Was your tenancy deposit protected properly?
If you paid a tenancy deposit to a private landlord or letting agent, there are rules about how that deposit must be handled.
In many cases, your deposit should have been placed into a government-backed tenancy deposit protection scheme within 30 days of being received, and you should also have been given the required information about where and how it was protected.
If those rules were not followed, you may be able to claim compensation.
A court can order a landlord to pay between one and three times the value of the deposit, depending on the circumstances.
You may have a claim if:
- Your deposit was never protected
- Your deposit was protected late
- You were not given the required deposit information within the correct timeframe
- Your deposit was not kept protected throughout the tenancy
- You are unsure whether the landlord or letting agent followed the rules
You do not need to know which deposit scheme was used before asking for help.
Which tenancy deposit schemes are approved?
The main government-backed tenancy deposit schemes include:
- Deposit Protection Service
- Tenancy Deposit Scheme
- MyDeposits
If you are unsure whether your deposit was protected, this can usually be checked as part of the assessment. GOV.UK also provides information on the approved schemes and what landlords are required to do.
How much compensation could you receive?
If the court finds that the tenancy deposit rules were not followed, it may order the landlord to pay compensation of between one and three times the value of the deposit.
For example, if your deposit was £1,000, the potential award could range from £1,000 to £3,000.
The amount is not automatic and depends on the facts of the case, so we would never promise a particular outcome before the circumstances have been properly reviewed.
Do you still need to be living at the property?
Not necessarily.
Some tenancy deposit claims can still be considered after the tenancy has ended, so former tenants should not automatically assume it is too late.
The important thing is whether the landlord or letting agent complied with the deposit protection requirements that applied to the tenancy.
What information will we need?
To carry out an initial assessment, it helps if you can provide:
- Your full name
- The address of the rented property
- The amount of the deposit
- When the deposit was paid
- The name of the landlord or letting agent
- Approximate tenancy start and end dates
- Whether you remember receiving any deposit protection paperwork
- Any tenancy agreement, emails or messages you still have
Do not worry if you do not have everything. We can still look at the information you do have and explain the next step.
What happens after you contact us?
The process starts with a simple eligibility check.
We review the basic tenancy and deposit details and, where appropriate, explain whether there appears to be a potential tenancy deposit claim.
If the case is suitable to progress, you will be told what information or documents are needed next and how the process works before anything moves forward.
What if my landlord has kept part of my deposit?
A dispute about deductions from a properly protected deposit is different from a claim that the deposit protection rules were broken.
The approved tenancy deposit schemes provide free dispute resolution where tenants and landlords disagree about deductions from a protected deposit.
This page is primarily about situations where the landlord or letting agent may have failed to comply with the deposit protection requirements themselves.
Think your tenancy deposit may not have been protected properly?
It costs nothing to check your circumstances.
Complete the short form below and we can review the basic details of your tenancy and deposit.
You may be able to claim compensation of up to three times the value of your deposit if the tenancy deposit rules were not followed.
Check your tenancy deposit
Complete the short form below. It only takes a couple of minutes and gives us the information we need to carry out an initial assessment.