sorry I don't think that I was clear enough to begin with... The fact that the deposit wasnt and cannot be protected is of little concern to me; the problem I'm having is actually getting the deposit back from the landlord, since it wasnt put into a scheme i cannot go through a scheme to get it back so i assume this would be the old fashioned way. Would the procedure to do this be a letter of intent to the landlord followed by a claim at moneyclaim.gov.uk? cheers mark

Just wondering what people's views are and what route I should take... I Signed a one year short-hold assured tenancy in October 2007, the deposit paid was £3300 and rent totalled £2380pcm. I have subsequently found out that the deposit wasnt protected by any scheme and that because the annual rent was greater than £25000pa it shouldnt be protected. however, in the contract signed it stipulated that this deposit should be protected. Also, the landlady never completed a inventory at check-in and both parties never signed anything at check-out. Five weeks after the end of the tenancy the landlady is refusing to return the deposit claiming that the house wasnt returned in an acceptable state, yet not providing an estimate for said repairs! What would be the process for claiming our deposit back? So far emails, letters and phonecalls to all have been unanswered!