Call the Bailiffs Time to Pay Up S02E04 (10 August 2022)
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00:00We're High Court enforcement agents, we've got a High Court here, I'd like to sort this out face to face.
00:07Peace out!
00:08£12 billion is owed to people and businesses in the UK.
00:12Don't do that, sir!
00:13There is money owed, and it has to be paid.
00:16When all other attempts to settle a debt have failed.
00:19This is quite a lot of money, it's over £5,000.
00:21Here comes a bill, Blake!
00:22Cases can end up at the High Court.
00:24Nothing can conquer the writ.
00:26Where a judgement commands enforcement officers to recover what's owed.
00:29Our agents are the last chance to lose.
00:32Let's go!
00:33A High Court writ.
00:34All check-in debts are going to be closed until this matter's resolved.
00:37Gives agents the authority to enter unlocked homes and businesses.
00:41We've made contact, we know they're there.
00:43We're important, agent.
00:44Everybody leads the trail.
00:46And to seize and sell property.
00:48If you think there's something legal, call the police.
00:50They're trying to do everything they can apart from actually paying the bill.
00:52To finally get debts paid.
00:54They want us to get their money back.
00:56£56,000.76 pence outstanding.
00:58In these difficult times.
01:00I need to go home.
01:01Agents find ways for people to clear their debts.
01:04We're not ogres, we're nice people.
01:06Hopefully it'll be a weight off your shoulders then.
01:08But every day.
01:09Call the police now.
01:10They face aggression.
01:11You wanna find me?
01:12Don't do this again!
01:13Hey!
01:14And abuse.
01:15Get out of my way!
01:16As they try to settle debts.
01:18Watch your back Chris!
01:19This is £70,000 here.
01:20That no one else can.
01:21He thinks he can fight me.
01:22Let's see.
01:23I know.
01:24What do I do?
01:37Enforcement agents Casey and Alex are heading to a swimming pool installation business.
01:42to try and recover money for a customer who says work wasn't completed at their home.
01:48They owe quite a considerable sum of money.
01:50How much?
01:51£56,404.76 pence.
01:56What?
01:57Now.
01:58They build swimming pools.
02:01Swimming pool?
02:02In England?
02:03Yes.
02:04Well, yeah.
02:05You just have to step outside and it rains all the time.
02:07What's the difference?
02:08Build a hole.
02:12It looks like it's part of the castle.
02:15Wow.
02:16Yes.
02:17Look, we've got vehicles, everything.
02:20Brilliant.
02:21Excellent.
02:22Go.
02:23Hello.
02:24Roundstone Bespoke and we want Roundstone swimming pools.
02:28Do you know why we're here?
02:30High Court.
02:31Who's in charge of Roundstone?
02:33The man says his son is the director of the company named on the High Court writ.
02:37That's what the writ's been issued, that company name.
02:40But claims the debt is actually owed by his business, which he's now closed down.
02:45Unfortunately, we're here to enforce the writ today.
02:47So, what you need to do is if you don't agree with that, you need to seek legal advice
02:52over that because the writ is actually in this brownstone bespoke limit.
02:57Agents are commanded by the High Court to take control of goods they reasonably believe
03:02are owned by the company named on the writ.
03:05Right.
03:06Now you have to do the paperwork.
03:09I voluntarily went bankrupt just at the beginning of the Covid.
03:11Have you spoken to the court about this matter?
03:14No, I literally got your paperwork because I sent it all to the court.
03:17Right.
03:18The courts don't want us to dispute any of these cases.
03:22They want us to go in there, collect the money that's owed as per the order and leave again.
03:27And making sure that we get the result that we need to.
03:31So I've got some bad news for you.
03:33Unless this matter is paid today, we are instructed to remove everything.
03:37And that will be now.
03:39Okay.
03:40So are you, are you able, are you able to, do you have your own solicitor?
03:44Uh, no.
03:45I can't afford a solicitor.
03:46I'm like, I was bankrupt.
03:49So if your son's the director.
03:51Yes.
03:52Is he aware of this as well?
03:53Does he know what's going on?
03:54No, because he's got nothing to do with him.
03:55It's against me.
03:56I did the work.
03:57I don't understand how someone could do something.
04:00You don't know why he's taking you to court under that name because you think that it's not in that name.
04:04That's what you're saying.
04:05It shouldn't be in that name is what you're saying.
04:07Absolutely.
04:08That is a matter that you have to take up with the court.
04:11We know the law.
04:12We're the ones that actually know what we're talking about.
04:14But they still don't accept it.
04:15It's gone to county court.
04:16Then it's gone to high court.
04:17Now it's like we're going to come at you.
04:20At the moment, there's an amount of £56,404.76.
04:24Outstanding.
04:25Understood.
04:26So all I can say to you is that we have to assess now of what goods are here in order to remove.
04:32So I don't know what to do.
04:34Okay.
04:35What I'm going to do is I'm going to leave you in peace with it for a second because I know that, you know, this isn't the best of news.
04:41But you might want to have a chat with some people or your son or someone to see whether the amount can be raised.
04:47In the UK in 2020, over 78 and a half thousand high court writs were successfully enforced.
04:5811 o'clock you can start removing.
05:00Excellent stuff.
05:01With enforcement agents.
05:02Two different claimants.
05:04Collecting nearly £92 million in money owed.
05:08Every case is different.
05:10You never know whether you're going to be there for five minutes and get paid in full or you're going to be there for five hours and get a couple of hundred pounds.
05:17I just don't understand why it's taking so long.
05:20And when the minutes turn into hours.
05:22All right.
05:23I'll give you five to ten minutes, sir.
05:24Or ten to fifteen minutes.
05:25Speak to you in a bit.
05:26The agents need patience and persistence in their armory.
05:29Hello?
05:30Hello?
05:31Everybody needs that little bit of extra time.
05:33Just that couple more minutes.
05:34He needs more time to pay the difference.
05:37If they're to get the claimants cash back, you can spend a large amount of time waiting for them to go through the motions of how they're going to get out of it before they finally realise that it's not going to happen and they need to pay the money that's owed.
05:53I don't know.
05:54They're spicy aren't they?
05:55They're not that spicy.
05:56They're strong.
05:57We're just one.
05:58Okay.
05:59They'll move you up.
06:00Oh my god.
06:01They're so spicy.
06:02You want to kill me?
06:03Oh.
06:04Oh my god.
06:05High Court enforcement agents Mark and Virgil are on the trail of a company with an annual turnover
06:22of approximately 35 million pounds.
06:25All right.
06:26Business.
06:27It's a large organisation, part of which rents out offices across the UK.
06:33I'm pretty sure this building's got history.
06:36And there used to be a swimming pool underneath.
06:38If they got an office here, it's not cheap, but...
06:40It's massive.
06:41They're attempting to reclaim money for services that were never provided.
06:46Hello.
06:47My name is Virgil.
06:48I'm a High Court Enforcement Agent.
06:49This is my colleague, Mr Mark.
06:51I'm a High Court Enforcement Agent.
06:53Okay.
06:54Okay.
06:55Basically, what it is, a company has taken IW Group Services UK Limited to court.
07:01Okay.
07:02Currently, there's an outstanding amount of £5,640.81.
07:06If it's not paid in 30 minutes, it goes up to £6,234.81.
07:12Okay.
07:13If it's not paid in, we start listing assets.
07:15Each stage of the enforcement process incurs additional fees set out by government.
07:21Obviously, we try to keep the costs as low as possible.
07:24So, we give them usually 20 minutes, 30 minutes to try to sort it out.
07:28This is the High Court Enforcement Agent.
07:29Can I just see the company name?
07:30Yeah.
07:31Where is it?
07:32I would need more details.
07:33The thing is, okay, this has been to court.
07:34We've got a High Court order stating that this needs to be paid.
07:35We have a last resort for these claimants.
07:36They've tried all other avenues.
07:37They've tried the nice route.
07:38They've gone through the courts.
07:39They've tried to get the money nicely.
07:40Unfortunately, we have to get in there and get the money which they're owed.
07:41Let me message someone.
07:42Yeah.
07:43If we can get in touch with somebody that can resolve this matter, that's perfect.
07:44Okay.
07:45Okay.
07:46Okay.
07:47Okay.
07:48Okay.
07:49Okay.
07:50Okay.
07:51Okay.
07:52Okay.
07:53Okay.
07:54Okay.
07:55Okay.
07:56Okay.
07:57Okay.
07:58Okay.
07:59Okay.
08:00Okay.
08:01Okay.
08:02Okay.
08:03Okay.
08:04Okay.
08:05Okay.
08:06It's a big company, Ben.
08:10They've had the phone calls.
08:12They've had the invoices.
08:13They've had the court paperwork.
08:15They've had our paperwork.
08:17It's all been ignored.
08:18And they all just seem to want to sort it out when we're on their doorstep.
08:22It's got new chairs.
08:24When you bury your head in the sand, it doesn't go away, okay?
08:28The debt will just mount up.
08:30The best thing is, deal with it.
08:32Minimal stress, minimal fees.
08:34Virgil's deadline soon arrives.
08:36Virgil's deadline soon arrives.
08:37So, because nothing was paid, it has gone now to second stage enforcement.
08:41So, the amount has gone to 6,234 and 81p.
08:46And now, obviously, me and my colleague will have to go around the property to see what items
08:52we want to take into control.
08:54And at the 30 minutes, it will go to 7,210.
08:57All right?
08:58The rooms that you see are client rooms.
09:01You obviously can't take that, doesn't it?
09:04Yeah, but you've got kitchens, you've got coffee machines, you've got board rooms.
09:07Okay?
09:08We'll decide what we're going to take.
09:10Big companies take a long time to sort it out.
09:14They'll try anything that they can to get out of it.
09:17It's not like you don't have the money.
09:20I'm going to start here.
09:21There's more impact.
09:22Yep.
09:23And I'm going to go through the other ones too.
09:26You can just send photos to me and what's in there.
09:30But identifying assets...
09:32Officers, TVs, furniture, it's a really big place.
09:37...is made trickier by multiple offices, some containing the property of other companies.
09:43Hi there.
09:44My name is Virgil.
09:46What companies do we have here?
09:49The desks and everything, they are worth money, especially if they're looking as good as these ones do.
09:54Hi there.
09:55As Virgil searches...
09:56Does this belong to the whole picture?
09:59Yeah.
10:00Perfect.
10:01Thank you very much.
10:02Mark tackles claims that all the items inside the building are not owned by the company named on the writ.
10:08What would you like me to tell?
10:11The burden of proofs itself.
10:13We need to see bills of sales for the chairs, the mirrors, computers.
10:16Okay?
10:17Okay.
10:18Parker gets here.
10:19Everything is telling me it's for me to tell.
10:20Yeah, yeah.
10:21We need money paid, otherwise we're going to move goods.
10:23Simple as that.
10:28Coming up, what can I do?
10:29The swimming pool installer...
10:31Is it our result?
10:32...continues to tread water.
10:34If it was a personal thing, I would be seeing if there was anyone who would help me.
10:38And Mark and Virgil...
10:39How are we doing?
10:40Am I going to have a seat out?
10:41...lay down the law.
10:42Thing is, you've got the high court rip.
10:43It's not a bit of paper from the corner shop.
10:46Agents Casey and Alex are at a swimming pool installation business that owes around £56,000 to a customer who says work was paid for but not finished.
11:09Listen, I know that it sounds bad but if we can help you through it, we will.
11:15The man says his now bankrupt business owed the money, meaning it's no longer liable for the debt.
11:21Not the company on the writ owned by his son.
11:24The issue you have at the moment is a high court has issued a writ for that company and that is who we have to enforce against today.
11:35Okay.
11:36So all I can suggest to you is that it may be now the time to see if there are any phone calls and see what you can raise.
11:44There are none. Everybody knows I've made bankrupt and there are none.
11:47See, that's the reason you go bankrupt because you can't have these people pursuing you.
11:51All the monies that were paid to me directly were completely different. Different account, different VAT number, different invoices, everything.
11:59So the only way you're going to dispute that is by finding out from the courts what he supplied them and then to supply your evidence.
12:05Well, I wasn't there to defend myself because I actually had Covid.
12:08So the alternative obviously is that they will dispatch the trucks here and we will have to remove everything.
12:14Okay.
12:15Is that what you would prefer to happen rather than...
12:17What can I do? What do I do? I'm absolutely stupid.
12:20If it was a personal thing, I would be seeing if there was anyone who would help me, but that's just me.
12:26Any disputes over a judgement must be challenged in court.
12:29But right now, the agents are commanded to enforce the writ.
12:35Alex gives the man time to weigh up his options.
12:38While Casey searches for proof of assets owned by the company named on the writ.
12:43Is it all resolved?
12:45I don't think so. Why can't it be resolved?
12:47Oh, right. Why is that?
12:49Well, because...
12:51Well, because...
12:52...Renal Stein Bespoke Limited has to have a director.
12:53Hmm?
12:54And?
12:55My director's not me.
12:56Oh, who's the director?
12:57Sorry?
12:58Who's the director, your son?
12:59My son.
13:00And what's your son's name, Mark?
13:01No.
13:02No?
13:03Oh, who's Mark?
13:04Me.
13:05Oh, you're Mark.
13:06Lots of stuff under your name under the company.
13:09So the dispute here is that the gentleman's saying that the name on the writ is incorrect.
13:15And it shouldn't be in the company's name that it is.
13:20It should be in his personal name.
13:22But everything here is Mark, Mark, Mark.
13:24I've said to him, look, it is really much more beneficial to come up with funds than it is for removal of goods.
13:34For a start, it would probably cost him more than 50 grand to replace everything.
13:40His business then stops completely.
13:43If he personally doesn't have £56,000, then he's going to have to find someone who does.
13:59Yes, Mark?
14:00As expected.
14:01He's been told to tell us that none of the assets here belong to the debtor company.
14:04Yeah?
14:05Yes, Bill.
14:06In West London, enforcement agents Mark and Virgil...
14:09So basically they refuse me to pay.
14:11...are pursuing payment of a small debt from a very large company.
14:15I'll be honest with you, I think I'm lost.
14:17I'm at the point where I don't even know where I am.
14:22The agents are identifying the assets of the business, which has an annual turnover of more than £35 million.
14:32We definitely have more than enough to cover everything and then some.
14:36Let's go to Mark now and see how he's getting at.
14:42It's massive.
14:43I know, I know, I know.
14:44The desks and the cupboards belong to the one they're renting for.
14:47And some of the companies have brought their own chairs, but they do look different.
14:50So we can, we can notice which ones are.
14:53But the company's management are threatening them with legal action.
14:57They said, I would keep repeating the point that if they choose to take anything, they will be liable for robbery.
15:07Okay, I've been down this line, I've said, I've been down this line before.
15:10If you think we're doing something illegal, call the police.
15:13If money's not paid, we will be removing stuff.
15:16Yeah?
15:17The longer they refuse to make payment, the larger the debt increases.
15:21So, when's it going to be escalated?
15:24It's 45.
15:25It's going to be escalated at one.
15:27One point.
15:28When is the latest, latest the payment needs to be made?
15:31One o'clock.
15:32If it's paid by 1pm, it's going to be at 6,000.
15:35The amount doesn't matter.
15:36Yeah, no, no, it's a big company, yeah.
15:37There's obviously no intention of paying.
15:39So, basically, if it goes after one o'clock, it's going to go to 7,200.
15:437,200.
15:4518 pounds and 81p.
15:47At that point, because obviously there's a lot of items that we can take, we're going to order another removal van as well.
15:52Put them in that situation.
15:53We have plenty of empty rooms if you want to go full.
15:56We don't want empty rooms, we want full rooms.
15:58I'll put it in plain English, okay?
16:00If money's not paid by one o'clock, we are going to start removing stuff, stacking up here, and it's going.
16:04If they know about the situation before, if they had the letters and they knew were coming,
16:09they had enough time to contest it or to provide the evidence, then why didn't you do it?
16:13With just moments to go...
16:15How are we doing? Am I going to want receipt out?
16:17The agents push for payment.
16:19They are talking, and I ask them, is it possible someone for the legal team to talk to you guys?
16:27Yeah.
16:28And I'm still asking, I'm still waiting for, you know, a response.
16:31So we're not at the receipt stage yet?
16:32They said they can't find this company.
16:35The thing is, they've got a high court writ. It's on the high court.
16:38It's not a bit of paper from the corner shop.
16:41With another deadline passed, Mark and Virgil begin to gather the assets.
16:46Yeah.
16:47What we're doing now, there's no payment.
16:49We're going to go down the removal stage.
16:51We can take the smaller, more expensive stuff in the van and hopefully leave the bigger,
16:56less expensive stuff for the larger truck.
16:59They will pay, they just don't know it yet.
17:02Nothing can conquer the writ.
17:05Virgil, can you help us with this mirror?
17:06Sorry?
17:07Because I don't want seven years, bad luck.
17:08Oh, yeah, yeah.
17:13You look nice above your bed, Virgil.
17:16They are asking if it's okay to take a picture of your badge.
17:19Yeah, there you go.
17:24More often than not, it happens that people don't believe we are high court enforcement agents until we start taking stuff.
17:31In 2019, 90% of new businesses failed.
17:43So currently, the debt is £1,916.
17:48With more than 20% going bust in their first year.
17:52Their businesses haven't got the work.
17:55Now, if you're telling me that the business can't pay, then it means we start having to list items.
18:01Many citing cash flow problems.
18:03We know that it's been really, really hard.
18:06Agents Chris and Sam are trying to find a director whose company is named on a high court writ.
18:21What's the deal with this one?
18:23Another agent has attended primary address which turned out to be accountants.
18:28It seems as if.
18:30He owes a round of £2,000.
18:36Let's see if they're open.
18:37People in there?
18:38Doors open?
18:39Yeah.
18:40So, let's see what the score is here.
18:46The money is owed to an advertising agency.
18:49I think the best part about the job is the investigating side of things.
18:53When you actually, you know, you've worked hard to find someone that has really been, you know, avoiding dealing with the matter.
19:00And you actually track them down and you get the money back for the person that needs it.
19:06Hello.
19:07How are you doing?
19:08My name's Chris.
19:09Of course, my agent.
19:10I'm looking for this person here.
19:11They're told the man they're looking for no longer works there.
19:12How long ago did you take it over?
19:13Last year.
19:14Ah.
19:15Do I enjoy my job?
19:16Yeah.
19:17I like the challenge.
19:18I like the cat and mouse game very much, yeah.
19:19He's still advertising it as this address he's using.
19:20Do you know him at all or?
19:21At the end of the day, when you do find someone who's been avoiding paying the debts for so long, and you've tracked them down, found new addresses, assets, and then you've got the money back for the claimant. That is rewarding.
19:27Fantastic. What's the address of that?
19:28He's a head chef. Does he own it as well? Just a head chef. He works in that pub, yeah?
19:29With a little digging, the agents receive information about where the man may be working.
19:35We're sniffer dogs. We'll find them some way. There will be a way. They've slipped up, you know? But you've got the money back for the claimant.
19:42You've got the money back for the claimant. That is rewarding.
19:44Fantastic. What's the address of that?
19:47He's a head chef. Does he own it as well? Just a head chef. He works in that pub, yeah?
19:52With a little digging, the agents receive information about where the man may be working.
19:58We're sniffer dogs. We'll find them some way. There will be a way. They've slipped up, you know?
20:04But you will be found.
20:07Yo, get him.
20:09Hey, Spider.
20:10Get him.
20:12That's good luck. We're gonna get paid now. Come on, let's go.
20:23Coming up.
20:24We're going in one way.
20:26Chris and Sam track down their man.
20:29Mark and Virgil tighten the screw.
20:32If a removal truck comes, it's gonna take 20 minutes.
20:35And Casey and Alex.
20:37Did you see any of those plates?
20:38I'm gonna go out and have a look.
20:39Raise the stakes.
20:40So the keys are there.
20:41The bonus about that is that we can drive it away.
20:44With a multi-million pound company still disputing a rift for £7,000, Virgil is planning to seize their assets.
21:05We've got a few options for removal, and obviously we need to decide which one is more cost-effective.
21:11Inside, his colleague Mark keeps the pressure on, in hope of a payment.
21:15Virgil's speaking to the office to get a removal truck. It's actually coming.
21:20To drag a table from one place to the other, it's gonna take 20 minutes.
21:24If a removal truck comes with another two or three people, you know, it's gonna be very different.
21:31So now at this point, we are either considering getting another two Luton vans and removing everything,
21:39but obviously there's the additional cost for the two Luton vans, plus the storage,
21:43which will be substantial for the amount of items that we're gonna take.
21:46But I'm hoping, I'm hoping that they are gonna talk to us,
21:49because this debt is a really small debt in comparison to such a big multinational company.
21:55You know, and it would be, it would be foolish not to engage at least with us, you know.
22:02After nearly two hours, and the threat of assets being removed, there's a response from the top.
22:08I've been advised that CEO and legal department are in touch with accounts payable, so fingers crossed.
22:16Soon they will get back to us.
22:17I hope so, yeah.
22:18Oh, they're trying to sort it out, so there's no need for removal or anything, no?
22:25But after a further 20-minute wait...
22:27They said they tried to call.
22:29It's this one. I'll call him right now. Call him now.
22:33Virgil takes charge of the situation on a call to one of the company's lawyers.
22:38We got a high correct, as I'm sure you have been made aware.
22:42I do have a copy.
22:43That's it.
22:44My only concern is that I can't identify the claimant if the village isn't a claim.
22:49Yeah.
22:50The name of the claimant should be on it.
22:51The only thing that we are concerned about is obviously enforcement.
22:55If the payment is made, as I'm sure you know, you have a 14-day period in accordance to the Insolvency Act,
23:00in which in these 14 days the money is held, nobody can get it, neither we, neither the claimant.
23:07OK?
23:08Because I was a police officer before, obviously it gave me the skills to talk to people, to negotiate.
23:15Not all the claimants are big companies or big banks, you know, the majority of them are just honest people that suffer the loss.
23:29And we're just trying to help them to get their money back.
23:36Just a phone call, five minute phone call, everything was resolved.
23:39This could have been sold £1,400 cheaper.
23:43Hopefully in the next 10-15 minutes we're going to receive the bank transfer.
23:47At the end of the day when we go to a big business to enforce a high court, we're going for the little guy.
23:55After 3 hours and 10 minutes, it looks like the writ has been enforced.
24:01Hello, it's only me.
24:03Can we confirm the monies hit our bank please?
24:06Bear with me two seconds.
24:08How much am I looking for?
24:10£7,218.81.
24:14Please?
24:15Yeah, so £7,218.81 in the bank.
24:19Thank you, we shall issue a receipt and move on to the next one.
24:22Perfect, thank you very much.
24:23Thanks, bye.
24:24Right.
24:26Yes, Mark?
24:28To my favourite Romanian friend, could you please write a receipt out?
24:32Has it been paid?
24:33It has been paid indeed.
24:35Yep.
24:36Thank you so much. You make a great secretary.
24:38I know.
24:40I just wish they'd just listened to us and paid it the cheaper amount when we first turned up, three hours ago.
24:44He's given us off of a claimant.
24:46End of the day, and he's got his money at his rightly owed.
24:49Let me do it.
24:51Let me do it.
24:52Take care.
24:53Bye.
24:54Bye.
25:02How many times have you been in at that door, Virgil?
25:04How many times?
25:05Mate.
25:06You still get it wrong?
25:08That one. Let's go.
25:09Now, this one deserves a fist bump.
25:19Having already visited one address, agents Sam and Chris are trying to locate a chef, whose company owes money for work carried out by an ad agency.
25:30A bit more homework on the case. We've actually located it to another pub that he's expected to be working at as a chef.
25:39The outstanding amount is around 2,400.
25:43Oh, there he is.
25:44Yeah.
25:45Let's see.
25:46There's a car park somewhere.
25:47Oh, that's nice.
25:50Let's go have a little chat.
25:55One thing about me is I don't give up easy.
25:57We've gone in the wrong way.
25:59So, when you have people that you spend a lot of time, a lot of resources to track down.
26:05I don't think that's weighing, but we can use it, I guess.
26:08Those are the ones that are rewarding once you've actually caught up with them.
26:13With the help of the manager.
26:14Hello.
26:15Hello.
26:16The agents identify the man they're looking for, working in the pub kitchen.
26:21All right, so the reason why we're here to speak to you today, sir, is we've been trying to make contact with you for quite some time
26:26in relation to a company that you are still currently director of.
26:30How do you try to go?
26:31We've been to quite a few different addresses looking for you, and our colleagues as well.
26:36So, the amount of money you owe right now is 2,343.
26:40I haven't got that much money.
26:42Okay.
26:43Is there anyone else that could potentially help you out until you can get that money?
26:47No one.
26:48No?
26:49Do you want to try and make some calls and we'll give you, you know, a few minutes?
26:52Nobody.
26:54Now, once they see their debt has now increased, it could be because they're trying to mislead you
26:59and you're having to, you know, investigate and it's costing you a lot of time and effort.
27:03But, ultimately, before we've turned up, there would have been letters, even from our office, gone out.
27:08So, we then literally just have to act on that writ as we are commanded.
27:12You'll see how it breaks down.
27:13So, we've got here the original debt was just under 1,400 pounds.
27:16Yeah.
27:17Then you've got the compliance stage, but this is all set up by the Ministry of Justice.
27:21As soon as I see they'll be paying a lot more interest.
27:23Their mindset changes straight away.
27:25Now, the man says he has a friend who could help.
27:28Probably what I can do is I can organise the funds and I can sort it out if you don't mind waiting.
27:33I'll tell you what.
27:34So, we're not causing you further distress with your boss because, obviously, I'm concerned
27:37that he might, you know, have issues with this later.
27:40I'm happy to leave you a letter right now.
27:42Yeah.
27:43We'll go away for a couple of hours.
27:44The three of us will talk on the phone.
27:46Yeah.
27:47And then, hopefully, then you can just transfer the funds over.
27:50I didn't know that it's going to come to this level.
27:52So, it's here.
27:53So, I'll deal with it.
27:54Hopefully, it'll be a weight off your shoulders then that this one's gone.
27:58When people are nice to us and honest to us, this is who I am, this is what I'm about,
28:02how do I deal with it?
28:04Anyone who wants to take responsibility, then straight away they're going to see the nice
28:07side of us where we're going to try and work with that guy.
28:09It's probably best to just deal with this matter here and now, to be honest.
28:13I'm glad that he's now saying, look, I understand I need to pay it.
28:16I want to pay it.
28:17We're expecting it to be paid today.
28:19Let's talk in a couple of hours and it will just stop any further interest as well because
28:22there is daily interest that goes on to this.
28:25Two, three, four, three.
28:28What do you cook then?
28:29The last time I was in the telly was the MasterChef Professional.
28:32Really?
28:33Oh.
28:34Fantastic.
28:35So, what do you specialise in the pub?
28:37Look at everything.
28:38You've got a name for yourself.
28:40Yeah.
28:43As soon as that's transferred, give me a call.
28:45My number's on here.
28:46Obviously it's on your phone now and we can get it verified.
28:49I've got your phone number, so don't ignore my call.
28:51Since you ignore my call, then obviously I think you're hiding from me.
28:54All right?
28:55Yeah.
28:57All the best.
28:58See you soon.
29:00He's quite honest with us now.
29:01So, we're giving him the benefit of the doubt and hopefully in the next couple of hours
29:05he'll make a phone call and let us know he's paid it all off and that'll be the end of the
29:09matter.
29:10He was forthcoming.
29:11I think he'll pay.
29:12Do you know what though?
29:13They didn't offer us any lunch though, did they?
29:14Nice burger and a pint with them.
29:15Nice right now.
29:16The agent's trust was rewarded and the man later paid in full.
29:32Agents Alex and Casey are enforcing a high court writ for £56,000.
29:38The money is owed to a customer who says work was paid for but not completed at their home.
29:44Here, Roundstone, swimming pools, has everything listed.
29:47The man they're with says his business was responsible for the debt, but as he's closed
29:52it down, no one is liable to pay the money back.
29:55Pool customers.
29:56There we go.
29:57But the high court writ is in the name of his son's company, which is still trading from
30:03the premises.
30:04Therefore, the agents are proceeding with the enforcement.
30:08Everything's addressed to Mark.
30:09He's the one that built the debt.
30:10I've explained to him and I said he's got to come up with some money.
30:13Well, the vehicle's clamped onto one of them.
30:16He's got a bunch of vehicles listed here.
30:18Did you see any of those plates?
30:20I'm going to go out and have a look.
30:22There is enough stock out there that could help cover a good amount of the money that's
30:27owed to the claimant.
30:28I'm just going to keep looking around.
30:30You're in a position at the moment where they literally will remove everything.
30:34I can only say to you, see if there's an amount of money you can come up with.
30:38I will go to them and say, look, let's do the arrangement.
30:41The only way you're going to buy the time is actually by making a payment.
30:45Casey has found documents showing vehicles parked in the yard belonging to the company named
30:50on the writ.
30:52There's a lot of cars in your name for bankruptcy.
30:54No, they're not in my name.
30:55They're in Roundstone bespoke name.
30:57Oh, all right.
30:58A lot of them say you.
30:59Basically, he's stating that he sold all of his property, which is where his son has
31:04taken over.
31:05And because he's considered himself bankrupt, he believes that this claimant is going to
31:09go on to his insolvency, which isn't going to happen.
31:12So you went bankrupt, you said, and then you worked with your son, but you've managed
31:17to put a lot of things in your name.
31:19No.
31:20Everything was sold.
31:21Sold to him?
31:22Yeah.
31:23Is there actually anything wrong with that or not?
31:25No, it's not that it's wrong with it.
31:27It's just the fact that that's what companies do.
31:29They go bankrupt, they sell stuff to the family, and then they just, but this is why
31:32they've got different rules for different fools, isn't it?
31:34With the man confirming he sold vehicles to his son's company, the one named on the writ,
31:40the agents are in a position to seize and sell them to help recover the money owed.
31:45That vehicle, that Navarra over there, belongs to the defendant company.
31:51So I'm going to seize that as well.
32:00It's seized now, so.
32:01Evening power.
32:17So the keys are there.
32:18So the bonus about that is that we can drive it away.
32:21It's probably going to be worth a good five, five or six thousand.
32:26If the man can't come up with any cash to help his son's company clear the debt.
32:31We've got a 63-plate Navarra seized.
32:33Then the vehicles will be taken away today.
32:37If we don't remove it, then we're going to lose it.
32:42Bastards.
32:43Coming up.
32:44This is actually, you're not setting me up, are you?
32:46No.
32:47Mark and Virgil deliver a surprise writ to a hotel.
32:50Can you believe that?
32:51That guy worked for me for about 20 years.
32:53So, what are we going to do?
32:55And Casey and Alex's patients...
32:57Is he making a phone call to take it?
32:59...finally runs out.
33:00Okay.
33:01Time to take that, sir.
33:14Casey and Alex are trying to get payment of £56,000 from a company that didn't complete the construction of a customer's swimming pool.
33:23Navarra, the van that we're going.
33:26Okay.
33:27They've authorized it.
33:28Okay.
33:29The man maintains that his bankrupt business is responsible for the debt, not his son's company, which is the one named on the writ.
33:36If, if you want the money out of me, you take the truck.
33:40Okay.
33:41That's, that's the deposit for whatever you want.
33:43It's not mine.
33:44I know.
33:45If you take it, you're taking a limited company's van, the truck...
33:49Which is on the, which is on, but it's on the writ.
33:51Yeah, but you're here now, you must be able to look at it and make some sort of judgment and say, actually, I don't think this is right.
33:59We're not here to dispute it.
34:01So far, the man hasn't contacted his son or made any attempt to try and come up with a payment to stop the agents removing the vehicles.
34:10If he's sticking his heels in, he's not paying, we might as well recoup as much as we possibly can for the, for the claimant as possible.
34:17Um, I mean, I'm quite astonished at the moment.
34:20He's just standing there shrugging his shoulders.
34:22He seems to be quite prepared for us to take things.
34:25Is there any change at all?
34:27Uh, I don't really know at the moment.
34:30This is one of those cases where it's a principle for him, but the, the, the district, the district judge and a high court judge have issued the cases and said the company owes that money.
34:39You go bankrupt to get rid of all of your creditors.
34:43So I don't get why all of a sudden one can come out of the blue, take you to the court, bang, bang, bang, and you're here.
34:50You can't go to Sainsbury's, buy a bit of food and then sue Tesco's because they've given you dodgy food.
34:54Okay.
34:55So is your son, are you saying that there's no way that you would even call your son to make any kind of payment?
35:00I will deal with my son when I need to deal with my son.
35:03If you take everything, pretty much guaranteed, you'll be bringing it back.
35:08If you don't win, you're then at another five or six grand on top of what you own.
35:13Well, not being funny.
35:14Yeah.
35:15Okay.
35:16If that's the case, if that's the case, then I will have to bankrupt myself again.
35:22If they don't pay their debts at the stage that we're offering it, it will go up.
35:26It will continue to go up until if there's no more to go up to.
35:29So we take the car, we'll still sell it at auction.
35:31This person has now lost their car and is still in debt.
35:37Right.
35:38Mark, last chance is I have to make the phone call now to be dispatched.
35:43Do you want to get someone to make a payment?
35:46I don't know that I can.
35:48The only way that I can go forward is if you take the truck, you take the van, and that is the money that you want from me.
36:00I have no money to give you.
36:02With reasonable belief that the cars belong to the company on the writ, they can seize and sell them to recover the claimant's cash.
36:10We give you two hours of opportunity to try to figure out if you can make some sort of lump sum, and then we go forward together.
36:16Is he making the phone call to take it, or are we going to find some sort of financial, you know, substitution?
36:21So, what are we going to do? Are you going to make a phone call last time?
36:24I'm going to make one phone call.
36:25It's crunch time. We've gone in the circles, and my patients go on for so long, it's been two hours, but I get to a point where we're trying to help them.
36:34They just don't understand that. We don't want it to increase. We don't want it to go to third stage. We don't want to remove their goods.
36:39We don't want to remove their goods, but just to hold on to principle, I can only hear it so many times.
36:43The decision needs to be made now.
36:46Yeah. Okay.
36:49Okay. No problem.
36:51All right, mate.
36:52Okay. Thank you. Cheers. All right.
36:55Do we know what the...? No good. No good, eh?
36:58No, I, to be honest with you, anybody that has the sort of money that you want, it's all tied up and it's not easily accessible.
37:11If we can quite clearly see that people are just stalling for time, to look at a way as to how that they can evade the matter, then we'll spend less time waiting and more time doing.
37:23With the man saying he can't raise any cash towards the debt...
37:28Hey, you all right?
37:29...Alex calls the towing company.
37:31Well, we'll all go ahead, mate. No worries. See you soon. Bye-bye.
37:36Time's up. The removal's now on their way.
37:40I'm disappointed for him, to be honest with you, that rather than enter into an arrangement and something amicable, he'd rather us take stuff away.
37:53Enforcement agents Mark and Virgil are on their way to a hotel in Hertfordshire.
38:06I'm due a nice weekend away.
38:08Time to wait for the holidays, right?
38:10Not with you. This is my wife.
38:13I know you wanna.
38:15They have a writ for unpaid solicitor fees.
38:19I've been in some hideous hotels.
38:22Last hotel that I've been to up north in Leeds.
38:28And the next day when I came home I had a lot of blisters.
38:32Bed bugs.
38:33Bed bugs, I think.
38:34Oh.
38:35Yeah, it was really nasty.
38:37Today it's the directors of the hotel that are about to be bitten for over one and a half thousand pounds.
38:45Hi there. My name is Virgil. I'm a high court enforcement agent. This is my colleague Mr. Mark. Can we speak to Mrs. or Mr. Shipton?
38:52Do you mind waiting here and I'll go check and see if...
38:55Because they're having like a private function at the minute.
38:58Oh, yeah. That would be better, yeah.
38:59Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem.
39:00Is it exactly what I should say?
39:01We have a high court rate.
39:03Okay, no problem at all.
39:05Nice place.
39:07How you doing?
39:08Hello, sir.
39:09My name is Virgil.
39:10I'm Mark.
39:11I am Mark.
39:12We are high court enforcement agents.
39:13We have a high court rate.
39:14If we can speak to either the directors or the manager or somebody...
39:18Let me show you the high court rate.
39:21Do you know them?
39:22Because I know them.
39:23I know them very well.
39:24Do you?
39:25Yeah.
39:26Oh, right.
39:27I use them as my lawyers.
39:28They obtained a high court rate on the 22nd of November 2021.
39:32The amount that they took it to court was $1,100.
39:36When they went out of the high court, it was $1,322.
39:40Question.
39:41Please.
39:42Yeah.
39:43They need to be paid.
39:44They need to be paid.
39:45Otherwise, we have to move stuff, which we normally do.
39:47And this is not a joke?
39:49No.
39:50100%.
39:51Some jobs don't take long at all.
39:5330 minutes.
39:54Other jobs, whether smoke and mirrors, could take days.
39:59Hi, Kat.
40:01We owe some money.
40:03Can you just send them the money, please?
40:05Sometimes people deal with the situation quickly to solve the problem and obviously to
40:10get rid of us.
40:11The amount outstanding is $1,686, $1,11.
40:12Like the law firm would trade them into court.
40:13Yeah.
40:14It's pretty.
40:15You got the account details?
40:16Really?
40:17So can you send it to them?
40:18A lot of people when we turn up just tell us to go and do one.
40:19But if the defendant wants us out of the property, they usually pay.
40:20Just like that.
40:21Can you believe that?
40:22The partner of this court felt my friend of mine.
40:23Bastards.
40:24This is actually, you're not setting me up, are you?
40:25No.
40:26No.
40:27No.
40:28Nine times out of ten, they do thank us, shake our hands, and we all leave on good terms.
40:33Look at that guy who worked for me for about 20 years.
40:36Fine.
40:37My bit's done.
40:38All that remains is to check the payment has been received.
40:41I'm done.
40:42I'm done.
40:43I'm done.
40:44I'm done.
40:45I'm done.
40:46I'm done.
40:47I'm done.
40:48I'm done.
40:49I'm done.
40:50I'm done.
40:51I'm done.
40:52I'm done.
40:53I'm done.
40:54I'm done.
40:55I'm done.
40:56I'm done.
40:57We don't know.
40:58When the transfer's done, we'll verify it on our own.
40:59Absolutely.
41:00Yeah, there's the thing.
41:01If you've been with your lawyers for that long, you need to get in place with them.
41:05We'll wait over there, okay?
41:07Any luck?
41:08Back for now.
41:09Fair.
41:10There you go, boys.
41:11Can we just go for them if the money's been paid in the bank?
41:13Let me just take a picture of that.
41:14Of course.
41:15Our bank?
41:16Yes.
41:17We've got confirmation in the scene.
41:19Yeah, £1,686.11p is in the bank.
41:22Thank you so much.
41:23Thank you very much.
41:24Take care.
41:25Bye.
41:26Thanks.
41:27Bye.
41:28I've never knocked on the door and the door's opened.
41:30Oh, come on in.
41:31I've been waiting for you.
41:32Come and sit down for a cup of tea.
41:33It never happens.
41:34I'm happy with that.
41:35Okay.
41:36Bye, guys.
41:37But at the end of the day, I'll just go home, speak to a wife, have a glass of wine, and relax.
41:41That's not a place for torpedoes you can't go to.
41:46Yeah, that's right.
41:47We turned up, explained the situation.
41:48They didn't even ask what it was for.
41:50They just wanted it paid for us to get out there as soon as possible.
41:53Yeah.
41:54It was just no love for us.
41:55There's never no love.
41:56Come on.
41:57Let's go.
41:58Claimers worth money.
41:59Not that bad.
42:00Back in Worthing, Casey and Alex are waiting for the tow truck to arrive after seizing vehicles
42:16from a swimming pool construction company that owe 56,000 pounds to a customer.
42:21Coming.
42:22Okay.
42:23I can tighten and take the flaps off.
42:26So, he's going to incur about another 1,000 to 1,500 pounds worth of removal fees from
42:33this company now doing the removal.
42:35So, that will take him up to 62,000, 63,000 just by refusing to pay an amount.
42:40Okay.
42:41That's that one.
42:42Whew.
42:43I just, I despair, really.
42:46The gentlemen are here now to take the vans away.
42:49The van and the Navarro and the Berlingo.
42:52So, all of those won't cover the debt.
42:53But at least we have an opportunity to get some money back for the claimant.
42:58It's a shame.
42:59We tried to help him all we can.
43:00His friends haven't been able to come through with any money for him.
43:02So, now at this point, he's offered these up because he intends to, fully intends to appeal
43:07and believes that he'll win.
43:08That was definitely a very, very long one and tiring one and draining one.
43:15But it's part of our job.
43:18We have to stick it out to the end.
43:19We need to get some form of resolve and we've done it.
43:21I'd have preferred him to come up with a payment and put him in an arrangement.
43:26That would have been a hell of a lot easier all round.
43:28But he was digging his heels in and he wasn't interested.
43:31So, at the end of the day, we've taken the goods away as a deposit.
43:36And that's a good result.
43:42Hey, bro.
43:43And away we go.
43:44You're covered in mud.
43:45I know.
43:46You need a bath.
43:47The company later lodged an appeal against the judgment.
43:52And a court date has been set to hear their case.
44:06Next time.
44:07Oh, wow.
44:08Chris and Mark try to draw two million pounds.
44:10Seems a little unfair to me.
44:12From an art dealer.
44:13You can start removing.
44:15Excellent stuff.
44:16Sherry and David chase 8,000 pounds for a missing car.
44:19You said you were going to ring your mark on a pile.
44:22And Casey and Alex try to recover 3,000 pounds.
44:26Your scum.
44:28For a family-run builders merchant.
44:30We're just going to talk.
44:31That's enough.
44:32That's enough.
44:33That's enough.
44:34That's enough.
44:35That's enough.
44:36That's enough.
44:37For a family-run Hae vo Braith guard.
44:53That was your town and a love finding.
44:55That's enough.
44:56That's enough.
44:57That's enough.
44:58That's enough.
44:59That's enough.
45:00That was that.