What are Tenancy Deposit Claims?  

Within a tenancy agreement, it will state that a tenant needs to pay the landlord a specified deposit. However, the landlord cannot treat this deposit as income.

When you pay your deposit, a landlord is required to protect it. The government has set up tenancy deposit protection schemes to facilitate this. Within the prescribed information for the tenancy, the scheme which is being used for deposit protection should be stated.

When landlords fail to protect your deposit within 30 days of receiving the deposit, they could be liable to pay the tenant a sum 1 to 3 times the amount of the original payment.

Moreover, it should be noted that they will be liable to pay this sum for every breach of this rule. Thus, if you have renewed your tenancy with a landlord three times, and they have breached this rule every time, every time that the landlord failed to protect the deposit will be treated separately. 

Landlords and tenants require a degree of trust in their relationship. If this trust has been broken by the landlord failing to comply with the tenancy deposit rules, you should start your claim via your local county court and claim compensation.

Tenancy Deposit Protection

If you have paid a deposit to your landlord in an assured shorthold tenancy, they will be required to protect the deposit in one of the following government-approved Tenancy Deposit Schemes:

Deposit Protection Service (DPS)

The DPS offers both a custodial scheme (where they hold the deposit for free) and an insured scheme (where the landlord holds the deposit but pays a fee for protection).

MyDeposits

MyDeposits offers both custodial and insured options. This scheme is available for landlords and letting agents who want to protect their tenants’ deposits.

Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)

The TDS also provides both custodial and insured schemes. This is a popular choice among letting agents and landlords for tenancy deposit protection.

Landlords must protect deposits within 30 days of receiving them and provide tenants with prescribed information about where their deposit is protected. If the deposit is not protected, a tenancy deposit compensation claim can be made. Tenants may claim up to three times the amount of the deposit.

Legal Costs in Tenancy Deposit Claims

Some solicitors will assist in making claims for tenancy deposit compensation on a no win no fee basis, meaning they will recover a small fee from the Claimant if their case is successful, as well as some of their costs from the opponent if successful.

Litigants in persons and Solicitors will be entitled to recover their costs for tenancy deposit claims from the Defendant, if they are successful. In most cases, the losing party pays the costs of the winning party.

How can ARC Costs Assist with Tenancy Deposit Claims Costs?

ARC Costs also maintain an extensive legal network of tenancy deposit solicitors. We would be happy to pass on your details so that they can assist with your case.

Our team of costs experts can assist in a variety of costs law disputes, including tenancy deposit claim costs. As independent experts, we can represent either Paying or Receiving Parties.

Our team are able to produce various costing instruments, such as Bills of Costs, Costs Budgets, Points of Dispute and Reply. Following the production of the Bill, our Costs Draftsmen or Costs Lawyers can guide you through the remainder of the Detailed Assessment process, advocating for you in Court if necessary and negotiating costs where possible.

If you require advice on recovering costs for a Tenancy Deposit Claim, please get in touch on 01204 397302 or via email at info@arccosts.co.uk. 

We may receive payments from third party solicitors on our panel to whom we may refer your claim. We will never charge you for any referrals made to our panel of third parties.

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