Episode 8 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 are owed money, it's their job to go and get it.

I am 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 will 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 - Kieron Kelly discovered his new car had been in a crash.

I was stunned, shocked, angry.

I didn't drive the car any more.

When the dealer responsible says he can't pay, Lawrence has other ideas.

West Car Sales have got all the cars that are here.

-Yes.

-Unfortunately, that's who we're here for.

Ken won't take no for an answer at a hotel with a debt to pay.

Please start making these phone calls now

to get this money to me now, OK? I'll wait.

And Lawrence gets tired of being messed around by a beautician.

Half hour later, she's still on her way.

I don't like being told one thing, then another.

In Kent, enforcement agents Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally

are on the road. They've got a High Court writ

to collect a debt owed by a car dealer.

Right, today we're in Sittingbourne.

We're going to West Car Sales.

We're looking for £1,452.

I presume the debt is relating to the sale of a second-hand vehicle.

The claimant in the case is Kieron Kelly.

He first came across West Car Sales when he was looking for

a cheap second-hand car and checked out the stock

at a few of his local dealers.

I saw a car that was appealing to me, it was within my price range.

The car was a Renault Megane.

It was black, it was a five-door car.

We have four grandchildren,

so of course, from time to time we pick the children up from school.

So what we needed was a car that would be able to accommodate

both myself and my partner and the grandkids.

Kieron went to the dealers and met the salesman there, a Mr Jeff Lee.

He was quite an amenable chap, he was quite friendly,

he seemed quite trustworthy, so I took the car out on a test drive

for about ten minutes or so and then brought it back.

It wasn't great, but, at the end of the day, for £850, you know,

you are not going to get a great, great car.

But it seemed to be good value for money.

Kieron may not have been looking for a top-of-the-range car,

but there was one thing he was adamant about.

He didn't want anything that had previously been in an accident

-or written off.

-I had had a bad experience with a previous car,

so I asked the dealer specifically,

"Was the car that I was buying subject to a write-off?"

He just quite simply said no.

So Kieron bought it and drove it happily for several months,

until one day he scraped the front of the car

on the curb while parking

and was surprised by the amount of damage it caused.

The whole front end, ie the whole bumper,

was detached and it was hanging.

When Kieron got home he called the AA,

and when they took a look they found

clues that the car had in fact been in a previous accident after all.

They knocked the door and said,

"Look, I think you need to get your logbook."

So I came back into my home,

got the logbook and clearly on the logbook

it had stated that the car was subject to a write-off.

I was stunned, absolutely stunned.

Stunned, shocked, angry, annoyed.

The obvious thing to do was get in touch with West Car Sales.

I rang on four or five occasions,

couldn't get a response, so I decided

to ping him an e-mail to let him know

of my concerns and that it had been mis-sold to myself.

And therefore I wanted to reject the vehicle and seek a full refund.

For some weeks Kieron chased for a refund, but it wasn't forthcoming.

The car, meanwhile, was marooned on the driveway,

where it still remains.

Having been told that this car was potentially dangerous,

I didn't drive the car any more.

Kieron took the company to court.

On the day of the hearing, he was feeling upbeat.

I supplied 15-19 pages' worth of correspondence,

together with text messages and all the communication.

So I was extremely confident of the outcome.

No concerns.

But just moments before the hearing, Mr Lee arrived,

wanting to make a deal to pay Kieron back in instalments.

Kieron accepted, and the agreement was rubber-stamped by the judge.

His first payment was due to myself of £100 on the 1st of December.

He failed to pay it, and he said he had family issues.

So I decided to extend that for a week to give him a bit of grace,

and, lo and behold, he failed again.

Kieron has now had enough of being messed about and has transferred

his case up to the High Court.

Having seen the programme on the TV

it makes me feel that they can achieve something

that clearly I can't,

and I'm just really hopeful that they get the outcome I need.

Lawrence and Kev are about to arrive at West Car Sales

and, ever the optimist, Kev is hopeful of getting Mr Kelly's money.

I've had a look at the site online while I was doing my research,

and there's quite a few cars on the front here, cars and vans.

So hopefully they'll be owned by our debtor company

and we'll be able to get this debt paid.

And as they pull into the garage, it seems Kev's research was spot on.

There are a lot of vehicles here.

It goes a way back, doesn't it?

And before they even manage to park,

a man pulls up alongside wanting to know why the sheriffs are here.

-West Car Sales, we're here for.

-Yeah.

It is you, is it?

-It's you we're dealing with, is it?

-Yeah.

Do you want to park yourself up and we'll hop out?

It's the man who sold Kieron his car,

and it seems he doesn't dispute he owes the money.

In fact, he says he wants to pay.

The problem is, you've got assets.

We're not ordered out to collect your money,

we're ordered by the writ to take control of your goods.

All you can do is pay in full, because you've got the stock.

Although Mr Lee admits he sold Mr Kelly a car,

he's now saying he sold it under his own name,

not the garage's, where he's just an employee.

But that's not what it says on Mr Kelly's receipt -

nor on Lawrence's writ.

West Car Sales have got all the cars that are here?

Unfortunately, that's who we're here for.

The owner of West Car Sales is away, is he?

Mr Lee might not want his employer's cars to be taken,

but the sheriffs can't just ignore the paperwork from the courts.

Fair play to you for sticking your hands up and saying,

"Right, it should actually be me,"

but we can't deal with it as being you.

So if you want to pay it on their behalf, again, fair play to you.

While Mr Lee is cooperating,

so far he still isn't showing any indication

that he's about to come up with the money.

So Lawrence ups the ante.

If it comes to removal, there's another 1,300 quid going on it.

It's going to virtually double.

No, we don't want that. So that's what I'm saying,

I can give you a little bit of time to get this money together.

Yeah, we're not talking days.

Not talking hours, either, really.

Because obviously we're busy guys.

Lawrence's strategy works.

Mr Lee suddenly produces the company's card

and offers to make a payment.

Right, let's see if we've got a signal.

You have to know your PIN number or you can't do it.

Unless you can go do it online. Have you got online facilities here?

Mr Lee can't use the card and heads into his office,

leaving Lawrence and Kev to ponder their next move.

Yeah, it's a bit of a shame he hasn't got the PIN number to

the account here, otherwise we would have had a big part of it paid off.

So we'll just see what developments there are now.

The development is that Mr Lee immediately returns,

and this time he's brought cash.

I think he's got the full amount.

-1,000, yeah?

-All good.

Do you want to hop in the other side and count this, Kev,

while I start writing the receipt?

-What's there?

-1,500.

-1,500, yeah?

-Yeah.

Mr Lee has settled the balance in full

and he gives his side of the story.

I sold a car to a chap, it must have been about eight or nine months ago.

Chap had it for six months.

It had been involved in an accident, I wasn't aware of this.

The chap then came back and saw us,

and obviously gave us the point of view that he wanted a refund.

Wasn't in a position to do so at the time because obviously we wanted

to have the car checked.

He didn't allow us to do so, and here we are today.

Thank you.

We tried to make an arrangement with the guy

but obviously it was unaccepted.

So if you've done wrong, you've got to pay for it.

That's yours.

That went very well, really.

There was a point where we didn't think he was going to be able to come up with the money

cos he didn't have the PIN number for the credit card he had,

but then he went off and appeared with cash.

So...happy days. Another job done.

And Lawrence isn't the only one who's pleased.

Excellent result, it's been a great day.

It's a shame that I've had to go to the extremes that I've had to.

However, I'm just pleased to say it's all done, it's all dusted.

We can now just move on and enjoy the rest of our lives.

Using the County Courts to try

and 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.

Sheriffs typically enforce over 1,000 writs every year.

And while everyone is different,

enforcement agents often find diplomacy is more effective

than simply threatening to remove everything in sight.

If it's necessary to play the long game, Ken Warby is happy to do so.

He just wants his clients' money back.

We're going to visit a hotel called the Stuart Hotel in Luton.

It's a sizeable hotel, by all accounts.

The hotel has been taken to court by a linen company

over unpaid invoices.

I'd imagine it's for tablecloths and bed linen, et cetera.

Dry cleaning.

The hotel didn't defend the case in court

so a default judgment was issued against it.

But more than three months later it remains unpaid,

and now Ken needs to collect £6,276.

From the outside, the hotel does indeed seem sizeable,

and so looks promising for a payment.

I would imagined there's quite a few assets in there -

bar area, wet stock.

There's always an office, PC equipment, TVs in each room.

So, hopefully, we'll get somewhere.

Ken heads in to tell them those assets are in jeopardy

unless they can pay up.

Hello. I'd like to speak to the MD. Person in charge? If possible.

He's not available at the moment.

-Would you like to come back later on?

-Not really.

-Is he in the building?

-No, he's not. He just left.

-He will be here in one hour, probably.

-About an hour?

-Yeah.

Is there any chance you can get him on the phone? It's quite important.

The receptionist does just that,

and moments later she's back with the manager on the line.

What it's about...

You're two minutes away? Brilliant.

All right, I'll see you face to face.

Thank you. Cheers, sir.

With the manager on the way,

Ken takes the opportunity to size up the assets on show.

Good-quality dining furniture.

All proper heavy metal, chrome. Leather-backed.

They've got some good equipment down here.

It's always nice to see some assets as soon as you walk in.

True to his word, the manager arrives moments later.

Hello.

And Ken follows him into the office.

Right, sir...

You know exactly what this is about, do you?

The manager said the hotel is under new management

and the debt was incurred by the previous owner.

As the debt in the business's name, it still needs paying,

and luckily the new owners agree.

Wonderful.

Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't say that.

I was hoping you would say, "Right now."

The court order was issued months ago,

so it's Ken's job to get it paid as soon as possible.

-We could...

-What can you get me now?

That's fine. What can you pay tomorrow?

You can pay £1,000 tomorrow?

It's a bit of a letdown for Ken.

But given that they acknowledge the debt and seem to have a plan for its

repayment, he doesn't feel the need to threaten to empty the rooms

and force the hotel to close its doors.

Your total due, including charges, £6,276.

-What I need to do is I need to list the assets here.

-OK.

-Because you can't pay right now.

-Right.

So what do you have other than what I've seen in the reception area?

On the ground floor.

-60 bedrooms?

-Yeah.

Kitchen area? There's a kitchen area.

When a debtor can't pay,

sheriffs have the option of agreeing a repayment plan

and taking control of their assets.

As this is a sizeable debt, Ken's list needs to be long.

But luckily there's no shortage of items here.

Glass washer, ice machine.

Bar chiller cabinets.

His comprehensive list is also designed to make sure

the manager knows he really does mean business.

And now I'm just going to do the kitchen and then I'll do

a rough guesstimate as to how much value we've got there,

before making a decision of whether or not to go to the rooms

and maybe look for the TV sets.

But by the time he's been through the hotel's kitchen,

he's has already got page after page of assets listed.

Satisfied it's enough, he completes the paperwork.

That's £1,000 tomorrow, followed by 5,276.56 next Wednesday.

And he's on his way.

Thanks very much.

I'm sure you'll get it done.

I look forward to it. Cheers.

He's promised me £1,000 tomorrow,

and the balance is going to be paid in six days' time.

He's pretty confident of that, I'm confident that he's confident.

Everyone's happy. I am for now.

Ken's taken the man at his word,

but later he's forced to visit the business for a second time.

You've broken the controlled goods agreement.

So the reason we're here now is for full payment

or removal of goods.

It's as black and as white as that.

Back in the South East,

Lawrence is in the van, on his way to enforce another debt.

He's looking for a businesswoman,

who it seems hasn't paid some of her invoices.

We're in West London,

we've got a writ against a lady called Nara Simonyan,

trading as Nara Health And Beauty,

so we're off to a beauty parlour. It looks quite big.

The lady owes £2,200.

Or thereabouts. And it's for multimedia marketing

which she hasn't paid for.

The marketing firm has taken Ms Simonyan to court,

and when she didn't defend the case,

awarded a judgment against her by default.

She now owes a grand total of £2,201.

Lawrence pulls up outside the salon and goes in.

Hello, good morning. I'm looking for Nara Simonyan.

She's not in yet? Are you able to get her on the phone at all?

I'll show you some identification as well. My name's Mr Grix.

I'm an enforcement agent.

I've got a High Court writ to execute against Nara,

so it's vital that I speak to her.

The staff member manages to get through to Ms Simonyan straightaway

and Lawrence is handed the phone.

Thank you.

Hello there.

I've got a High Court writ today against you. I believe it's

for unpaid multimedia marketing.

OK, I'm here today to take control of goods to the value of £2,201.10.

Yes.

Goods which can be removed and sold at auction.

You're going to do that now, yeah?

OK. Thank you.

Bye-bye.

So far, so good.

She immediately said, "Don't take anything, I'll pay."

She said it might take about half an hour,

and then she's going to let them know she's made the payment.

-She said she's going to contact you when she's done it.

-OK.

And I'll be able to check with my office.

It looks like a textbook job,

but several minutes later, there seems to be a change of plan.

Is she coming here now, is she?

So, how far...?

Oh, she's very close, is she?

Not as far as I'm concerned, I've got a High Court writ.

Ms Simonyan's belief that the matter is still in court

is a worrying development for Lawrence,

especially when, after another 30 minutes waiting around,

there's no sign of either the debtor or the money.

Half hour later, she's still on her way. It's going to be 15 minutes.

And the case is back in court.

It doesn't bode well.

I don't like being told one thing and then another.

And soon, the staff weighed in,

saying the matter is still in dispute

and they don't think their boss should have to pay.

Lawrence tries to set them straight.

The judgment was ended, she didn't pay it,

so they've transferred it to the High Court for enforcement purposes.

It's not still in the court. It's not still in the court.

There is a High Court writ.

She may have a hearing at the Court.

But whatever she's done to get that hearing

hasn't affected the writ.

Lawrence is beginning to wonder

whether Ms Simonyan really is going to pay

and starts to consider his options in case she doesn't.

Yeah, no, I'm just having a look round,

I'm not removing anything yet.

But she said initially she was making the payment,

now she's coming here.

In an effort to lighten the mood,

the staff offered to do Lawrence's nails while he waits.

But he's not convinced he needs their help.

I cut me fingernails regularly, with me teeth.

Besides, there may not be time to rectify the damage done by

Lawrence's hand care techniques.

Oh.

Apparently, the debtor's actually in the bank now.

So...

Hopefully, she's making the payment.

She is.

And soon confirmation comes through

in the form of a photo of the paying-in slip.

It looks clear enough. Are you able to text that to me?

Ms Simonyan has paid the £2,200 owing,

and Lawrence makes a hasty retreat...

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

..before anyone can suggest a facial.

That went quite smoothly in the end, really.

There was a phone call saying she was on her way,

and the case was back in court, etc, etc,

so for a while,

I thought she was coming down to have an argument rather than pay.

But then it turns out she was in the bank all along,

texted over a photo of the paying-in slip to one of her friends in there.

Then the payment was in.

The marketing company whose invoices went unpaid

will now get the money they're owed.

Ken Warby is back in Luton.

He's on his way once again to the Stuart Hotel,

which owes more than £6,000 after failing to pay a linen company.

Last time the manager told Ken he couldn't pay there and then,

and promised to do so within the week.

But the money hasn't arrived.

The original payment plan was

that he was going to pay me £1,000 the day after -

which he never did, that took about a week -

and the balance within six days.

Well, we are where we are now.

14 days later, he has only paid the £1,000.

Previously, Ken gave the manager the benefit of the doubt,

but this time Ken won't compromise.

The leverage we've got is that he's signed a controlled goods

agreement, and the list we've made is quite a large list.

If he doesn't pay, it's my intention to remove the items.

When a CGA is broken,

the sheriffs can return at any time to remove the assets -

no ifs, no buts.

So, one way or another, Ken won't be leaving empty-handed.

-Hello.

-Hello, again.

Once again, he's led into the office where, to his surprise,

the manager hands him a payment receipt.

-This is a receipt you've got for online payment.

-Yeah.

You made yesterday, for £1,000.

Right. The problem is...

The reason we're here now is for full payment

or removal of goods.

As black and as white as that.

And that's not the only bad news for the manager.

The problem you've also got is that because I'm here now

to remove goods, it's gone up.

So with the £2,000 you've already paid,

the amount you owe now is £5,901.09.

High Court costs. Very expensive.

But the manager says he doesn't have £5,000

and hands his phone over to Ken.

The man on the phone says the hotel is trying to come to an arrangement

with the claimant to clear the debt.

I understand that. Let me just stop you there, all right?

The last contact we had with the claimant was that he had given it

to us to deal with.

It's in our hands and, as far as he's concerned,

he wants his payment.

But the man is still hoping to do a deal

and says they can clear the debt in a couple of months.

No, it's not acceptable, sir.

No, sir. No, sir. We require payment in full now.

With a long list of hotel assets

that now technically belong to the court,

Ken wants full payment, and it's not up for negotiation.

I'm here now to remove goods now.

So rather than us waste any more time, please start making these

phone calls now to get this money to me now.

OK? I'll wait.

No, I'm not going to go away and come back again, I'm here now.

Sir, I've got a few hours,

so please start making the phone calls,

I'll wait here for the payments.

Believe me, the last thing I want to do

is start removing goods from here.

But that's exactly what will happen if he doesn't pay.

And Ken reckons the threat is working.

It's gone from two months to four hours.

So if he can get the money that quick,

I'm pretty confident we're going to get paid on this.

We'll wait around. He's going to make a few phone calls.

Ken makes himself comfortable in the dining room.

And just ten minutes later,

it seems things are moving in the right direction.

You've got three grand coming, you've got a grand in your pocket,

so you want just shy of two grand now.

-You are waiting for.

-Yeah.

-OK.

The problem is, that's not going to arrive for another few hours.

Ken's heard this man's promises before and is understandably wary.

What he's saying to me is he's got £1,000 in his back pocket,

which I didn't know he had when I first got in here.

He's also contacted someone that is just about to transfer

£3,000 into his account.

So, in effect, he's got around about four.

He needs another £1,900,

and he's going to get someone else to help him out,

transfer it into his account.

However, that person is not going to be able to get that sorted

for a few hours yet,

so I'm going to stay around and have a coffee, I think.

But in the end, Ken doesn't even get the chance to enjoy a cappuccino.

A few minutes later, the manager calls him back into the office

once more to tell him he has raised the full amount.

That didn't take long, did it?

Thank you very much.

When he arrived this morning, it didn't look like the hotel

was going to be able to come up with the money today.

But Ken's tough stance has been rewarded,

and he's leaving with payment in full.

It's gone from £2,000 tomorrow, and the balance in a couple of months,

to immediate payment on a debit card.

I thought I'd get paid.

I didn't quite think I'd get paid as quick as that.