TENANCY DEPOSIT CLAIMS

Every residential landlord who takes a deposit from a tenant is legally required to protect that deposit with one of three government approved tenancy deposit protection schemes, these being:

• Deposit Protection Service Surprisingly easy deposit protection.
• My Deposits mydeposits tenancy deposit protection | mydeposits.co.uk.
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme Tenancy Deposit Scheme – Offering government backed deposit protection services across the UK.

This is to stop landlords from using the deposit as income and to ensure that the deposit is protected so when it comes to the end of the tenancy the tenant can recover their deposit.

If the landlord fails to register the deposit with one of the three tenancy deposit schemes, or if the landlord fails to inform the tenant where the deposit has been protected, within 30 days then the landlord will be liable for a financial penalty of up to three times the amount of the deposit for each breach.

If you are unsure as to whether your deposit has been protected, you can contact the above approved tenancy deposit protection schemes. All you need to provide is your postcode, the tenancy start date, the deposit amount, and your surname.

You can enter your details on each website, and it will then provide you with a search result. The search result will either indicate that the deposit has been protected or it will provide a negative result. If you receive a negative result, it is more than likely that your landlord has not protected your deposit.

Even if you receive a positive result, check the date when the deposit was protected. If the deposit was protected more than 30 days after the deposit was paid you may still have a claim.

Should you have a tenancy deposit claim, you can claim up to three times the amount of the deposit for each breach. The exact amount is dependent upon a number of factors including:

• Whether you have entered into several tenancy agreements with the landlord. For instance, you may have occupied the property for a number of years and entered into a new tenancy each year.
• Whether your landlord is a ‘professional landlord’. If your landlord has multiple properties and the letting of property is their main (or at least substantial) business activity, then they will be treated as a professional landlord.
• Whether the landlord did protect your deposit, but it was protected late. Your landlord may have simply overlooked protecting your deposit and it was an innocent mistake. In such cases the amount of compensation is likely to be less compared to if your landlord did not protect it at all.

Birch Law work on a no win no fee basis, meaning if your case is unsuccessful, you will pay nothing at all. There are no hidden costs or charges. Our costs will be deducted from the monies we recover for you when successful.