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.

Ken's chasing a debt owed by an asbestos specialist with cash flow problems.

I can't just accept £900 at the moment, no.

But are the company's assets too dangerous to remove?

You need a mask, etc.

That is a lot of aggravation, to move anything in there.

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.

I don't think anyone really wants a stranger living in their house, but,

you know, sometimes you have to do things.

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.

Yeah, when I first met Ali he just seemed like a reasonably nice,

young person.

I think he was 20 or 21.

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.

He did go out every evening and he didn't get home till the early hours

of the morning,

and when I left for work in the morning, was still in bed.

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.

And because she'd paid so much for these college courses and he's got

another year or so, you know,

I just thought that they'd be good for the money.

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.

He just appeared to not even have any sense of responsibility

or that he was ever going to pay the money back.

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.

We want payment at the end of the day, we don't want to take

the vehicle, it's just, it's come to this.

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.

But, just like Craig's previous visits, there's no answer.

-Brr!

-Mr Akbar, it's Mr Wild from the sheriff's office.

If you fail to come to the door,

we'll have to deal with the court order by removing the Astra.

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.

It normally takes well over an hour for the transport to get here,

so that's why Craig's organising it now.

By the time they get here, the two hours will be up.

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,

but, as you can see, we tried this morning to get him to the door,

but their attitude is that if they don't open the door, we'll go away.

But unfortunately this time, we won't.

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.

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.

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

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 the 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 the 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.

Mr Akbar, it seems, is in denial.

Well, unfortunately, Mr Akbar, all letters have been left for your

attention, you've failed to deal with it,

so they've sent us out to remove the car today.

You haven't, sir. The court say different.

Well 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 say

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.

What makes you think it's not going to go?

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

The car will be going unless you can pay it.

That's fine. But the law says, you've got seven days from today,

once your assets have been removed. We'll start doing the paperwork now,

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.

We don't have many options.

Full amount or let the vehicle go, it doesn't matter whether you let it

go or not, it will go, and you'll get seven days.

That's all we can do for you.

It's 20 to nine now, you've got

until quarter past ten, and hour and a half.

If you want to stop the vehicle going.

-No problem.

-No problem at all, Mr Akbar.

Mr Akbar's offer of part payment has come too late. His previous

failure to engage with Craig doesn't fill the sheriffs with confidence

about the prospect of him sticking to a payment plan,

so with a decent asset sitting in front of them,

it's got to be the whole lot.

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?

Sheriffs can enforce well over a thousand writs a year

and every one is different.

But with 27 years in the business,

enforcement agent Ken Warby has just about seen it all.

He knows that debtors aren't always in a position to pay all in one go,

and he's a skilled negotiator when it comes to getting the best

possible deal for his clients.

Today, he's heading to the Essex coast for a job where his powers of

persuasion are going to be tested.

We're going to visit a company called Ideal Everything Asbestos.

Our claimant is owed for unpaid invoices for supplying on-site

equipment such as pumps and flowmeters.

The debtor is an asbestos removal company.

They were taken to court by a supplier

and when they didn't defend the case, a judgment was issued in default.

That was two months ago, and the debt still hasn't been paid.

Apparently, the debtor company tried to make an arrangement with the

claimant before it went any further.

But it come to nothing,

so obviously our claimant has lost patience and now obtained

a High Court writ of control.

So it's Ken's job to collect £4,406 outstanding.

Well, they are here. I've just seen this sign.

I had a horrible feeling for a minute that the company weren't

there any more, because it looked quite empty.

But it's the one next door.

There is an expensive-looking Range Rover outside

and company branding on the wall - all promising signs.

Ken goes in and has a look around.

It's not immediately obvious whether anyone is in.

But when he heads upstairs, he finds someone at their desk.

Knock, knock. Hello. I need to speak to the person in charge.

Oh...

Can I talk to you? If you want my ID, there you go.

My name is Ken Warby.

What it is, is a High Court writ of control against yourselves.

I dare say you want to call the MD on the phone.

The employee does just that and hands it over.

Thank you. Cheers.

Hello? Is that Daniel?

Danny Burke, yeah. I've got your name on here, mate.

It's regarding a High Court writ of control originally for £3,300,

and then there are sheriffs' fees involved as well,

which gives us a figure of £4,406 now.

The boss tells Ken he offered the claimant a payment plan,

and says he's already given them some money.

But Ken's instructions from his client are clear.

As it stands at the moment,

because we're here with a High Court writ of control,

we have to insist on full payment.

Mr Burke says that's impossible.

Oh, dear.

It's a tricky one for us, then, because we are instructed, you see.

And we have to pursue for the full amount.

The boss says he might be able to raise £900,

and he'll have the rest in a couple of weeks.

But it's not enough.

Do you want a little bit of time to maybe make a few phone calls or

something, to see if you can sort of like come up with this?

Mr Burke says he can't.

OK. Well, what I'm going to have to do is, I'm going to have to start

listing items here anyway.

And in the meantime, see what you can do, maybe.

I'm going to be hanging around here for a while.

I can't just accept £900 at the moment, no.

Cheers, pal. Bye.

He's telling me because of cash flow problems they've only got £900 in

the bank.

He's willing to give me that and

come to some arrangement.

He's asked me what would be acceptable.

I'm going to finish my list, and then we'll have another chat.

I'm not going to give him a definitive answer yet.

I want to see what they've got in the way of assets here before I accept any sort of payment plans.

Unfortunately, a quick glance around this office doesn't fill Ken with

much hope.

There's some standard office and computer equipment.

-Sorry, that is a shredder, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That is a shredder.

But it's not much to bargain with

and his list is pretty short.

As sheriffs are entitled to search anywhere in a debtor's premises for

assets, he heads downstairs to take a look in the room below,

only to find it's off-limits.

What is it, like a testing room or something?

The room may contain two valuable looking microscopes,

but there are some places that even a sheriff won't go.

You need a mask etc, to go in there.

That is a lot of aggravation to move anything in there.

Plus, there's nothing else of value in there.

There is, however, one more microscope outside the testing room.

It's just the same as the two you've got in there?

That's not contaminated, but they will be?

Got it. OK. I understand.

Even added to the contents of the fridge,

one harmless and two potentially deadly microscopes aren't going to

raise the money Ken needs.

But he does have one more idea.

Perhaps the 4X4 he saw on the way in.

The car on the driveway, who owns that?

Is that yours? That's nice.

OK. Do you have any company vehicles?

Despite Ken's best efforts, his list isn't getting any longer.

The meagre offerings mean he might have to accept whatever the boss is

-willing to pay.

-I'm just going to give the MD a call and see if we can

come to some arrangement.

I don't think he's going to be able to come up with the full amount of

money today.

The debt stands at £4,406.

And on arrival, Ken wanted all of it.

He previously rejected the boss' offer of £900.

But Ken now thinks the smart move is to settle for half.

Hello, yeah. I'm good.

Right, OK. If you can come up with half of it today,

we can give you the two-week grace for the balance.

OK? What I've done is I've listed your items here.

If you don't pay within two weeks,

obviously this is going to go up quite considerably.

So that's what you need to be sort of aiming for.

The boss says he'll make a bank transfer,

and Ken heads back upstairs to the office to wait for it.

While there, he can't resist sharing his own expertise in asbestos removal.

I remember my dad, back in the day, erm, taking the...

taking the ironing board cover off and throwing it away.

He said, "I've heard on the news these ain't too good".

This must have been back in the '80s.

So he said, "Yeah, we'll do away with that now, just use a bit of wood,"

my dad used to say.

WOMAN LAUGHS

Soon, the woman shows Ken evidence of a payment the company's made to

the sheriffs. It's for only £900, way short of the 2,200 -

half the full amount - that Ken had agreed to.

Mr Burke is back on the phone,

saying he's got more money coming in later today.

As soon as that's done later on tonight, give me a call,

let me know it's been done, and I'll check it first thing in the morning.

I'll add that to the agreement, OK?

So it's £900 paid.

£1,300 to be paid this evening,

and the balance to be paid 14 days from today.

It's not quite the outcome Ken had wanted but,

satisfied he's achieved as much as he can today,

he hands over the controlled goods agreement to the woman in the office

and leaves. If her boss doesn't keep up his end of the bargain,

Ken will be back to remove everything on the list.

The value of the goods in there isn't very much.

£300, £400.

So, half payment today and the balance in a fortnight,

I'm pretty confident he'll get that paid.

So, all in all, not bad.

Ken never needs to return.

The company paid the remainder of the debt in full and their supplier

has now got the money they were owed.

ID Everything Asbestos Limited told us that since filming,

the company's been bought out and is under new management.

The debt was incurred by the previous manager.

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...

Ice machine. Bar chiller cabinets.

Television, PlayStation.

..and a controlled goods agreement is signed,

making it an offence for anyone else to remove them.

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.

High Court enforcement agents will do whatever they can to get the

money you're owed. But if the debtor simply doesn't have the money or assets,

the sheriffs are often confronted with a very difficult situation.

In the south-east, Lawrence Grix is on his way to visit a car workshop.

Well, we're just coming into Camberley in Surrey at the moment.

We've got a judgment against a gentleman

by the name of Mike Sweeney, trading as Modena.

He's... It's some kind of garage he runs.

Mr Sweeney owes money to a parts supplier,

and has been taken to court.

His debt now stands at £5,015.

It seems Mr Sweeney's keen

to get the matter resolved.

He's been on the phone, offering a payment arrangement, but once again,

we can't put somebody on an arrangement unless we've taken

control of goods to secure the debt.

And also, we need to evaluate what assets there are there,

because if he's got sufficient assets to clear the debt,

then we'll be removing them in accordance with the writ.

Besides, car-mad Lawrence never turns down the opportunity to have

a nose around someone else's garage.

I like to have a little look around garages,

see what equipment they've got.

It is taunting me, really, because I'd like to have a nice, big

workshop myself, where I could work on my vehicles under cover, but I

don't suppose that'll be the case any time soon!

Lawrence doesn't yet know whether the debtor's workshop is going to

turn him green with envy, but he's about to find out.

Hello, mate.

You the boss? No?

Mike Sweeney, the boss, yeah?

Is he about? Cheers.

Well, he's in the right place and it sounds like Mr Sweeney's here,

-but is he about to pay?

-My name's Mr Grix.

I'm an enforcement agent.

You've got a High Court writ against you, trading as Modena,

outstanding debt of £5,015.24, sir, which needs to be paid.

I'm aware you phoned up to try to go on instalments.

Unfortunately, the writ orders us out to take control of goods

to clear the debt and from what I can see,

you've probably got sufficient goods to clear the debt.

They're not your assets?

Mr Sweeney says everything here is owned by someone else and begins

looking for a copy of his lease which he says will prove it.

While he does that, Lawrence has a look around himself.

But while there's plenty for him to get excited about on a personal

-level...

-Nice little Ferrari here, all being refurbished.

-A couple of Porsches, there.

-..there's not much to get his sheriff's sense tingling.

All the vehicles that are here generally belong to customers who

have put them in here for restoration, so there's not...

Not a massive amount of...

..of assets here, to be honest.

There are some tools and machinery,

but Mr Sweeney seems to be saying they belong to someone else.

Lawrence wants to know more.

So what is it that comes with the lease? The two post lifts?

Oh, right, so... So, basically, without prying too much,

you were struggling and sold all the assets off to raise some capital,

and you now rent them back?

Lawrence is beginning to suspect his chances of getting paid in full

today are slim. Still, he'll need to see the paperwork to be sure,

and Mr Sweeney can't seem to find it.

Not got a copy of it on your computer or anything like that?

And this was a couple of years ago, was it?

How much money was involved?

Have you got evidence of the money going into your bank account?

Can you bring up online statements, and show a lump going in?

Oh, because the problem we've got,

whilst I don't dispute what you're telling me, at the moment,

there is no evidence to...

Mr Sweeney has found what he was looking for.

All right, let's have a little look, see what we've got here.

It's the details of the lease he has on the premises,

including a list of the equipment he sold to the landlord.

That's a very complete inventory, isn't it?

One of the best inventories I've seen, to be honest.

-Is it?

-Even down to the rubbish bins!

And you've bought no other kit, since?

Yeah. This obviously proves that the goods have been sold, so...

That's that side of things.

Lawrence has now established that he can't remove the garage's equipment

to cover the debt, so he tries a new tack.

I mean, asking the obvious, I'm assuming, then,

that you haven't got £5,000.

Well, there's no harm in asking.

Is there anybody that can help you out with that?

So what can you come up with?

Lawrence suspects he's telling the truth,

but isn't going to leave without

-pursuing every avenue possible.

-What about a vehicle?

Erm...

Lawrence goes to check it out.

This one here, yeah? But that, too, proves to be a dead-end.

That won't scratch the surface of the debt, to be honest.

The car's 11 years old and covered in dents and scrapes.

Satisfied he's seen enough,

Lawrence resurrects Mr Sweeney's offer of a payment plan.

What are you proposing?

Right, so that's going to take the best part of two years to pay off,

because you've got interest going on at 95p per day which, unfortunately,

even though you're clearing the debt, will still go on at 95p per day.

It's fixed on the original debt, until the writ is cleared.

When would you be looking to make the first payment?

Monday the 16th?

They shake on the deal.

OK, so... Keep your payments up.

And Lawrence has done the best he can.

That was one of those jobs, basically,

Mr Sweeney had previously sold all the assets to somebody else,

so he has got no assets at this business.

He managed to dig out the paperwork.

There was a full inventory, even down to, you know,

the most silly items like pictures on the wall and everything.

So basically,

I had to set up an arrangement and let's hope he sticks to it.

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.

If the Akbars want to stop this vehicle being removed,

they're going to have to do better than that.

He was claiming that the car was his all the time.

All of a sudden, he's come out with the bottom half of the V5 document,

saying he's sold it now to his mother or sister.

Clearly, the indication was, it was his car this morning,

so it won't prevent us from removing the vehicle today.

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.

OK, we'll have to remove it, then,

but we'll leave all the paperwork for you, all right?

You'll get it back in the same condition it is now if you pay the

full bill, plus the storage costs, plus the removal fee for today.

If it's not, then, obviously, you can take them to court for damages.

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 we 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.