6,072.18.

They can demand payment on the spot...

I'm here for the full balance.

How are you going to pay it?

..or remove assets, instead.

The car will be going unless you can pay it.

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

Obstructing their work can be a criminal offence.

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

The door needs to stay open.

Every year in England and Wales,

unpaid debts totalling more than £80 million are recovered by

the sheriffs.

Coming up... Kate Killick is owed three months rent after her student

lodger suddenly left without warning.

He rang me one day to say he'd been kicked off the course,

and basically said "tough",

and had no sense that he was ever going to pay the money back.

But when Tommy and Craig confront the man,

he's reluctant to face the facts.

You need to address this, Mr Akbar, otherwise it will be going.

Lawrence is on the trail of £30,000 owed by a financial adviser.

Hello there, sir, looking for Joseph Miller, would that be yourself?

He might not have the cash, but he does have a car.

Silver Citroen, have a look round the corner,

see if he drives off in it.

In the Midlands, enforcement agents Tommy Coyle and Craig Wild are up

early. They're in pursuit of a debtor who Craig is convinced has

been avoiding him, and they're about to knock on his door.

On this very damp morning, we're over to Birmingham.

We're off to go and see a Mr Ali Akbar,

who has had several visits from ourselves and notifications have

been left on every single time.

He's failed to respond to it.

Mr Akbar has been taken to court for unpaid rent.

The claimant is Kate Killick,

a beauty therapist and a single mum with two children.

She first met Mr Akbar when she was hoping to make some extra cash by

renting out a spare room in the family home.

The extra income is really important,

because it's whether or not you have a really nice Christmas,

you haven't got to worry about presents for the children.

Kate lives in Shoreham in Sussex,

and to find a lodger, she contacted the local airport.

They have a flying school and are often looking for host families

to accommodate trainee pilots.

The college put her in touch with Mr Akbar, and she agreed to take him in.

Initially he was paying £125 a week, with breakfast,

but he never got up for breakfast, so I just dropped it to 100,

it seemed fairer.

And in many ways Mr Akbar was the ideal lodger.

He was hardly ever here.

So I never really saw him, it was perfect, really,

from that point of view.

What wasn't so perfect was that after several months,

he began to fall behind with his rent.

But at first, Kate wasn't worried.

When I questioned him,

he said his mum was out the country and he'd have to wait till she got

back in the country and he'd get the rent.

But after Kate hadn't received her rent for three months,

Mr Akbar suddenly pulled the plug on their arrangement.

He rang me one day to say he'd gone into college

and he'd been kicked off the course.

So, he'd literally packed his stuff up and gone,

and basically said "Tough", I wouldn't be able to get the rent

money, the arrears.

I did say I would go through the small claims court and he just

basically said, "Good luck with that".

For Kate, it was an upsetting end to the relationship.

I am very angry with Ali,

because you welcome someone into your home and treat them almost like

a member of the family,

give them a lot of trust and believe in their honesty,

and they let you down.

And it's a lot of money to lose, £1,500.

So, just as she'd promised to do,

Kate pursued Mr Akbar through the courts -

a process she found straightforward.

And she wasn't surprised at the outcome.

There was a court date set to explain his side and he didn't turn up.

A default judgment was awarded in her favour,

but Kate suspected that wouldn't be the end of it.

Just because someone's told they've got to pay you the money,

they're not going to do it.

So I went online to see what my options were,

and that's when I found out about the sheriffs.

It's now down to the sheriffs to get back her lost

rent, plus costs and fees.

100%, the sheriffs are my last hope,

because I know he's not going to pay the money.

He just seems to have buried his head in the sand,

he doesn't think he owes me the money.

He doesn't think there's a legal way that I can get the money,

so he's going to have a surprise.

In Birmingham, enforcement agents Tommy and Craig are arriving at

Mr Akbar's home. They've been here many times before without any joy,

and are now hoping all the legwork they've put in

is finally about to pay off.

We've noted a vehicle a couple of times that has been there,

it's a sporty Vauxhall.

The DVLA check has come back on that vehicle,

the registered keeper is down to him.

So today's job is to go there, knock the door again, if the car's there,

we'll clamp it straightaway, and we'll try and raise him to the door.

And if he wants to pay it, then that's fine, we'll deal with that,

and if not, unfortunately his car's got to go.

The sheriffs approach Mr Akbar's house with anticipation...

Go right at the end, it'll be on the left-hand side.

..their eyes peeled for the prize asset.

-There it is, that white car there.

-That's his car?

-That's his car.

I'll park behind it, then.

That's a really good look.

There's the white car, there's the VXR.

Tommy blocks the car in

and they get straight to work.

-Right, that's on.

-You done?

-Done.

This is what I get all the time here, just no answer.

They're in, but they just don't answer the door.

And after a few more minutes of trying with no response,

Craig sets the wheels in motion.

I'm just going to phone the tow truck now.

Hello, it's Craig. Yes, my friend, not too bad.

When we clamp a vehicle and immobilise it, we have to wait

two hours, giving them a chance, really, to resolve it,

even though we've been knocking at the door.

Yeah, we want you here about quarter past ten.

All right, my friend, cheers, thanks a lot, bye-bye.

Contractors are all booked now,

so the cost of that will go on top of their bill.

In our experience, once the tow truck turns up with its amber lights

flashing and the engine revving, that usually brings them to the door.

Later, it's a reality check for Mr Akbar,

as Tommy and Craig lay down the law.

She's gone to court because...

I'm not mad, blud. No, I'm not mad, I'm not mad.

I'm not a bailiff, no, I'm a High Court enforcement agent.

Success for the sheriffs is often down to the value of goods they can

find that are owned by the debtor.

Even with a court order in hand, demanding large sums without

expensive assets to use as leverage can be very difficult.

This afternoon, Lawrence Grix is alone in South London.

He might not have sidekick Kev with him, but he does have

a High Court writ for a substantial amount of money.

I'm just off to Thornton Heath at the moment,

to a gentleman called Joseph Miller

who's got an estate agents, financial services type office.

He owes just over £30,000.

The claimant said she gave her savings to Mr Miller to put in an

investment scheme,

but later when she wanted to withdraw the money, he wouldn't give it back.

She took him to court and won and now Lawrence is on his way to

collect £30,250.

It's a business address,

so we're coming during the working day...

Unfortunately, being an estate agents-cum-investment place,

all they're likely to have is a couple of desks and a couple of computers.

Hopefully we'll find Mr Miller there and we'll be able to put some kind

of squeeze on him, find some assets to give us some leverage.

If he's got a car and it's been re-financed,

then that might be up for grabs.

Mr Miller's high street office is certainly unlikely to contain

£30,000 worth of assets. Lawrence has got his work cut out.

He finds the shop and parks nearby.

The door is locked, but someone is inside.

Hello, sir. I'm looking for Joseph Miller, would that be yourself?

It is indeed Mr Miller, but that's as far as our camera gets.

Can I show you some ID, sir?

Inside, Lawrence gets to work and explains to Mr Miller that he's here

for his customer's money.

All of it.

Mr Miller's not keen to pay up and just as Lawrence expected,

the goods in the office aren't worth very much.

However, behind the office,

Lawrence has spotted a car with Mr Miller's branding on it.

Mr Miller doesn't deny it belongs to him, but insists it's a tool of the

trade, meaning it's essential for him to carry on his business

and Lawrence isn't legally allowed to remove it.

But Lawrence makes a phone call and discovers that the car doesn't have

business insurance. Satisfied it can't therefore be for business use,

he threatens to remove it.

Just as he's booking a tow truck, Mr Miller heads to the car.

Silver Citroen, have a look round the corner, see if he drives off in it.

If he does, there's not a lot Lawrence can do to stop him,

but luckily, his fears are unfounded.

Mr Miller has only gone to retrieve his briefcase from the boot

before returning inside.

After an hour in the shop, Lawrence is done.

He's paid me £1,000 in cash and I've signed him up for £1,000 a month.

Lawrence would prefer to have the debt paid in full, but under the

circumstances, he's satisfied a payment plan is a good result for the woman

-who is owed the money.

-It's a fairly high arrangement, but it's still,

when you compare it to a £30,000 debt,

it'll still take a few years to pay it off with interest going on,

but really that's about the best I can do when you've got no assets to

use as leverage. Bit of a discussion over whether his car was a tool of

the trade. But it wasn't insured for business use, so it wouldn't be

classed as a tool of the trade.

But that was only probably a few hundred pounds' worth.

It was an old Citroen, and other than that there was a few old

computers and desks and it's just not worth any money.

Without goods to remove, the bargaining powers of the sheriffs is limited.

Lawrence has managed to get at least some money and an agreement to make

regular repayments.

Since filming Mr Miller has stuck to the arrangement so far and he's

gradually paying back the £30,000 he owes.

Mr Miller told us that his client's money had been invested in property.

He says a slow housing market had delayed the return of funds and the

court action resulted because she hadn't been prepared to wait for a

property sale to materialise.

In Birmingham, Tommy and Craig are waiting outside the home of

Ali Akbar, who owes a debt of £3,290.

They've clamped his car and a tow truck's on the way, but so far,

in keeping with Craig's previous visits,

Mr Akbar himself has yet to come to the door.

This does happen sometimes,

they just completely go to ground inside and they won't come out until

the actual transport arrives to take the vehicle and then someone may

come to the door saying, "We didn't know nothing about it and want to

"resolve this", and it's too late, normally.

They have to find a large sum of money very quickly or it'll be going

on the back of a truck and away.

But no sooner has Tommy spoken than a young man walks out of the house.

-How's it going?

-Hello, sir.

Mr Akbar, is it?

Mr Wild from the sheriff's office.

They've sent us out to obviously execute this court order.

Because you owe the money, there's a High Court order.

The court thinks you do.

You've had paperwork hand-delivered by the agent here.

No problem at all.

Craig obliges and shows Mr Akbar his writ.

And that's the commandment of the courts to endorse and obviously take

control of your assets today.

Faced with the documents, Mr Akbar finally has a moment of realisation.

Penny's dropped now, has it?

It's already been to court, sir. No, it's already been to court.

Exactly, she's gone to court because...

I'm not mad, blud. I'm not mad.

I'm not a bailiff, no, I'm a High Court enforcement agent.

I just explained it to you, I'm a High Court enforcement agent,

I've been here at least three times, left letters for you,

you've failed to respond to that.

Despite seeing the court order,

it seems Mr Akbar is unwilling to recognise the sheriff's authority.

Because the law says and the court says

we've got to come here to see you.

And if you don't deal with it, we've got to deal with it for you.

We don't want to do that. We'd much rather get paid and be on our way.

The car will be going unless you can pay it.

That's fine. But the law says,

you've got the seven days to seek your own legal advice,

try and raise the money and if you're successful,

then you're entitled to your goods back.

Mr Akbar clearly doesn't want to pay, but it looks like the sheriff's

ultimatum of removing the car is finally sinking in.

After briefly heading inside to mull it over,

he returns and he's changed his tune.

It has to be the full balance, the reason for that is...

You could have before.

It's 8.40 now, you've got until 10.15, and hour and a half.

If you want to stop the vehicle going.

-No problem.

-No problem at all, Mr Akbar.

The defendant has indicated he might get some money, but the time is

ticking and we told him the deadline to get that money to us.

We've also told him that he has incurred the extra cost

of the contractor, because we've commenced them on their way.

So, unfortunately, it's been a very expensive day for Mr Akbar.

As they wait it out in the van,

Mr Akbar again comes to speak to them and he's got a fresh offer.

We can't, it's not a case of us

trying to not be helpful, we do as much as we can,

we leave the vehicle clamped for two hours.

This is clamped.

It's clamped.

There's a clamp on the front.

Once again, it's taking a while for reality to sink in.

But with his offer of payment gradually increasing, Tommy is

quietly confident.

Yeah, a bit more positive that time,

could be payment in full coming here, I've got a feeling,

I can feel it in the air, coming down the pipes.

But later on, there's another problem

as the car suddenly appears to have a new owner.

The car's yours now, is it? When did you get it?

Using the county courts to try to recover money you're owed

isn't difficult.

1.5 million money claims are made every year in England and Wales,

involving anything from faulty goods or poor workmanship to unpaid invoices.

Claims can be filed by post or online for a small fee.

Both parties in the case will be asked to submit evidence,

and you may have to attend a court hearing.

If you're successful,

a County Court Judgment, or CCJ, will be issued against the debtor.

And if they still don't pay, that's when you call the sheriffs.

In Birmingham, Tommy and Craig are still trying to recover debt owed by

a Mr Ali Akbar.

He has finally realised that with a tow truck on the way,

he needs to come up with more than three grand, sharpish,

or else his car will be going.

So far, he's only managed to make offers of part payment,

which have been rejected.

But now, a family member has got involved and is about to throw the

sheriffs a curveball.

The car's yours now, is it?

When, when did you get it?

You bought it yesterday, did you?

Oh, right, so he sold it to you yesterday?

-How much?

-How much for, my love?

It is. Oh, it is. We need to see evidence.

Because we need to investigate it, you see, we need...

We can't just, unfortunately, take your word for it.

Moments later, Mr Akbar emerges with a change of registered keeper form.

Right, OK. It's still wet, though, this.

Craig's having none of it.

It won't prevent us from removing the vehicle, unfortunately, Ali.

Yeah, unfortunately...

We can speak to her, but the car's still going.

I don't think that's valid, unfortunately.

But the Akbars aren't giving up just yet.

The plot thickens when Craig

overhears a conversation in the doorway.

If you want to transfer the money into his account, that's fine.

I said, if you want to transfer the money into his...

Well, I can.

Well, it is my business.

But if they're thinking of making a bank transfer to complete the sale

now, it would be too late.

If there's a money transfer just happening just now,

that's going to be irrelevant because we've already took control

of the vehicle, prior to it being sold.

Meanwhile, Mr Akbar has reappeared on the driveway,

and to Tommy's surprise, gets behind the wheel of another car.

Strange, isn't it?

Yeah, unusual, he seems to be going.

Perhaps he's gone to get some money.

Perhaps not. But the tow truck's now well on its way, so Tommy and Craig

take the opportunity to do a damage report on his car.

-It's in all right nick, isn't it?

-It's not too bad.

This wing is, there's something...

It's got, like, it's been pranged, that has.

Driver's side rear wing.

Time is running out for Mr Akbar,

who soon returns, but has he come bearing cash?

You all right? Do we know what we're doing?

Are we paying it today or not?

Because they're literally ten minutes away.

Once it turns up, they're just going to hook it up.

All right.

Mr Akbar seems to have given up any hope of hanging onto his car today.

And as the tow truck arrives to take it away, hands over his keys.

Are you going to get it back? Are you...

-In seven days? No?

-Do you want to take your stuff out first?

Have you got any personal stuff in there, yeah?

Yeah, get your stuff out, mate.

Tommy removes the clamp.

Job's a good'un.

And the car's driven onto the back of the truck.

So, yeah, at least he's given the keys up.

Makes it a lot easier, both for himself and for us.

If it does go to auction, then at least they've got the key to it,

which increases its value.

Yeah, it's seven days and then they

have to put it into a public auction.

You can.

Suddenly, it seems Mr Akbar wants to buy his car back at auction,

though it'd make a lot more sense to pay now,

and just as the truck prepares to drive off,

that's exactly what he starts talking about.

If you've got the full balance now... You need it this second.

It's gone.

Mr Akbar has missed his chance.

The sheriffs leave their paperwork.

-There you go, my friend.

-All right?

Take it easy. Take care of yourself, yeah?

-Ta-ra.

-See you later, mate.

-And their work is done.

He tried his best to negotiate his way out of us not taking the vehicle

today by trying to transfer ownership.

Even by his own admission, he said, "You've got to try it".

-But, unfortunately, it didn't work this time.

-Yeah, it's just a classic case of,

don't bury your head in the sand because it won't go away.

The sheriffs are on their way.

Later the same day, Mr Akbar paid the balance in full

and his car was subsequently returned.

Back in Shoreham, Kate Killick has finally got the money she was owed.

Really, really good news. The sheriffs went round.

They finally caught up with Ali, and I was able to get my money back,

and it's just really, really nice to know that the law is there to help

people out. I couldn't be happier. Thank you.

And Kate has some advice for anyone else with an unpaid debt.

Definitely, definitely go through the Small Claims Court because

that's why they are there, to help you. You know, it was quite a long process.

It's been over a year, but we got there in the end.

Today in the West Midlands, Tommy Coyle and Craig Wild's

skills are about to be tested.

So we're in the suburbs of Birmingham again today.

We're off to go and see a Mr Kev Dooley.

Mr Dooley was taken to court by another man several months ago.

He didn't defend the case and a judgment was issued against him by default.

He now owes £7,381.

The sheriffs have been trying

to contact Mr Dooley,

but with no success.

We've been there numerous times before,

had no response at all to our letters,

however there's a number of vehicles...

..in our guy's name,

so the intention is today to go and remove them,

if he's not going to pay the bill or play ball with us.

They reach Mr Dooley's home address,

and sure enough two of the vehicles they were hoping to find are there.

Yeah, so that van, which has got four grand's worth of value...

There's a Volkswagen van...

That's free of finance.

So we need to get a clamp on that.

And also the CA61 on the drive, yeah?

..and a Vauxhall hatchback.

That's 3,200 quid, that car.

The sheriffs get straight to work.

Tommy clamps the van, while Craig tries the door.

As usual, there's no answer.

There's got to be someone here, hasn't there?

There's all these cars here.

The main rubbish bin's completely empty.

The post is still in the door.

I've got a phone number.

-Try ringing him.

-He does, but it goes straight to answerphone.

Hello, this is a message for Mr Kev Dooley.

I need you to contact me as soon as possible, Mr Dooley. Thank you.

Let's order the truck.

-It's all we can do.

-It's all we can do, isn't it?

With Mr Dooley owing upwards of £7,000,

both vehicles will need to be removed to cover the debt.

But without keys for the car on the drive,

and another car blocking access for the tow truck,

it's not clear if it's going to be possible.

That's going to be a bit of a nightmare,

-getting through there, isn't it? On a flatbed.

-More than a nightmare.

Tommy's sceptical, but ever the optimist,

Craig presses ahead and books in the removal of both vehicles.

But just as the sheriffs are gearing up for the removal,

a call comes through from the debtor's mother.

My name's Craig, Craig Wild, I'm an enforcement agent.

She says that she owns the van,

so doesn't think the sheriffs can remove it,

but she's not able to provide proof of her purchase right now.

She's saying that she's purchased the vehicle for him,

to put into his business.

But as we've said, in the absence of proof,

at this late stage it won't prevent the removal from taking place.

Before long, the first removal truck arrives

and the logistical challenge begins.

Even the van, which was supposed to be the easier of the two,

turns out to be harder than expected,

thanks to its long wheelbase.

I don't think it'll go on.

Backwards, it doesn't fit, so they try a new strategy.

If he takes it from the front,

it will be shorter at the front and you'll be able to get it on,

and have the back end sticking off the back.

And this time, they have more success.

The car, on the other hand, is a different story altogether.

The issue is the wheel.

Obviously with a steering lock on like that, to drag it,

it's going to be a nightmare.

We've conquered worse.

Tommy's obviously caught Craig's optimism.

Drag it from there, I think.

And a plan does indeed come together.

The Vauxhall is unceremoniously heaved up onto the truck.

It's not pretty, but it works.

And the car is also soon on its way.

-That's good.

-Cheers, thanks. Take care, mate.

Both vehicles will be held for seven days.

If Mr Dooley doesn't come up with the money,

and provided the vehicles do belong to him,

then they'll be sold

and the claimant will finally receive the money they're owed.

Yeah, a bit of a result.

We've only been here just over the two hours.

We made some phone calls and tried to make contact at the address, nothing.

So it resulted in two vehicles going.

Following filming, Mr Dooley didn't pay any money towards his debt

and his Vauxhall has been sold at auction.

Meanwhile, the ownership of the van is still in dispute

and the matter is with the courts.

Mr Dooley told us that he believes he doesn't owe any money

and that the case against him was unfounded.

He says he didn't respond to the court paperwork because

his name was spelt incorrectly,

so he didn't believe the letters were for him.

He says he hasn't appealed the judgment

because of the costs involved.