Call the Bailiffs Time to Pay Up S02E05 (24 August 2022)
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00:00We're High Court enforcement agents, we've got High Court here, I'd like to sort this out face to face.
00:06Piss off!
00:07£12 billion is owed to people and businesses in the UK.
00:11Don't do that, sir!
00:12There is money owed, and it has to be paid.
00:15When all other attempts to settle a debt have failed...
00:18This is quite a lot of money, it's over £5,000.
00:20Can you come to Bill, please?
00:21...cases can end up at the High Court.
00:23Nothing can conquer the writ.
00:25...where a judgement commands enforcement officers to recover what's owed.
00:29Agents are a last chance saloon.
00:31Let's go!
00:32A High Court writ...
00:33All check-in debts are going to be closed until this matters resolved.
00:36...gives agents the authority to enter unlocked homes and businesses.
00:40We've made contact, we know they're there.
00:42We're enforcing, agent!
00:43Everybody leaves a trail.
00:45...and to seize and sell property.
00:47You think we're doing something legal, call the police.
00:49They're trying to do everything they can apart from actually paying the bill.
00:51...to finally get debts paid.
00:53They want us to get their money back.
00:55£56,000.76 pence, outstanding.
00:58In these difficult times...
01:00I need to go home!
01:01...agents find ways for people to clear their debts.
01:04We're not ogres, we're nice people.
01:06Hopefully we'll be here waiting for shoulders then.
01:08...but every day...
01:09Call the police now!
01:10...they face aggression...
01:11You wanna put in me?
01:12Don't do this again!
01:13...and abuse...
01:14Get out of my way!
01:15...as they try to settle debts...
01:17...watch your back, Chris!
01:19This is £70,000 here.
01:20...that no one else can.
01:21He thinks he can fight me.
01:22You don't think...
01:23...I know!
01:24What do I do?
01:33So, we have arrived in the beautiful Torquay...
01:37...the English Riviera.
01:39Nice and sunny.
01:42Agents Casey and Alex are chasing payments of a debt for over £3,000.
01:48Go ahead Alex, what is it?
01:50So...
01:51...it's a brand new case.
01:53The writs was only issued in the end of March.
01:59We're going to a gentleman who is trading as a carpentry and landscape business...
02:06...and he owes building supply merchants.
02:10So he owes a total of £3,245.14.
02:15...and he owes the pennies.
02:19Once debts reached the High Court...
02:21...multiple attempts to contact those named on the writ are made.
02:25Will you wait till I park, please?
02:28...before enforcement agents are sent out.
02:31All turned up face, yeah?
02:33Perfect.
02:35Hello, sir!
02:36Hello!
02:37Do you want to pop outside?
02:39My name's Alex, this is Casey.
02:41We're here from the High Court.
02:43Oh, right.
02:44You owed some money.
02:45Yeah, there was a dispute on how much it was, yeah.
02:47Ah, right, okay.
02:48So they've gone to the County Court, now they've gone to the High Court.
02:50Okay, cool.
02:51So really, it's about talking to you about how you're going to resolve it.
02:54Okay, I mean, are you able to pay it?
02:56The amount right now stands at...?
02:573,245 and 14 pence.
03:02Here's the writ.
03:04Cool.
03:05Well, cool's probably not the best word, but what's the plan?
03:08So are you able to pay that today with cash card or debit card or credit card or bank transfer?
03:11Well, no, I'm not going to pay any of it.
03:13Okay.
03:14Oh, right, okay.
03:15Originally, I disputed it, yeah.
03:16Right, okay.
03:17This is the first I've seen of it.
03:18Right.
03:19For probably 12 months.
03:21Right.
03:22If you keep hiding from your debt and you don't do anything about it, you just keep burying
03:26it deeper and deeper, it's not going to stop the enforcement.
03:29The courts will continue to be on your back.
03:31And, you know, it's just never going to go away.
03:34I'm not in a situation to pay any of it.
03:37What work are you doing at the moment?
03:39Nothing at all?
03:40Yeah.
03:41Okay, so what are you, full-time, part-time on benefits or...?
03:44Well, subcontracting.
03:45You're subcontracting.
03:46Okay.
03:47I don't believe.
03:48The reason we ask these questions is if you're struggling financially, then we obviously
03:51have to get that information and then find out how you are going to resolve it.
03:55And, okay, so you don't have 3,000 pounds.
03:57They can't dig their head in the sand.
03:59They need someone to help them.
04:00So we do assist trying to get them in an arrangement to bring that head out of the sand
04:04and go forward.
04:05So we have to do something in relation to the amount that's owed.
04:09So you don't have that amount of money.
04:11So the next level is obviously going down to see if there's some kind of arrangement
04:15you can put in place.
04:16We don't want to take your stuff.
04:17You take my 200-pound car.
04:18We don't want to take your car.
04:19What we want to do is try to work out an arrangement with you.
04:20I mean, if you're working...
04:22The only thing I got my back up is like, and you've turned up and just like...
04:25No, we get that.
04:26...in the afternoon with no letter or nothing like that.
04:29Well, that would have been sent here before we come.
04:31So you would have had a letter 14 days before we show up.
04:33Plus you would have...
04:34And that's obviously signed for.
04:35Plus...
04:36No, no, no, no.
04:37No, no, no.
04:38They don't have to, by law.
04:39Then you would have also had the county court judgment papers that would have been sent to
04:42letting you have mediation or just...
04:44Or appeal it.
04:45It all came to this address because that's where we've been sent.
04:47Well, no.
04:48I'll do a walkthrough and explain what the situation is.
04:51Agents with a high court writ may enter an unlocked home if they believe a person named
04:56on a writ lives there to search for property they could seize to help repay the debt.
05:02Well, is everything...
05:03Is everything...
05:04I can't.
05:05Well, hi, ma'am.
05:06How are you?
05:07So we're trying to work out your...
05:08Sir, we'll call the police.
05:09We'll call the police.
05:10Sir, if you do that, we'll call the police.
05:12Some people immediately go into defensive mode and therefore become abusive.
05:16Because that's their defense mechanism.
05:18He's locked the door.
05:19Open the door.
05:20And so it is important that we have each other's backs.
05:24Because you're in someone's house, anything can happen.
05:27Sir, don't, don't.
05:29Sir, I'm allowed to be.
05:30Don't do that.
05:31Sir.
05:32We'll call the police and you'll be arrested.
05:33Call the police.
05:34Well then, let's just talk.
05:35You just walked in.
05:36Yes, I'm allowed to.
05:37Don't do that.
05:38We're just going to talk.
05:39That's enough.
05:40That's enough.
05:41Enough.
05:42That's enough.
05:43Alex.
05:44That's enough.
05:45High Court enforcement agents around the UK.
05:55Hello.
05:56Recovered over 91 million pounds of debt.
06:01Someone's in there.
06:02Can you come to the door please?
06:04And cleared nearly 80,000 writs in one year alone.
06:08If you transfer it, let us take a screenshot.
06:12Keen to add to those numbers, agents Mark and his colleague Chris.
06:19It's an ideal scenario.
06:20What I'm hoping is we get there and they just go, okay, we understand we need to hand over
06:25the pieces to you.
06:26And they just hand over the faulty art pieces and jobs are good in them.
06:31They are enforcing a large two million pound writ against an art dealer.
06:37The potentially higher value art pieces from his art gallery were put into this warehouse.
06:46They intend to seize art from a storage facility who are also owed money by the dealer.
06:52However, they are refusing to release these items.
06:56So they say that they've got storage costs.
06:59What they're wanting to say is money needs to be paid first.
07:02Then we can take the items.
07:03Which I believe are around 20,000 pounds storage costs.
07:06The agents believe the 40 pieces in storage are worth around 50,000 pounds.
07:12Sounds a lot, but it's not.
07:14It's like collecting 50 pounds from a thousand pound, don't it?
07:18Exactly.
07:19You'd normally go, brilliant.
07:20A thousand pounds worth of assets.
07:21Yeah.
07:22Jobs are good in them.
07:23But when you're looking at two million, it's not going to be clearing the debt, that's
07:28for sure.
07:29Right.
07:31Hello, mate.
07:36What about you?
07:39We've got 40 art pieces we're here to take control of.
07:42The size of debt does not matter.
07:44One of the things I do is I just look at it as a number.
07:46I don't look at it as an amount because for me, it's purely a number.
07:50It's their interest to make that number end up being a zero, not mine.
07:54You're more than welcome to come in, guys.
07:55Have a seat.
07:56If you want a coffee, I'll make you one.
07:57That's good.
07:58Appreciate that.
08:00I can't let you into the warehouse until I spoke to something upstairs.
08:02Not a problem.
08:04So they're all on site here anyway.
08:06All 40 of them are here somewhere.
08:08They're all here somewhere.
08:09Perfect.
08:10They've only touched them since they were put on...
08:11On hold as such.
08:13I'm good.
08:14That was a friendlier response than I was expecting.
08:18Yeah.
08:19I haven't cursed it.
08:22He's got a high court, unfortunately, now.
08:24He's got a writ to take it.
08:27The manager gets the company director on the phone.
08:30They're all listening now.
08:32I've been asked to come here today in relation to 40 items that have been taken in control.
08:38Been issued with a high court writ.
08:41What the court order is for, sir, is for me to actually come and take these away.
08:45So...
08:46We've been advised not to release anything.
08:48I've got a letter from our solicitors.
08:49We've been going back and forth for two years.
08:52Yeah.
08:53We're not releasing anything, mate.
08:55With the company owed storage fees themselves by the owner of the yard, they don't want to release it.
09:04Coming up...
09:05What's the gun?
09:06Casey and Alex face aggression from all angles.
09:09We need an emergency attendance, please.
09:11The occupant is violent.
09:13And Chris tries to make a dent in his £2 million debt.
09:17He said at 11 o'clock you can start removing.
09:20Excellent stuff.
09:21Agents Mark and Chris are trying to take art worth £50,000 from a storage facility
09:39to help pay off some of the £2 million debt owed by an art dealer.
09:44What I need to inform you is any obstruction of an enforcement officer acting under a High
09:50Court writ is actually a criminal offence.
09:53But the warehouse facility won't release the pieces because they owed storage fees from
09:59the art dealer.
10:00So what that does mean is I'm hoping that you're going to just basically speak to your
10:05solicitor who'll realise actually we do have a High Court writ and the items are voluntarily
10:10just given to us, no further issues.
10:12One thing I do personally find quite frustrating is when you get to a company and they only communicate
10:16over the phone if you're lucky.
10:18We want to speak straight to the director.
10:20We want the person who's at the top of the company to deal with their affairs.
10:24And that's how we can then work with them if necessary.
10:27Ideally, we want to see them face to face.
10:29I've got a letter which I can give to you from our solicitors to say that we're not in
10:35a position to release the goods until the debts are settled.
10:38I am here now with the correct paperwork and a full inventory of the items that have been
10:43taken in control.
10:44And my instruction is quite clear to basically come here and take these items away.
10:48Send me over the paperwork and I can get started speaking to our solicitor.
10:51Fantastic.
10:54So we're going to wait for our solicitors to link up and send paperwork over to their solicitors.
11:00And then obviously, hopefully, we just take the items away.
11:04Now, if they don't go down that option, then sadly we are going to have to use false and
11:09physically take these items.
11:11Hey, Chris, it's Raz from the office.
11:14Hi, Raz.
11:15We sent it about ten minutes ago.
11:16OK.
11:17So he said 11 o'clock you can start removing.
11:20Excellent stuff.
11:22And I'll try and organise a larger van just in case.
11:26Our solicitor has actually emailed your solicitor already, just basically saying he's given
11:32until 11 o'clock for the items to be surrendered to us.
11:36And after 11 o'clock, then we'll then have to use false.
11:41Hello.
11:42Apparently their solicitor is talking to your solicitor.
11:46OK.
11:47Well, he's informing me here you've got until 11 o'clock and then they can start forcing
11:50me away.
11:51OK.
11:52All right.
11:53We're just going to get me late.
11:55Going to get about four or five cars and we're going to have you out of here in no time.
11:58All right?
11:59That's all right.
12:00You may need more.
12:01Just, you know, don't touch me.
12:02Joking apart, we were surprised if more people do come.
12:06It's happened in the past.
12:08It's expected unexpected.
12:10Casey and Alex are trying to recover over £3,000 for a family-run builder's merchant.
12:23But after Casey legally entered the address named on the writ, the man at the property
12:29has locked the door behind her.
12:32We're just going to talk.
12:33That was the whole point of this.
12:34No.
12:35You've just walked into my house with my family.
12:36I have a legal right.
12:37Just explained to you that I was going to go in and do a walkthrough.
12:39No.
12:40No.
12:41You said there's nothing to take.
12:42Legally.
12:43I just said, I'm going to do a walkthrough.
12:44You went, OK.
12:45Where are you going?
12:46We don't want to.
12:47Take it.
12:48As soon as I sense that someone's going to get violent, we would just hit 999 and say,
12:55listen, this is what's happening.
12:57We need a unit here.
12:58Deputy Call, police emergency.
13:00Yes, hello there.
13:01My name's Alex.
13:02Hi, call enforcement.
13:03Need an emergency.
13:04Attendance, please.
13:05The occupant has just locked my colleague into the house.
13:09He's violent.
13:10If all they can hear is shouting, screaming, they will send officers around to that address
13:15within a matter of minutes.
13:17Legally.
13:18Legally.
13:19Right.
13:20Any, any.
13:21No, but you can't do that because now you've just locked.
13:24You've just entrapped an officer in your house.
13:26I said, can you not go in?
13:27Even now, you can open it and he won't come in if I tell him not to.
13:30I'm going to do the walkthrough.
13:31Alex.
13:32Just bear with me a moment.
13:33Are you somewhere safe at the moment?
13:34Yeah, but my colleague's locked her in, so we need someone here urgent.
13:37Alex.
13:38High court enforcement.
13:40Bailiffs.
13:41We're the bailiffs.
13:42It's a breach of the peace.
13:44I did, but then you've locked the door.
13:46To stop somebody else coming into my property.
13:47At this point, it's locking somebody in your home.
13:52As commanded by the high court writ, Casey entered the house to see if there is property
13:57the agents could take control of to repay the debt.
14:00I want to do the walkthrough and be on my way.
14:01I want you to sit here until she does the walkthrough.
14:02Can you step into the porch?
14:03No, I will not, sir.
14:04Don't even think of moving me or touching me.
14:05Take a seat then.
14:06I don't need to sit.
14:07Why did you go to the address?
14:08What was it called?
14:09We've got a high court writ for this gentleman at this address.
14:13All right.
14:14Could you get someone here quickly, please?
14:17But the man inside is not the agent's only problem.
14:24There's now a gentleman blocking or attempting to block our van.
14:30Rather strange.
14:31Sorry.
14:32There's another.
14:33Fair enough.
14:34Well, that's all right.
14:35You can walk away, can't you?
14:36Yeah.
14:37The car that's blocking you in, can you see the vehicle registration?
14:38Yeah.
14:39In many communities we find these days, you'll end up starting with one person, and all of
14:53a sudden there'll be 15 outside.
14:54Can I just take the name of your police?
14:56Yeah.
14:57Yeah.
14:58Casey.
14:59Initials Kilo Charlie.
15:00I've got units deployed.
15:01Thank you very much.
15:02Okay.
15:03Cheers.
15:04Bye.
15:05Bye-bye.
15:06We're just going to have to wait for the police, I think.
15:08It's just like these members of the public that have come and decided to try and block
15:13our van, and what they don't realize is that someone's owed this money.
15:17So this gentleman has had an amount of materials off of a building merchant's and hasn't paid
15:23the bill.
15:24So why should that building merchant be out of pocket for that?
15:28Because we've tried to say to him, look, okay, you haven't got the money.
15:31We can see that he might not have that amount of money, but let's start getting it resolved,
15:36because it's not going to go away.
15:39But instead, we have this confrontation.
15:42So, it's a sad state of affairs, really.
15:46Just deal with the issue instead of dealing with the other parts of it, okay?
15:49He's, forget him outside.
15:51Well, it's nice and early.
16:02Nice and bright.
16:03Nice and early.
16:04That's all right.
16:05Early bird catches, wasn't it?
16:06Well, this is true.
16:07Early bird catches that were.
16:09Agents Sherry and David are looking to collect the debt from a woman who owes just over £8,000 to a family-run car dealership.
16:22It's a fair whack.
16:23She owes the money to a motor company, so I'm guessing it's been repossessed.
16:33A car the woman purchased on finance was repossessed in 2019, but not returned.
16:41After one unsuccessful attempt to find her, the agents now believe she's at the address they're heading to.
16:48Being as it's a car company, she owes money to, chances are she's got another car.
16:53Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:54I've done the research.
16:55It's biologetic on the pictures that there's a car, but you can never see it employ it anyway.
16:59Right.
17:00Whether it's hers or not, but that's down to her.
17:02The car covers the debt.
17:03Yeah.
17:04She's got one.
17:0560 cent house here.
17:06The car's there as well.
17:07On the drive?
17:08Yeah.
17:09Oh, that's a bailiff's knock, isn't it?
17:10While you're knocking, I'm waiting to see if there's anybody going to look through the window.
17:25And we know somebody's here because the car's here.
17:29Yeah.
17:30Yeah.
17:31And at this time in the morning, the chances are.
17:33Yeah.
17:34It's just going to be a case of waking people up.
17:39Hello, can you come to the door, please?
17:43You do need to be very patient.
17:44There's been many occasions where I've knocked on the door, I've knocked on the window, and
17:50you're just about to go and you think, oh, I'll just try one more knock again.
17:56And then that last knock, somebody comes to the door.
18:00There's somebody here.
18:01Yeah.
18:02Yeah.
18:03Yeah.
18:04Go on, you.
18:05Well, if we're enforcement agent, have you got an I-Court writ?
18:07I went to Birmingham court, quit court, so we got thrown at the NFA last year.
18:12The car got stolen off my drive in my older days.
18:15We're here today because we have to speak to you about getting the money back.
18:20The writ's live at the present time, the writ is live.
18:23Be calm for a minute.
18:24I know you're getting upset, but the writ is still live.
18:29A lot of people think that we just turn up on the doorstep, but they've had letters,
18:34they've maybe had phone calls, they've had emails.
18:37They know somebody is going to come at some stage because there's somebody else on the
18:42end of the line, the claimant, who wants their money back.
18:45I understand it's distressing.
18:47However, we're here to collect this amount of money, which is £8,755.
18:54With previous attempts to recover the money failing, the matter progressed from County
19:00Court to the High Court.
19:03Have you got anybody who can actually help you with this at the moment? No.
19:10Very often, I would just stand there silently, wait for them to finish and say,
19:14right, now let's talk about it. You work with me and I'll work with you.
19:19Let's sort it out.
19:21What I need to do, I'm going to have a look around and I'm going to see what goods there
19:26are, because I understand it's distressing, but we're here with High Court writ.
19:31Yeah, that's fine.
19:32Is that okay?
19:33Have you got somebody you can actually phone and speak to?
19:38Yeah.
19:39Yeah.
19:40Did you say the car had been stolen?
19:42The car had been stolen, yeah.
19:44The car has been stolen?
19:46We could go to somebody and they think that they haven't got to pay the debt.
19:51But the system is in place, so that person does.
19:56The claimant hasn't gone all through the court for us not to do our job.
20:00We go there with the High Court writ, which says we are there to collect the money.
20:07It's the only way we can make a plan or do something, so I can start paying until I've been sorted.
20:12The problem with that, in my opinion with that, I did come a couple of weeks and left you a letter
20:17with my number on which you've got to give me a call.
20:19I didn't know it was you, so I left me the letter, so I honestly thought you wouldn't come back.
20:22Yeah, see, now you're asking for an arrangement, you see.
20:25Obviously, I've left a letter and that makes me think, well, you could have rang me up.
20:28You see where you're coming from?
20:29I honestly thought, you know what, you've knocked on my door.
20:32I went to court last year for this.
20:34You can check Birmingham Magistrates Court and they will tell you that it's got NFA.
20:38So I just presumed that that would eventually go out because I wasn't the person that stole the car.
20:43The car was stolen off my driveway.
20:45That's what I just presumed and that is the truth.
20:47I did not know.
20:48I thought when it gets NFA in court, I did not think any of this would happen.
20:54The woman says the car was stolen and that she was suspected of being involved in the theft.
20:59But a court declared no further action be taken against her.
21:04But now, the dealership wants to recover their costs.
21:08If I got a letter where it said 3,000, 8,000 on it, and it said I court enforcement officer or agent on that,
21:15I'll be on the phone to find out what's about it.
21:17I didn't know he was going to chase me for his supplies.
21:19Yeah, I know what you're saying.
21:20If you could give me a call and say this is the situation, just, I'm not, we're not horrible people, you know what I mean?
21:25Just let us know what's going on.
21:26I can't get them on, mate.
21:28Again, the thing is, we're going round the circle.
21:30I'm going to have to give you 25 minutes from now trying to get his money.
21:33If not, we're going to have to take it up, which incur more costs.
21:36That's the last thing we want to do.
21:38Giving people the benefit of doubt, it's difficult because every case is different and every individual is different.
21:44And the back story of the case is different.
21:47So you've got to go with an open mind.
21:49So, yeah, you can give them the benefit of doubt, but in the end game, we are there for one reason to get the money for the claimant.
21:55If you could start making phone calls, you said you're going to ring, you said you were going to ring your mum.
21:59Yes, I'm not going to ring my mum to pay a debt that I'm not paying.
22:01Coming up.
22:05Anyone else up there?
22:06Chris is missing more than our pieces.
22:08Please tell us.
22:09That's a big call.
22:10And Sherry and David make a U-turn.
22:13There's nothing upstairs.
22:14So we're coming back to the car.
22:20Someone's jumped to the van and just disappeared.
22:39Agents Chris and Mark are attempting to recover £50,000 worth of art for a claimant that is owed £2 million.
22:51So I just want to have a look in case he's going around the back or something.
22:55But the storage facility where the art is kept are also owed money.
23:00So they're not happy about releasing the pieces to the agents.
23:03Mark?
23:04Yeah?
23:05Anyone else up there?
23:06No.
23:07Right, I'm just going to go and have a look around because the guy's disappeared in a van.
23:12And I want to make sure there's no back door and he's unloading at the back or something.
23:16I just want to see if there's any kind of back fire exits.
23:19Because next door looks like almost identical to here.
23:22There's a fire exit to the right.
23:24So I wonder if there's actually another exit.
23:26Yeah, I see some TV will tell us.
23:29That's a good call.
23:31I very much doubt there is another one.
23:33Oh look.
23:34Fire exit.
23:35Fire exit.
23:36Ah, there we go.
23:37So there is a fire exit.
23:40So the gentleman that was in reception has jumped in the van.
23:44He's told Mark that he's going to pick someone up, which could be legit.
23:47But it's a bit...
23:49I'm very suspicious of people.
23:51But what I don't want it to be is a second exit from this, for this building.
23:54And he's actually around the back trying to unload these items and move them to another
23:58location.
24:03So there is a fire exit to the building, which is great.
24:06So the CCTV covers part of the fire exit.
24:09But to be fair, what we can actually do, if need be, is just through the green gate, we
24:14can actually just see where they would be going in and out the side if they choose to play games.
24:22A short time later, the facility opens for business.
24:25It's great.
24:26So they've got a couple of people coming here to pick up some items.
24:32They're going to have to open their shutters.
24:34So when I do, I'm going to casually just walk into it.
24:38It saves us the cost of a locksmith.
24:40And then once we do get in there, I won't be leaving until we've taken our art pieces away.
25:06You all right?
25:07The door.
25:10Don't walk in here.
25:11Why?
25:12We've got our order.
25:17Well, I've got the order, so I can't leave.
25:19So obviously we can stay here.
25:20Do you want to...
25:21No, no, that's fine.
25:22But obviously I need to make sure the solicitors are going to talk.
25:25Hopefully...
25:26That's fine.
25:28No, no, you have.
25:29But you need, from our point of view, is a case of, I hear what you say.
25:32But if your solicitor says don't let them in, you'll have to do what your bosses say.
25:35So even though I know you, I trust what you say, I've got no issues.
25:38But you're going to go with whatever your solicitor says.
25:40But as I say, we're not going to remove anything until 11 o'clock onwards.
25:43As we're High Court Enforcement, we actually have the ability to enter those properties.
25:47On commercial properties, we can even use a locksmith to enter.
25:50So to have that ability is a huge game-changer for us, because once we're inside, you know,
25:56to actually be able to enter a property to take control of goods is a necessity in our role.
26:02I'm going to stay by the shuttle on the outside so nothing's coming out.
26:06Chris steps outside to keep an eye on what's being taken from the warehouse.
26:11From my point of view, I just need to make sure we're keeping our artwork safe, yeah?
26:17So let me know what you're going to do.
26:19And they're mentioning there's a few people here to come and collect some art pieces and take it away.
26:23So now this is sending alarm bells.
26:25There's a small possibility that they could potentially try and get other people to take some of the art pieces that we are going to be removing
26:31and basically try and get out the door via other deliveries and pick-ups.
26:35What do you want to do? Because I've got to get over the straight first, my man.
26:38Just show me the faulty art pieces if you want.
26:40So this art piece was about to be removed from the property.
26:45And I've already explained to the guys inside that we're not going to let any art go away now until we verify
26:51it's not any of the faulty art pieces that we're looking for.
26:53So all they have to do now is show us the faulty art pieces, then we know that's it.
26:57We've got no interest in any other items and they can take it all away.
27:00Or they just open up that piece they're going to take away, show me it's not one of our faulty art pieces,
27:05and then we've got no interest in it.
27:07They don't want to do it either of them.
27:09So hence why that's not going to be delivered now, whatever's in there,
27:12and he's going back in the warehouse.
27:14Chris speaks to the office, who've been talking with the storage company's lawyers.
27:19So I've spoken to our solicitor, who is in talks with the company's solicitor here.
27:26Our solicitor says, now in the last conversations they've had with their solicitor,
27:29they don't believe these items are safe at this location anymore,
27:33because they think these items may be moved to another location
27:36if they're given another heads up.
27:38Because of that, we've just got a clear instruction of,
27:41let's take these items and put them in storage.
27:45The manager directs the agents to where the defendant's items are being held.
27:49Is it 11 o'clock?
27:50Yeah, thank you.
27:51Is it 11 o'clock?
27:52Yeah, thank you.
27:53Is it 11 o'clock?
27:54Yeah.
27:55Lovely, okay.
27:56It's all in this boat.
27:57Now the art has been located, the agents still need to verify and catalogue each piece.
28:03So, luckily we've got some photographs.
28:06So you've got some photographs that have been unwrapped and confirmed by the photographs.
28:10Then you've got to re-wrap them.
28:12Yep.
28:13I've got to do this all the wrong way.
28:15So sadly we have to open, just verify and then just tape it down again.
28:19If they can identify the art and remove it for auction,
28:24the agents may finally be able to recover some of the £2 million owed.
28:31Erm...
28:32You're going to be proud.
28:33Potentially.
28:34Yeah, potentially.
28:35Probably cut the face.
28:36Well, no, hopefully not.
28:38No.
28:39No.
28:40I did bring the sleeping bag today.
28:49The police have arrived to assist agents after a man named on a writ locked Casey inside his home.
29:00Hello.
29:01Hello, mate.
29:02Alright.
29:03While she attempted to recover a debt of over £3,000.
29:06Is it this house here?
29:07This house here, yeah.
29:086-0?
29:09Yeah.
29:10Once someone's locked in, I'm powerless to do anything about it, you know?
29:15When the police officers turn up at an address, usually people, kind of like,
29:18calm down and they realise that shouting and screaming or threatening violence isn't going
29:23to get them anywhere.
29:24It's starting, that's the point.
29:25Hello.
29:26Hello.
29:27Police.
29:28Oh, hello.
29:29Hello.
29:30Alright.
29:31Yeah.
29:32Are you going to let her out or...?
29:33Yeah.
29:34We're not going to leave.
29:35We're going to continue with our job.
29:36The police will tell you the same thing as us.
29:39Yes, please wait.
29:40Yeah.
29:41And then once they know we are legally allowed to be inside, they tend to calm down and work
29:45it with us.
29:46It's alright if I...
29:47Close it off.
29:48Are you taking the key out the door, yeah?
29:49I just don't want me being locked in the room.
29:50Yeah, exactly.
29:51I said my colleague wouldn't come in if I directed him not to.
29:58When things calm down, most people tend to come up with something.
30:01And as long as they're willing to do with something, we'll deal with them.
30:03So, yeah.
30:04Right.
30:05Perfect, yeah.
30:06Going forward, we do actually care and are concerned about the people's welfare.
30:10So, trying to find a way to work together is usually the best way.
30:13Thanks.
30:14I just need the paper.
30:15Okay.
30:16Be it in a minute.
30:17Right.
30:18I just need to look around.
30:19With no obvious assets of value.
30:21As long as you're income and expenditures, you show me what's coming in and what's going
30:24out.
30:25Casey suggests setting up a payment plan.
30:28If it's only showing that you've got 300 pounds of living water for a month for a family,
30:32it's not going to be more than 50 quid.
30:34Do you get what I mean?
30:36And the man outside decides to move his car.
30:43So, right now you're in the minus, you're saying?
30:46You're already in the minus.
30:47Okay.
30:48So, are we in an agreeance?
30:49Can we do 50 quid on the 10th?
30:51Basically, I think anyone in debt is struggling.
30:53I mean, they don't know which way to turn, who to talk to, who to speak to.
30:57It's really hard times out there.
30:58People losing jobs, people losing their homes.
31:00I mean, at least the last two years has literally hit everybody and I'd completely get
31:05it.
31:06Okay.
31:07So, right now I'll speak to you on the 10th.
31:08We'll see how you're doing.
31:09Okay?
31:10Whether you've got a new place and everything else.
31:11We'll leave it for the 10th just in case.
31:12Just keep communication with me.
31:13I'll go as far as I can for you.
31:15The debt itself will never go downwards unless you start paying it off.
31:20It's the only way it's ever going to start going down.
31:22If you continue to ignore it, the fees that you incur when it goes through the high court
31:28are considerable.
31:29So, whether you like it or you don't, at that point it's time to deal with it.
31:35If he'd have gone to court, for example, even if he said, yes, you know what, I do owe
31:38the money, it would have been half the price, if not less than that.
31:42And the court would have assessed his finances.
31:44He'd have done an income expenditure.
31:46And then they'd have said, okay, well, you can pay 30 pounds a month or whatever.
31:49And that would have all, you know, that's the correct procedure to follow.
31:52I would just advise anyone, if you can deal with it before now, then do it.
31:56Because it's not very nice of us turning up.
31:59Perfect. Thank you again for your time. Sorry for your hassle.
32:01All right, folks, I'll see you soon. Thanks very much. Cheers. Bye-bye.
32:06Okay, that was something.
32:08We haven't had a scuffle like that for a long time.
32:11It was definitely a tricky one.
32:13So it's been left with the fact that we're going to do an arrangement.
32:16We're looking probably at about 50 pounds a month until they can get on their feet,
32:19just to get, you know, the debt off their head.
32:21I was able to speak to them and say, this is how we could go forward.
32:25Let's work together.
32:26Keep them calm and let them know that they're in control.
32:29And, you know, at the same time, let them know that I'm there to help.
32:32Okay. See belt.
32:46So let's get this right. So you're not willing to pay anything or get anything sorted?
32:49I'll pay you some money, mate.
32:50Agents Sherry and David are trying to settle a writ for over 8,000 pounds.
32:55You can check my case. I've got a pen. I'll pay you some money. I'll show you. I've got a pen. I'll pay you some money, sweetheart.
33:00The woman says a finance vehicle was stolen from her drive.
33:04But now the car dealership are trying to recover their costs through the High Court.
33:08Look what you're doing. If you're to take assets, take assets, that's fine.
33:13Mm-hmm.
33:15With the woman unable to pay, the agents must find other ways to settle the debt.
33:20We're just looking for anything of value. That could be money or any goods of value.
33:25Because the lady's saying that I'll take assets. But that's the last thing you want to do.
33:30But sometimes you can find money that might be able to clear some of the debt.
33:34Because you'd be surprised where people will hide money.
33:38David, there's nothing upstairs. No, there's three bedrooms.
33:43Two of them are, like, empty and one is this lady's. But there isn't any actual assets. So we're coming back to the car.
33:52I do feel sorry for her. However, this has gone back from 2019. And, yeah, okay, she's crying now. But why didn't she get it sorted?
34:02Well, just have yourself a brew. Try and go to your mum. And then we'll just have to see what we can do from there.
34:09Because there isn't any assets and the vehicle that she's got is not going to be anywhere near £9,000.
34:16So if she wants to get rid of this debt without people keep coming back, she needs to set up a payment plan, keep to it.
34:24And then if she does get more money or anybody can help her, pay it. Are you working? Yeah. Yeah.
34:33Yeah. I have to...
34:35I am so sorry about this. I'm sorry. I wish I was just saying, you know, am I already...
34:39No, you don't need to say sorry to me. Just sort of say, it makes things easy for us.
34:43No, I appreciate you sort of explaining, because there's always two sides to a story.
34:48But, you know, we're here at the moment, and we've got to get it resolved.
34:55You know, and we've...
34:57Because if...
34:59Yeah. I mean, if...
35:02Yeah.
35:03Because if we have to take stuff, you're looking at £9,939.49, plus storage costs on top of that per day, which would be about £25 per day.
35:14I say 99% of the cases, I say, I don't want to take your goods, I don't want to increase the fees.
35:19So if you can get this paid really quick, I'm in and out. Done. You get a receipt, done.
35:24But I don't want to take people's stuff. I'm not a mean person.
35:27That's why I say, if you can work with me, and if you haven't got the money, bring around and get people to give you help to get this paid.
35:34If the claimant agrees on a payment plan, you still have to pay something towards it today.
35:42We can't walk away.
35:48Coming up...
35:49Chris, you've got four more guys now working for you.
35:51Tensions mount at the storage facility.
35:54Sorry, who's going to pay for that?
35:56And Sherry and David's debtor runs out of options.
35:59This is going to be hanging over your head until it's sorted.
36:03Shari and David are trying to recover more than 8,000 pounds from a woman with an outstanding death from 2019.
36:24That's the situation. You know, we can't come here with the writ and walk away.
36:30Can I give you something if I've not got it? What are you going to do? Are you going to arrest me?
36:34No, we're not here to arrest you.
36:36If you can put some money down today, it's going to look better in your favour.
36:40Despite the offer of a payment plan, the claimant must still agree.
36:45You literally live here by yourself. You've got no partner, no nothing.
36:51If you could ring your mum up and explain what we said.
36:55Say, look, if we can walk away with something today, it looks better about you getting an arrangement, you see?
36:59Before nine o'clock.
37:03I listen to everyone I do. Every case I go to, I listen to them.
37:06But I mean to get the money for the claimant.
37:09I always say to look, I'm not here to put more money on the debt.
37:12But if you don't work with me, that's where it'll go.
37:15Bearing in mind, this is like nearly nine grand.
37:18Yeah. Yeah.
37:19The quicker you can get rid of it, it stops more costs, more interest.
37:22Because you have daily interest on this, you see?
37:24That's why when I come from last time, the figure's gone up as well.
37:28This is going to be hanging over your head until it's sorted.
37:32For example, if you're looking to make an arrangement, how much would you be able to...?
37:37Probably bring about a grand a month.
37:39But realistic, how much do you think you can afford out of that?
37:42I'm going to have to make a payment out of my university every single month.
37:45Can I just say to you, don't set yourself up to fail, because if you break this arrangement, it's going to be a problem for you.
37:55It may take a while to pay off, but an offer of £100 per month will eventually get the claimant's money back.
38:02I can go back to the claimant and say £100.
38:04Every single month I'll pay that.
38:06And the woman's mother offers to pay £100 today. So if the claimant agrees to the payment plan, the debt may finally get settled.
38:17When we came in, you were obviously really, really upset. Do you feel a bit more relief now that you've spoken to us and can maybe get it sorted?
38:27Yeah.
38:28You do? Because you're smiling now.
38:30Yeah.
38:31Well, obviously, it just won't be a bit as first thing in the morning.
38:33Yeah, because, you know...
38:35I didn't realise it was yourself.
38:36David, yeah.
38:37OK, yeah.
38:38I wish I'd just bloody contacted you and said, you know, I don't know this.
38:41But so...
38:42Yeah.
38:43This is the thing.
38:44Just don't ever work against us, because it makes it harder for yourself, yeah.
38:47You know, because I know...
38:48I said the letter come through the door, and it was eight grand, and I thought, you know, well, I don't bloody owe that.
38:52But when we've explained it, looking at you, it's like, oh, right, OK, at least I can deal with it now.
38:59The bailiffs are the last resort, because if we can't get the money back, they don't actually have anywhere else to go.
39:06And that's why we have to keep on and on and on, because they're relying on us.
39:12Well, hopefully, I'll never see you again in the day.
39:16So, yeah, it's a good result.
39:18It's not the result we always want, but...
39:20Yeah, it's the best that we were actually going to get, yeah.
39:24Because she could have said, well, I'm not making an arrangement.
39:27However, we've come away with something.
39:29We haven't walked out with absolutely nothing.
39:32You know, the proof is when the money is in the bank.
39:35That's it.
39:36Like Sherry's just said, they...
39:39People say that.
39:41I've had loads of cases.
39:42Oh, yeah, agreed to an arrangement in your car.
39:44Yeah.
39:45And then you have to come back a month later, or a couple of weeks later, because it's not been paid.
39:49So it's always a tricky one to say whether you believe them or not.
39:55Until you see the money they're translating me, you just never know.
39:58She did seem genuine.
39:59She seemed believable.
40:00Yeah, yeah.
40:01She seemed believable.
40:02However, you can't, you can't tell.
40:04It's hard to predict.
40:05It's very, very...
40:06Definitely hard to predict.
40:07The claimant did agree to the woman's £100 per month offer.
40:12However, a few months later, she's yet to make a payment.
40:18Right.
40:19Do you know what?
40:20I actually quite like the colours of it.
40:21Wouldn't go in my house, eh?
40:22Chris and Mark are trying to identify £50,000 worth of art, belonging to a dealer who owes £2 million.
40:39It's being kept at a storage facility who were also owed money by the man, so they're not happy about letting it go.
40:52You know, this is what I expect after it, like something on canvas.
40:57Oh, wow.
40:58They have been unwrapping art for over two hours, but there are still seven pieces unaccounted for.
41:05Go these.
41:06Look, I'm finding more and more.
41:07Oh, wow.
41:0922.
41:10Staff at the facility are helping track them down.
41:13You know, you've got my guys and they're working for free, that's all, you know?
41:18It seems a little unfair to me.
41:20We're trying to help you.
41:22Surely, I should be compensated.
41:24We're not going to get the storage that this guy owes.
41:26You are.
41:27We're a tiny company, we can't afford that.
41:28I know.
41:29And then on top of that, you're now using my guys for straight over, basically, because I won't get nothing off of you.
41:34Chris, you've got four of my guys now working for you.
41:37Right.
41:38So, who's going to pay for that?
41:40I'm not paying a penny, obviously, as you know.
41:42I'm here purely to do a job and take things away.
41:44But how are you going to remove them if we don't get them out for you?
41:46Well, then we will have to do it ourselves.
41:48And if it means moving other things out...
41:49You can't move other people's artwork, can't you?
41:50We'll have to if it was obstructing what we're doing.
41:52You can't move somebody's private artwork.
41:54It's not yours to move.
41:56If you damage it, who's going to pay you for that?
41:58So, we do feel sorry for the staff sometimes because they don't know why we're there.
42:02We've suddenly surprised them, saying, look, we're taking money out the till.
42:05We're going to be taking these items away.
42:07We're going to be opening the safe up.
42:09So, it's kind of, it comes as a bit of a shock.
42:12So, we're not going to get nothing, are we?
42:14So, we do try and, you know, play the softer card around the staff because they are innocent
42:20party in all of this.
42:21This is way above our bay grade.
42:25So, it's literally just this one here.
42:27So, I think that's the only one that's got items in it.
42:31But moments later, the missing art is located.
42:34Oh, excellent.
42:36That's what we're missing.
42:37There's the seven we're after.
42:39Any nap?
42:40Yeah, mate.
42:42You got there, have you?
42:43Yeah.
42:46And it looks like there's seven in there, roughly.
42:48And that's roughly what we're looking for.
42:51Seven.
42:52Perfect.
42:53Good thing is, hopefully, this is the last seven.
42:56We don't have to list any more.
43:02Right.
43:03Quick tally up to 31.
43:06Okay.
43:07So, up to 31.
43:0832.
43:1340.
43:14After almost seven hours on site, Chris and Mark have successfully collected all the art.
43:22So, we've got this valuable art, but the story is far from over.
43:25We're looking at 50, potentially 60,000 pounds here.
43:28When you weigh up against a two million pound debt, you know, this is scratching the surface
43:32to how much more work we're going to have to put into this to try and get this debt paid.
43:36So, will we get the full debt paid?
43:38Not too sure in this particular case, but we're certainly going to give it a good go.
43:41And you never know, hopefully, if you try and get some of this storage money back for these guys.
43:48It's been a very, very long day.
43:51I'm going to sleep well tonight.
43:54The High Court's enforcement officer in the storage facility came to an arrangement
43:59that ensured some of the storage fees owed were also paid.
44:06Next time, Mark and Virgil are at a pizza restaurant.
44:10They're telling me, well, this one isn't valid then.
44:11Yeah.
44:12Feasting on paperwork.
44:13So, there's no point, keep showing it to me, is it really.
44:16David and Sherry.
44:17You are still the director.
44:19Face a director in denial.
44:20So, you need to pay this.
44:22And Chris and Sam are in a palace.
44:25So, there's no bold voices, Fentleys.
44:28Hoping a duke will pay his dues.
44:30If the payment isn't landed, I will then be looking at physically removing items.
44:34Not many things.
44:35It is a private market.
44:36I will then accept hopefully, where the payment will be.
44:38I will see you in the future.
44:39We'll see you in the next two hour.
44:41And if we have a new location.
44:42The end of the day.
44:43Salt from the day.
44:44Male Speaker.
44:45The end of the day.
44:46The end of the day.
44:47A praying-gird.
44:48I hope you can see you in the next two hours.
44:49The end of the day.
44:50The end of the day.
44:51The end of the day.
44:52Transcription by CastingWords