Alex M Adamson: what a letter means and what to do
Alex M Adamson (AMA) is a firm of sheriff officers and messengers-at-arms based in Falkirk. It collects council tax and other debts, and enforces summary warrants and court decrees in Scotland using diligence such as charges for payment and arrestments, not English bailiff rules.
A letter from Alex M Adamson (often shortened to AMA) usually means a council already has a summary warrant for unpaid council tax, or a creditor has a court decree, so sheriff officers can move on to diligence (Scottish enforcement) without going back to court. You still have options, and the most important time to act is the 14 days after a charge for payment. This page covers Scotland. For the general rules, see what sheriff officers can do in Scotland.
Who are Alex M Adamson?
Alex M Adamson is registered at Companies House as ALEX M ADAMSON LLP, registration number SO300824. It is an active limited liability partnership, registered on 16 February 2006, with its registered office in Falkirk. It has two designated members, who are also listed as the people with significant control.
The firm says it was founded in 1960, when the business of a Falkirk sheriff officer called Alex M Adamson was bought after his death and kept his name. It has been run by the same family since. It describes three main areas of work: citation and diligence, revenue management for councils, and debt collection, with tracing and investigation alongside.
The Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers (SMASO) lists Alex M Adamson with offices in Falkirk, Livingston and Stirling, and six officers, five of whom are also messengers-at-arms. The firm’s own site names Falkirk as its head office and also lists Edinburgh, Greenock and Kirkcaldy among its locations.
Who regulates Alex M Adamson?
Sheriff officers are officers of court, employed by private firms. Each is commissioned by a sheriff principal, the Court of Session regulates them, and all must belong to SMASO, which has no disciplinary powers over them. The Enforcement Conduct Board and CIVEA, which cover bailiff firms in England and Wales, do not list Alex M Adamson.
Alex M Adamson LLP has been authorised by the FCA since 29 February 2016, firm reference number 729350. The firm says this is for collecting consumer credit debts, and that it is a member of the Credit Services Association, a trade body for debt collectors, and is bound by its code of practice.
Why are Alex M Adamson contacting you?
Alex M Adamson says it has long experience of collecting council tax and non-domestic rates for local authorities. Its council tax FAQs point readers to West Lothian, Falkirk, Stirling and Inverclyde councils for bills, discounts and council tax reduction. It also collects debts for businesses, and serves and enforces court documents for solicitors and other creditors.
Your letter will usually be one of these:
- A summary warrant letter for council tax. AMA’s FAQs explain the council process: if you miss an instalment, the council sends a reminder giving you 7 days to catch up, and if you do not, it can apply for a summary warrant. Once the warrant is granted, a 10% surcharge is added and you lose the right to pay the council by instalments. No court hearing is needed. AMA notes that diligence can go ahead even if you never received a letter about the warrant.
- A charge for payment. A formal demand served by a sheriff officer at your home or business. It gives you 14 days to pay if you are in the UK. AMA says it serves a Debt Advice and Information Package with the charge.
- A debt collection letter for a business or other creditor, before any court action. At this stage nobody can arrest your wages or take goods.
- Court papers, such as a simple procedure claim form. Respond by the date on it and get advice quickly.
For more on the council side of this, see council tax arrears.
Is the debt yours, and is it right?
Check the name, address, creditor, reference number and amount. For council tax, ask the council which years and amounts the summary warrant covers. AMA says that if you have applied for council tax reduction that has not yet been applied, it will keep collecting until the council tells it otherwise, so chase the council about your claim.
For a credit card or loan that has not been to court, you can ask the creditor for a copy of the agreement under section 77 or 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which applies across the UK. See how to ask a creditor to prove a debt. Most debts in Scotland are extinguished after 5 years without a relevant claim or acknowledgement, but a court decree lasts 20 years.
What can Alex M Adamson do, and what can they not do?
Scotland has no bailiffs, no notice of enforcement and no Taking Control of Goods fee scale. AMA’s FAQs describe the diligences available after a charge: earnings arrestment, bank arrestment, attachment and exceptional attachment.
Check the figures you read. At the time we checked, AMA’s FAQ page still gave the bank arrestment protected amount as £415 and said a creditor must be owed £3,000 to petition for sequestration. The law now protects £1,000, and a creditor must be owed £5,000.
After the charge for payment
The charge stays in force for 2 years. If the 14 days pass without payment, you become “apparently insolvent” in law, which a creditor owed £5,000 or more can use to apply to make you bankrupt (sequestration). It does not mean you are bankrupt.
Earnings arrestment
An earnings arrestment tells your employer to take money from your wages every payday until the debt is paid or you leave the job. The amount comes from statutory tables: nothing is taken if your net pay is £750 a month or less, and the share taken rises in bands above that. Only one earnings arrestment can run against the same wages at a time. A second creditor has to apply for a conjoined arrestment order, which shares one deduction between them.
Bank arrestment
A bank arrestment freezes money in your account above a protected amount. The first £1,000 is protected, and the frozen money is released to the creditor 14 weeks after the arrestment is served unless something stops it. You can apply to the sheriff to have arrested funds released. AMA says that on a summary warrant a charge is served before a bank arrestment, and that if more has been frozen than you owe, you can contact the officer to arrange an earlier release of the excess.
Attachment and entry
Sheriff officers can attach items kept outside your home, such as a car or things in a garage, but a vehicle you reasonably need worth up to £1,000 and tools of your trade up to £1,000 are protected. Goods inside your home can only be attached under an exceptional attachment order. The creditor has to apply to the sheriff, who must be satisfied there are exceptional circumstances and must consider things such as whether you have had money advice. AMA says you will be told of the court hearing, which is your chance to put your side and offer payment.
Entry rules are different from England. mygov.scot says that where sheriff officers hold a warrant for all lawful execution, they can use necessary reasonable force to get in. Do not rely on the English rule that bailiffs can only come in peacefully.
Fees
Sheriff officers’ fees are set by the Court of Session, not by the firm, and are added to what you owe. A new fees Act of Sederunt, with a unit-based model, applies to work done from 25 September 2026. AMA says the fees most often added are for a charge, an earnings arrestment or a bank arrestment. For council tax, a sheriff officer cannot charge you a fee just for collecting your payments and passing them to the council. Ask for a breakdown of any fees on your account.
What should you do at each stage?
When you get a summary warrant letter
Contact AMA straight away, using the details on your letter, and make an offer you can keep up. AMA says its staff are trained to take individual circumstances into account, and that if you are on benefits you should check with the council that deductions from benefits are being made for the current year’s council tax. Get any arrangement confirmed in writing.
When you get a charge for payment
Act within the 14 days. You can pay, agree an arrangement, or ask the sheriff court for a time to pay order for most debts under £25,000. Tax debts owed to HMRC are among those excluded. If granted, it stops further diligence while you keep to it.
If your wages or bank account have been arrested
Get money advice the same day if you can. A bank arrestment runs to its 14-week release date whether or not you act.
Is this letter really from Alex M Adamson?
- Use the contact details on your own paperwork, or on the council’s or creditor’s official website. The council can confirm whether it has passed your account to AMA.
- Do not rely on a number from a search result, or one given in an unexpected text, email or call. This page deliberately does not list the firm’s contact details.
- A genuine charge for payment is served by a sheriff officer at your home or business, and comes with a Debt Advice and Information Package.
- Be wary of anyone pushing you to pay at once into an account you do not recognise.
How do debt solutions in Scotland affect Alex M Adamson?
Scotland has its own debt solutions. IVAs, debt relief orders and Breathing Space are not available: see can you get an IVA if you live in Scotland?.
- Moratorium on diligence: a money adviser can apply for 6 months of protection from creditor enforcement, usable once every 12 months.
- Debt Arrangement Scheme: a Debt Payment Programme repays debts in full over time. AMA’s own guidance notes that no diligence can be carried out while a programme is in force. Setting one up through a DAS-approved adviser is free.
- Protected Trust Deed: a trust deed usually lasts 48 months, needs debts of at least £5,000, and deals with the debts included once it is protected.
- Bankruptcy: sequestration costs £150 to apply for (some people pay nothing), and the Minimal Asset Process has no fee for people with low income and assets.
Each has costs, conditions and long-term effects on your credit file. Debt solutions in Scotland compares them.
Not sure which option fits? Answer a few questions and we can point you in the right direction. It takes about 3 minutes, and it is free and confidential.
How do you complain about Alex M Adamson?
- Complain to AMA. It suggests raising a concern informally first. For a formal complaint, its grievances section sends a written acknowledgement within 24 business hours and a detailed response within 5 business days, and may copy the complaint and response to its client. If you are still unhappy, it says it will tell you which outside body to go to.
- Escalate conduct complaints. mygov.scot lists SMASO and the sheriff principal, through your local sheriff court, for complaints about a sheriff officer.
- Complain to the council or creditor. For a council, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is the final stage.
- Consumer credit debts. Because AMA is FCA authorised, a complaint about how it collected a consumer credit debt can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service if AMA does not resolve it.
Our guide to dealing with debt collectors covers your rights when a firm is only collecting a debt.
What to do next
- Work out what stage you are at: a summary warrant letter, a charge for payment or an arrestment. Note the dates.
- Contact AMA or the council, using official contact details, with an offer you can afford. Keep copies of everything.
- Get free money advice. MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice Scotland and National Debtline all help people in Scotland, and an adviser can apply for a moratorium. See where to get free debt advice.
Common questions
Are Alex M Adamson bailiffs?
Not in the English sense. Alex M Adamson employs sheriff officers and messengers-at-arms, who are officers of the Scottish courts. The English bailiff rules on notices of enforcement, fees and entry do not apply in Scotland.
Why has 10% been added to my council tax?
When a council gets a summary warrant for unpaid council tax, the law adds a 10% surcharge to the arrears. Alex M Adamson cannot change it. Sheriff officer fees can be added on top if diligence is needed.
Can Alex M Adamson arrest my wages if another creditor already is?
Normally only one earnings arrestment runs at a time. A second creditor has to ask the sheriff for a conjoined arrestment order, which replaces the separate arrestments with one deduction shared between the creditors.
Can I pay Alex M Adamson in instalments?
Often, yes. Alex M Adamson says each firm of sheriff officers has its own approach to instalments and that you should contact it with an offer. If you do not make an offer, or an arrangement is not kept, it will move on to diligence.
Is Alex M Adamson regulated by the FCA?
Yes. Alex M Adamson LLP has been authorised by the FCA since 29 February 2016, firm reference number 729350. It says this covers collecting consumer credit debts. Its court work as sheriff officers is overseen by the courts.
Related guides
- What can sheriff officers do in Scotland? Charges for payment, arrestments, attachment, entry rules and how to stop enforcement in Scotland.
- Walker Love: what a letter means and what to do Who Walker Love are, summary warrants, charges for payment, arrestments in Scotland and how to complain.
- Debt solutions in Scotland Trust deeds, DAS, sequestration, the Minimal Asset Process and the 6-month moratorium explained.
- Council tax arrears: what happens and what to do How councils recover arrears in each part of the UK, and how council tax fits with your other debts.