Episode 7 The Sheriffs Are Coming

-Meet the sheriffs.

-My name's 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're 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, a steel company owes money to a former employee.

When Dean didn't pay the final wage, I found it more than unfair.

Tommy and Craig go looking for the boss.

Is it him?

When the sheriffs evict a group of squatters...

Wakey wakey!

..Lawrence makes a suspicious discovery.

Somebody else's credit cards.

I think we'll have to hand those in to the local police.

When a business which is still trading owes money,

more often than not, a single visit from the sheriffs

is enough to get payment.

But on other occasions, the sheriffs can find themselves

banging on the door time after time to get their claimant's money.

In the West Midlands, Tommy Coyle and Craig Wild

are about to be given the run-around by a steel tubing company.

So we're off to Wolverhampton today.

We're off to go and see a company called Infinity Tubes Limited.

Infinity Tubes Limited owe just over £2,300.

They were taken to court by

Army gunner turned salesman Paul Warren from Blackburn.

He'd been looking for a new job when

a recruitment company put him in touch with the Midlands start-up.

Infinity Tubes was looking to be a specialist in ERW.

ERW is an electro-resistant welded tube - for example, an exhaust.

It's a strong but very lightweight product.

The downside to it is it's very, very cheap,

and you have to sell a lot of it, and I mean...

..tens of tonnes of it, to get a good return on it.

With 13 years of sales experience in the steel industry,

Paul had built up a long list of customer contacts

and thought he could be just the man for the job.

I drove down to Birmingham, met with them once and I said,

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot, I'll see what I can do for you."

Paul started working from home for the company.

However, it wasn't long before it became clear

Infinity Tubes still had a lot of work to do

before he was going to be able to deliver the sales they needed.

I soon realised within a week, ten days,

they really weren't geared up,

and I explained to them, "You haven't even got a computer system,

"you don't even have an e-mail."

And they said, "Well, whatever you need, tell us."

Paul was given a company car

and he began trying to drum up business from his contacts,

but he says he simply wasn't getting the information he needed

from the company and its director, Dean Shilvock.

I went back to Dean, I said, "Listen, first thing you need to do,

"you need to tell me your stock levels." I said,

"I need price lists. I can't go in to customers without price lists."

So he wouldn't supply the documentation and the prices

that I needed to seal the deal,

and I think the final thing was,

I said, "I work from home, I need a laptop."

I ended up buying my own for £350

because they wouldn't supply a laptop.

Paul only stayed a few weeks before resigning,

working out his notice period and returning the company car.

But to his surprise, his final week's wages,

along with some expenses and holiday pay, didn't show up.

I rung him, wouldn't answer, rung him, wouldn't answer.

I texted him and said, "Can you please pay me the wage?"

The text back I got was,

"Give me your customer list and we'll pay you the wage."

So customer lists are bread and butter.

They're everything, they're your worth.

My customer list is... 358.

When Dean said, "Give me all your customer list",

I was giving up basically 13 years of work.

Paul refused, and the money never came.

When Dean didn't pay the final wage yet I'd worked that time -

I'd worked up to Christmas Eve -

I found it more than unfair.

We've got bills to pay.

It was Christmas, and suddenly we'd defaulted on two payments

out of our bank because we thought,

we didn't even give it two thoughts that we weren't going to get paid.

Mr Shilvock, meanwhile, was showing no signs of budging,

and Paul decided he wasn't going to take it lying down.

So I said, "OK, then, I'll see you in court."

I knew nothing about how to take somebody to court, small claims,

I had no idea. I googled it.

Paul filed a claim online and, as is standard practice,

the court initially offered mediation between the two parties.

Paul agreed to accept a part payment in order to

bring the matter to a close and it looked like they had a deal.

We are notified by the magistrates that he's agreed and we've agreed,

and then, with about two days to go,

he suddenly said, no, he weren't going to. He wasn't paying a penny.

So instead, Paul had his day in court.

Mr Shilvock never showed up and Paul won a judgment by default.

Four weeks later, when he still hadn't been paid,

something on the television caught his attention.

I was sat here and on the TV was your programme, and I went,

"Hang on... They're sheriffs."

And my wife said, "Well, why don't WE use the sheriffs?"

Paul has now had his case transferred up to the High Court

and is banking on the sheriffs to finally get him his money.

After seeing the programme...

I've got a lot of faith in it

that this will put an end to it, hopefully.

Back in Wolverhampton, Tommy and Craig are approaching the address

they've been given for the company.

That's the central trading estate in there.

Unit 25 we're after, matey boy.

But as they turn into the site, they get their first inkling

that this job isn't going to be straightforward.

-There you go, Infinity Welding Limited.

-There you go.

It's not quite the name they were expecting to see.

We have located the premises and it's down on the actual

industrial estate map as being Infinity Welding Limited,

which is a separate entity to our company.

And as they pull up to the unit,

none of the branding matches the name on the writ.

Oh, look at that, mate.

Although Infinity Welding Limited's likely to be a connected company,

the sheriffs would only be able to remove assets

here if they're owned by the named debtor, Infinity Tubes Limited,

but for now, ownership is the least of their problems.

The unit is shut, and looks like it's been abandoned.

It's not looking good at all.

They should be open by now. We'll make some enquiries.

While Tommy heads off to ask the neighbours,

Craig makes some phone calls to see if he can find out more about

Infinity Welding Limited and its relationship to the debtor.

Can you go on to Companies House for me?

But it soon becomes irrelevant as neither company is here any more.

Made some enquiries. They've been gone about a week from here.

It's more or less an empty unit.

The neighbours across there said they've seen them taking

various equipment out of here.

With the debtor no longer present and no sign of any assets,

there's nothing more the sheriffs can do here.

Unfortunately for Mr Warren at the moment, it's a case

where we'd have to look to trace the company to another address,

if they're still trading, and pursue it later on.

The sheriffs call it quits for now,

but a few weeks later, they're once again back on the road.

They've been unable to find a new address for the company

but they do have information about its directors.

Directors of the company are Dean and Debbie Shilvock,

with a Luke Plant as well, and they all seem to be quite young.

The sheriffs have run a trace on the names, and it's come back with

a residential address, which is where they're now heading,

but Craig knows there's no guarantee of success.

Company assets at a home address,

it's always a hard one for us to go in there,

try and chase the money, but we'll try our best, as we always do.

Half the battle is usually catching someone in,

but this time it seems they're in luck.

-It looks like there's somebody home.

-Someone there?

-Top floor window.

-Hello, sir.

-Hello.

-Trying to get in contact with...Luke Plant?

-Doesn't live here.

-Or Dean and Debbie Shilvock. Is that yourself?

-Mr Wild from the sheriffs' office.

-What's that for?

With a High Court writ.

It's Dean Shilvock, one of the directors of Infinity Tubes Limited.

He doesn't want our camera on his drive, so we have to leave

while Craig explains he's here to collect just over two grand.

Mr Shilvock and his wife say they're willing to pay, but in stages.

As it's unlikely there are assets here belonging to the debtor company

the sheriffs have little leverage

and it's an offer they're willing to consider.

I'll leave you a letter today with an e-mail address, all right?

Put your proposal in, that it's three payments or four payments,

whatever you want to do. We'll forward that on to the claimant.

It's down to him whether he wants to accept it or not.

But just when it looks like a done deal,

Dean offers to go one step further and pay in full the following day.

Craig can hardly believe his luck.

Website's there, OK?

All self-explanatory.

Put your reference number in, and then put your debit card in

and it'll give you an authorisation code to take the payment paid.

-All right? Cheers, thanks.

-Thanks, guys.

-Bye-bye.

So I think that went pretty well, for a home address, at least.

They were reluctant to pay it initially

but Dean's decided to get it sorted within 24 hours.

They haven't got a card there to pay it today

but we've given them the benefit of the doubt, we've given them 24 hours

to pay the bill, and if they do, happy days.

But later on...

..Craig and Tommy are forced to come knocking once more.

KNOCKING

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.

It's before dawn and the sheriffs are gathering in Southend in Essex.

There's lights on up in the property,

so we need to be really quiet.

They're here to evict a group of squatters from a nearby building.

If the window's open, me and Jack go through the window.

If the door opens easy, then in through the door.

It's a commercial property which has been vacant for a while,

and it's thought about a dozen squatters have moved in.

The owner wants them out so he can renovate the building.

He's got a writ of possession which the sheriffs are about to enforce.

On this occasion, getting in proves to be straightforward

as the window opens easily.

Soon followed by the door.

All right, let's go.

Hello!

Once inside, at first they can't find any sign of the squatters...

-Where's everybody?

-..until they get through into a second corridor...

Whoa! Warm in here.

..where the heating is on full blast and gives the game away.

Least they've got the heating on.

Yeah, nice and warm there, ain't you?

Wakey wakey! High Court Enforcement.

Enforcement agents, fellas.

-Get yourself up, get yourself packed up.

-Sorry, and lady.

-All right?

In ten minutes I want to see this door open.

Start packing your stuff up. What's up, mate?

He's spoken to you already, yeah? All right, guys.

On first impressions,

it seems like it's going to be a straightforward job.

There's lots and lots of rooms.

It is about ten people altogether but they're all aware and they all

seem quite cooperative. They're all just packing up and going.

I did see a big pile of suitcases in one room near the stairs as we

came in, so it wouldn't surprise me if they're pretty much ready to go.

There is one woman, though, who is starting to kick up a fuss.

She's not happy about the sheriffs' early morning wake-up call

and thinks the eviction isn't being done legally.

Team leader Mark King sets her straight.

-That... That paperwork that you've been given...

-Mm-hm?

..OK, entitles me, OK, to come into this property

however I want to come into here...

-So busting in like that?

-..and take back possession of it, OK?

So would it not have been the decent thing to knock, maybe?

-At the moment...

-See if someone answers and then actually do this

in a decent way, a decent manner?

The lady here was suggesting that we should have just knocked

and she'd have come and let us in, which I can see her point,

but we have to cover our own backs.

We do face some aggression towards us on jobs like this,

so we find it easier to catch them when they're sleeping,

get in, make ourselves known and use the element of surprise.

The sheriffs are always willing to give the squatters

a reasonable amount of time to pack their belongings.

What they don't like is people dragging their feet.

If you don't get on with packing your stuff,

you're going to be removed without it.

That's fine, and I have an issue with all these people

standing here watching me like I've done something wrong.

Like I said, is there any need for it?

Right, if you stay here, Angie, with the lady, OK?

If you just move down a little bit

and we'll just give you a little bit of space, yeah?

You pack your stuff up, OK, and then we're out of here, yeah?

-Absolute

-BLEEP

-joke.

Does my council tax or anything like that go on this, by any chance?

-Just curious.

-No.

-No.

Now, there's a new one I've not come across before.

A squatter that pays council tax.

..standing here like we've done something wrong.

Further down the corridor,

another man is also questioning the sheriffs' authority.

What is going on? You're all leaving.

You're all going. It's not your property.

The landlord has asked us to take it back for him, so we're...

Doesn't matter to you who the landlord is.

We have a High Court writ for you to vacate the property,

so you need to vacate the property.

It's none of your business who the landlord is,

cos you're not in any kind of contract with the landlord, are you?

You're squatting in his property, so I suggest you go and

pack your stuff like everybody else is doing and leave.

Thankfully, most of the squatters

are willing to leave without argument.

-Have you got everything?

-Yeah, I think...

OK, but you've got everything, yeah?

Cos once you go, you can't come back in.

Well, whilst they've brought in so many people, that might be kind of

helpful because some of them can grab some bags for me, right?

Apart from the woman, all of the squatters are eastern Europeans.

Oi. Stop.

Just carry on.

They don't want any trouble,

and although the building's being left in a bit of a state,

it's still not as bad as many squats they've seen.

We've seen a lot worse buildings than this one, to be fair.

No holes knocked in walls or anything like that,

which is always good for the landlord.

While most of the squatters are now outside,

one man is taking longer than others to gather his possessions.

He seems to have quite a lot of stuff and is hoping

to take it all with him.

I can't help you take it apart, no.

He's got a big old double bed in there that he wants to take apart

and he wanted some help taking it apart.

We're not going to do that.

Before you know, you get accused of breaking it and then...

Just, it's not worth it. It's not worth the aggravation.

He wanted to take that bed, did he?

Last male's on the way out now. No more rooms.

Once he's gone, Lawrence makes a suspicious discovery in the room.

Halifax Visa debit, a Post Office card and a Capital One credit card.

He's found a pile of bank cards.

They all belong to different people with English-sounding names.

Lawrence thinks the most likely explanation

is that they've been stolen.

I think we'll have to hand those in to the local police.

With all the squatters now out,

Andy the locksmith is busy securing the building.

So they'll never get through that, ever.

All right, let's lock it up.

While Kev does a final check.

Over the years there has been times

where people have been hiding in sort of sneaky locations,

so we make sure it is entirely empty.

It is, and Lawrence is satisfied it's a job well done.

Everybody's out of the building now

and now it's just the last little bits. There's a few external doors.

The last few locks are being changed.

It's been a good day - no resistance, really.

There was the young lady who had a bit of a moan,

wanted to have her say.

I think she's still saying a few things even now she's out.

Doesn't go much better than that, really,

and it's all been done fairly quickly.

It's taken just over an hour to get the squatters out and secure

the building, which will now be handed back to its rightful owner.

In the Midlands, Tommy and Craig are on the road, again chasing

an outstanding debt owed by steel company Infinity Tubes Limited.

It owes more than £2,000

after being taken to court by former employee Paul Warren.

The sheriffs have already visited

the company's former business premises...

There you go, Infinity Welding Limited.

..and the director's home,

but today they find themselves making a return visit.

We're going to go and see Mr and Mrs Shilvock,

who we've been to before. They said they'll pay.

We gave them seven days to produce the payment,

which Mr Shilvock said he would do the following day.

Our office have informed us that that hasn't happened,

so we're off today to see why it hasn't happened.

The sheriffs pull up at the address and head in.

KNOCKING

Hiya, Debbie.

Company director Debbie Shilvock has answered the door but

she isn't happy about the sheriffs turning up here for a second time.

The main bone of contention she's just mentioned then is because

it's a limited company, we shouldn't be attending the home address.

However, two factors in that -

A, we haven't got the new company address because

they've moved from the old address.

And the second factor is, with a court order,

we can go anywhere in England and Wales

where we can find the assets of the defendant,

in this particular case, a limited company.

Company assets like the office desk, computer, printer,

laptop, it could all be in there.

Probably not because they've got another premises that

they trade out of, but it doesn't stop us from coming here legally.

The sheriffs can attend anywhere

a debtor carries out a trade or business in order to get paid.

With Debbie's husband and co-director Dean now apparently on his way,

they're hoping that's what's about to happen.

We're going to wait for her husband to come here and try and

elicit the payment from the husband, who was quite keen last time to

try and get it resolved, so I can't understand why they haven't paid it.

Ten minutes later, Dean pulls up.

Perhaps he can explain why more than four months after the court

ruled against Infinity Tubes Limited,

the company still hasn't settled its debt.

Hiya, Dean.

Mr Shilvock heads inside with the sheriffs, where he explains that

he believes the court's decision was unfair and wants to challenge it.

Craig explains that while he can appeal, for now,

the bill needs paying.

Soon, Tommy emerges with news.

Yeah, we've had a conversation with them. They're looking to pay.

They are going back to court but we've explained it's not going to go away,

hence we've come back for a second time now.

So they've agreed to pay it, so he's getting a card machine, going to facilitate the payment.

Tommy goes back inside, where sure enough the bill is settled in full.

But while Tommy heads back to the van,

Craig appears to have got distracted.

I bet when it fires up, you wake all the neighbours up.

Dean's Ford Mustang has caught his eye and its proud owner is

more than happy to show it off.

Over looking at the car now.

Five-litre. Ooh, look, it's kicked in now, look, yeah.

He wants to have a conversation, does our Craig.

Bet you want to book yourself into a track day!

CRAIG LAUGHS

Mustang's a nice bit of kit, a lovely bit of kit. I like my motors.

Very, very nippy, and Dean quite likes it as well, obviously.

As for the debt, Craig's satisfied with the day's outcome.

They've done the decent and right thing by paying it in full.

In fact, Infinity Tubes Limited never did go back to court.

And in Blackburn, Paul Warren has finally got the money he's owed.

The sheriffs have contacted us saying that they've recovered

the full money from Infinity Tubes, which is fantastic for us.

It's been a long journey in our eyes.

We never thought that we'd get to this day but we are.

It's a great result and a big, big weight off our minds.

Fantastic.

When debtors can't pay on the spot...

I'm assuming that you haven't got £5,000. Oh, dear.

..the sheriffs won't always remove assets to get your money.

Goods go for about a fifth of their true value at auction,

and it's often better to agree to a payment plan.

If you can come up with half of it today.

-Do you reckon you can do 200 a week?

-They'll make a list of assets...

-Answering machine, bar chiller cabinets.

-Television, PlayStation.

..and a controlled goods agreement is signed,

making it an offence for anyone else to remove them.

If you sign the form, it acts as security.

The sheriffs will only return to take the goods if the debtor

-fails to make payments.

-I've signed him up for £1,000 a month.

Providing you stick to that, you won't hear from us again.

In the south-east,

Lawrence and Kev are on their way to collect money owed by a car dealers.

We are in Cranleigh in Surrey. We're going to Walton Motors.

It's a four by four showroom, family-run business.

This debt was incurred as a refund for

a car that the claimant still has but wants to return it.

The claimant wasn't happy with the vehicle they've bought from

Walton Motors and so took them to court.

When the dealership didn't defend the case,

judgment was found against them and they were ordered to refund him.

But two months on,

they haven't done so, and Lawrence is fairly sure he knows why.

You can pretty much guarantee the reason they haven't paid it is because they haven't got the car.

-That's going to be the argument, isn't it?

-Yep.

It's one they've heard plenty of times before

but the car isn't the sheriffs' problem.

-All that concerns them is the figure on their writ.

-They owe £6,045.

So we're going to go and get that.

This won't be the first time Lawrence has been to the dealers.

I bought a nice Isuzu Trooper off them years ago.

To be fair, never had any trouble with it.

-He's hoping today's visit will also be plain sailing.

-Oh, look at that!

They've obviously expanded, haven't they?

Not only that, but they now seem to have

a large stock of one of car buff Lawrence's favourite motors.

-Obviously specialising in Land Rovers now.

-God, you're going to love this as well, aren't you?

-You look like you've died and gone to heaven.

-Yeah.

And there's another reason to be cheerful.

The large number of cars bodes well for getting paid,

but will it be without any argument?

Morning. You're in charge at the moment, yeah?

Well, you'll do. My name's Mr Grix. I'm an enforcement agent.

We were ordered out today basically to take control of goods to clear a debt.

The boss isn't here, but the staff quickly get him on the phone.

-Morning, sir.

-And Lawrence doesn't beat around the bush.

My colleague and I are here today with

a High Court writ against Walton Motors.

We were ordered here to take control of goods to the value of £6,045.14,

and the only way to prevent further action is paying in full.

At first, it doesn't seem to be ringing any bells with the boss,

so Lawrence tries to jog his memory.

He bought a car from you, basically.

And he's taken you to court.

But, just as the sheriffs anticipated,

the man wants to know if he's getting the car back.

There's a note on my file that says he's still got the car and he wants to give it back but, obviously,

he's not going to until you settle this judgment, sir.

But that's not something we get involved with.

We're ordered out because you haven't paid it.

Courts can demand the return of goods in exchange for

a refund only, in this case, no such conditions were applied.

But just as Lawrence thinks he might have a battle on his hands,

the mood changes.

-Yes, we are. Yeah.

-The man has seen the sheriffs on the telly.

I'm the fat bald one with the goatee beard and my colleague,

who's always working with me, he's here as well.

With the boss fully in the picture,

conversation quickly turns to methods of payment.

We've got a chip and pin machine here or you can go online and

pay with the card.

If you want to do that and then give us a buzz back here,

and I'll get in touch with my office and just confirm the payment's

in then I'll leave a receipt here and be on my way.

All right. Cheers. Bye-bye. He's going to ring back in a minute.

Things are moving in the right direction.

Kev's sizing up the assets on the forecourt, just in case,

but he's pretty confident of getting the matter resolved.

Sounds like he's just going to pay online and then try and get

the vehicle back but, obviously, that's not why we're here.

Sounds like our client wants to give the vehicle back - he doesn't want it.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the boss is back on the phone.

Hello, sir.

The payment's gone through so, with the bill settled,

Lawrence offers some friendly advice about retrieving the vehicle

from the claimant.

I would say, probably within about 48 hours, you'd be safe to give

him a ring and say, look, it's been paid, what about having my car back?

Cheers. Bye.

Big fan of the show, really liked it, and he just said,

I've made everything really simple for you, and I said, yeah,

-thank you very much.

-The man has paid the full £6,045 outstanding.

The long drawn-out argument the sheriffs had feared never

-materialised and they're soon on their way.

-Thank you very much.

-We'll leave you in peace.

-Cheers.

That went very smoothly.

There were a few guys in there,

none of them the owner of the business, but they got the owner

on the phone, paid it on the card ten minutes later.

Job done.

Back in the van. Let's get some food.

Yep, it's already in the Sat Nav, mate.

The claimant will now get back the money the court says he's owed.

He'll have to come to an agreement with the garage about

the return of the car.

Walton Motors told us they are a family-run business which has

been trading for 36 years and this incident was very out of character.

And they say they made numerous attempts to try to resolve

the dispute with the claimant.