Tenancy Deposit Protection Claim FAQs

FAQ 1

How to check your tenancy deposit is protected

You can check online if your deposit is in protection by an approved scheme. To check if your landlord has done this, you need the basic details of your tenancy (e.g., postcode, start & end date, the deposit amount you paid)

There are three government schemes that landlords can use to protect your deposit. You can check all 3 of the following websites:

• My Deposits
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme
• Deposit Protection Service

If your landlord did not protect your deposit in one of the government-backed deposit protection schemes listed above, this entitles you to make a claim compensation and your deposit back.

You can instruct our team of tenancy deposit solicitors to act for you.

We will send your landlord a letter of claim and make a start in getting your compensation and deposit back.

To make a tenancy deposit claim against your landlord that has failed to protect it.

You will need a copy of your Tenancy Agreement. If you do not have a copy of the agreement, you can send us the general details of your tenancy, such as:

• The full address
• Dates of your tenancy
• The deposit you paid

You can check the schemes to see if your deposit was protected or use our online form, and we will run a free exhaustive check for you.

To make your tenancy deposit claim, we will ask that you provide us with:

• Any text messages, emails and correspondence with the landlord regarding your tenancy
• Proof of payment of the deposit

You must be able to provide evidence that you paid the deposit or part of it. However, we will consider claims on a case by case basis.

You can claim between 1-3x the value of your deposit plus the return of any deposit you have paid.

Furthermore, for each rule your landlord has breached, you can claim up to 3x the value of your deposit.

So, for example, if you have a 12-month tenancy agreement (assured shorthold tenancy) and you remain after the expiry of the fixed term, as a result, you enter a new tenancy agreement (statutory periodic tenancy). This change in the tenancy agreement, therefore, results in a further breach if your deposit remains unprotected.

If your landlord then provides you with a further tenancy agreement to sign but continues to fail to protect the deposit, this will be another breach.

An average tenancy deposit claim can take 3-6 months. However, it depends on your landlord, their response (if any), and whether there is an out-of-court settlement or not.

If the matter goes to a court hearing, the court will order your landlord to pay within 14-28 days.

However, we have settled some claims in as little as 2-weeks!

You will only be required to attend if the tenancy deposit claim does not settle and the court lists the matter for a final hearing and if the court orders it.

The court will only order you to attend because they may wish to ask you to confirm what happened.

In that instance, You will always have someone there for you, and unlike what you see on TV – it is held in a small courtroom, where you will be asked in person to confirm the evidence you have already given in your witness statement.

However, in our experience and recent cases – ONLY around 15% of cases go to a final hearing, with most settling before.

Using a solicitor to run a tenancy deposit claim on a no-win-no-fee basis means you will never have to pay any costs if your claim is unsuccessful.

In the likely chance that your claim is successful, we will only deduct a percentage from the total amount awarded to you (capped at 25%) to cover our success fee. Therefore, you will always get at least 75% of any compensation with nothing to pay upfront!

E.g. If you are awarded a total of £3000 – we would only deduct £750 of this*.

Your landlord must provide you with a Tenancy Deposit Certificate showing which of the three government tenancy deposit schemes they have used to protect your deposit at the start of your tenancy.

If your landlord did not provide a Tenancy Deposit Certificate or any information about the scheme your deposit is protected in, it is likely not protected.

Your landlord must also protect your deposit within 30 days of your tenancy start date. If your landlord did not do so within 30 days, you still have a claim, even if they have protected it.

For example, if your landlord protected your deposit 40 days after you paid it to them, you still have a claim. In this situation, you will likely get between 1-2 times the penalty plus the return of any deposit – As opposed to the maximum penalty (3x the value of the deposit).

You can make a tenancy deposit claim if you are still living in the property, or you can wait until you have moved out. Once you have moved out, you can claim against your landlord up to 6 years after paying the first deposit.

If you prefer to leave the claim until you have moved out of the property, you can use our online form so we can run all the checks we need and hold your evidence on file until you are ready to proceed.

Your landlord or the lettings agent is legally responsible for protecting your tenancy deposit. Tenants are not responsible for protecting the tenancy deposit you have paid them.

The penalty for a landlord who has not protected a tenancy deposit and failed to provide the prescribed information leaves them liable to pay their tenant.

If a person named on the tenancy agreement does not want to claim, following the civil procedure rules, we can apply to the court for permission to proceed without them.

It would be better if all names tenants claimed, but we understand that some people may not want to make a claim, or you may no longer be in touch with them.