Tenancy deposit protection schemes and deposit refund disputes

Ask Tenants blog

Tenancy deposit protection schemes and deposit refund disputes

In this blog we will cover tenancy deposit schemes and deposit refund disputes. Together they should give you good idea on how deposit protection and refund works. We will finish with external links which give in depth information which is not possible to cover in this blog.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes and your deposit.

Your landlord must put your deposit in a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme (TDP) if you rent your home on an assured short hold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007.

Once your deposit is received your landlord has to tell you within 30 days:

1)      How your deposit is protected.

2)      How much deposit you have paid.

3)      The name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme and its dispute resolution service

4)      How to apply to get the deposit back

5)      What to do if there’s a dispute over the deposit

6)      What to do if you can’t get hold of the landlord at the end of the tenancy

Landlord has choice of 3 schemes to use for deposit protection:

Capita Tenancy Deposit Service also provided a scheme for a short period, but stopped accepting new deposits in September 2013. Any deposits held by Capita have been moved to MyDeposits.

How do I check if you deposit is protected?

All the tenancy deposit protection schemes allow you to check online if your tenancy deposit is protected in their scheme. Alternatively, you can contact the schemes direct and ask.

A court can order your landlord to pay you compensation if you are an assured short hold tenant and your landlord:

1)      Fails to protect your deposit in a government-backed scheme.

2)      Doesn’t give you the required information about the scheme being used.

3)      Takes too long to protect your deposit or give you the required information.

Your landlord can be fined and it can be more difficult for them to end your tenancy. If your landlord did not provide you  prescribed information giving details of which scheme your deposit is protected, chances are that it is not protected.

Our sponsors checkmydeposit.co.uk help tenants to claim compensation from landlords who put their rental deposits at risk by not protecting it. You could claim up to 3x your deposit in compensation, even if you’ve had your deposit returned. Claims can be made on tenancy agreements dating back up to six years. They will only ever charge you if your claim is successful, so there’s no financial risk. Please speak to Sarah Markham @ 0203 621 1488 or drop her a line at claim@checkmydeposit.co.uk. We have met Sarah personally before agreeing the sponsorship and highly recommend her.

Getting your deposit back

You can apply to your local county court if you think your landlord hasn’t used a TDP scheme when they should have.

Get legal advice before applying to court.

If the court finds your landlord hasn’t protected your deposit, it can order the person holding the deposit to either:

a)      Repay it to you

b)      Pay it into a custodial TDP scheme’s bank account within 14 days

The court may also order the landlord to pay you up to 3 times the deposit within 14 days of making the order.

Deposit refund Disputes

Your Landlord does have a right to make deductions for your deposit to cover for damage to the property, pay for unpaid rent or pay for cleaning. Your Landlord should not make deductions for normal wear and tear example a worn out carpet is wear and tear but carpet with black ink spots is a damage.

Wear and Tear takes makes an allowance for:

  1. The original age, quality and condition of any item at commencement of the tenancy
  2. The average useful lifespan to value ratio (depreciation) of the item
  3. The reasonable expected usage of such an item
  4. The number and type of occupants in the property
  5. The length of the tenant’s occupancy

The best way to avoid disputes is to agree an inventory with the landlord. Your landlord or their agents should supply you with an inventory. Ask for one if they haven’t done so.  Being vigilant during the inventory is difficult as most tenants are concentrating on the move but not taking inventory seriously can cause issues with the refund process. You must check the inventory list before signing.

You can make an inventory yourself if your landlord or agent won’t provide one. Ask an independent witness (for example, someone who doesn’t live in the property) to sign it. You should then send a copy to the landlord. It also helps if you take photos of the property (especially any existing damage) when you first move in.

Photos (especially existing damage which is not mentioned on the inventory) should be immediately sent to the Landlord by email or recorded post. Please do not forget to retain copies of emails or proof of delivery if they were sent by post. Please ensure you have correct email/postal address for the Landlord, copy the estate agent for information.

Cleaning being the most common dispute you must ask the Landlord/Agent what type of cleaning was done before you moved in and ensure the contract does not make you liable to pay for making the property cleaner than when you moved in, example when you moved into a property carpets and house were cleaned by domestic cleaner – you should ensure that your contract does not ask for professional cleaning as there can be big cost difference between the two types of cleaning.

What are the options if i cannot resolve disagreement with landlord on Deposit refund disputes?

There are options available to resolve disputes, and they are explained clearly by shelter on this page. http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_deposits/getting_your_deposit_back/court_action_to_get_a_tenancy_deposit_returned. We recommend to read this page carefully while considering your options.

External resources by topic:

Deposit protection schemes:

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/information-landlords-must-give-tenants

Move in Inventory and templates of inventory lists:

The Tenancy Inventory Check

Wear and Tear:

http://www.arla.co.uk/info-guides/property-guides/deposit-protection-guide/wear-and-tear.aspx

Deposit Refund disputes claims and templates of ‘letter before action’:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_deposits/getting_your_deposit_back/court_action_to_get_a_tenancy_deposit_returned

 

February 13, 2016 / by shajinew

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  1. DE
    deliandiana January 23rd, 2016 - 11:18pm

    Hello everyone. In the room that me and my husband rented mold is a big issue. We have it underneath the wallpaper, around the window, on top of the ceiling. When we moved in we didn’t take any pictures of it as our live in landlady was on top of the table cleaning the mold. But it appeared again and again and all we could do is cleaning it every few months. She knows it and she refuses to repair it as apparently is a problem with one of the windows that need to be changed so she said until then she can’t deal with it. On top of it we bought a dehumidifier, spend £80 on it and we can’t use it as she doesn’t agree. Just open the windows and that’s it. Most of all we have heat only when she’s home or her husband is home and during the night central heating starts max 2 times even if it’s cold like in past few days. We slept with hoodies on….anyway not having a proper temperature in room helps mold spreading. The thing is that we want to move out in March and i want to prepare myself in case she doesn’t give me back my deposit. She had already 2 couples that left the house and after they left she invented reasons for not giving deposit back…didn’t receive any documents about my security deposit but i do have an inventory where is nothing written about molded walls. What can i do in this case? Thank you

  2. AS
    Asktenants.co.uk January 25th, 2016 - 1:37am

    Thanks for your question – I am not a lawyer so cannot give legal advice.

    Mold is a tricky situation where tenant or landlord both could be he held responsible. Landlord is responsible for structural defects and if mold is caused by structural defect (seems to be window in this case) Landlord should be generally responsible. However, it is upto the tenant to prove that mold is actually caused by a structural defect.This can be done by getting independent surveyor confirm that mold is due to a structural defect.

    Our facebook post https://www.facebook.com/Asktenants/posts/1074118982607170 has a sound clip of LBC’s resident Barrister Daniel Barnett talks about who can be held responsible for mold.