I enquired when I spoke to a couple of the DPS people and they said that realistically a landlord should not be able to submit the deposit, however if they do it online it is automated and there is no way of the system knowing the tenancy has ended. So they can easily slip the net. Helpful, eh?

Hi Kentish Lass, thanks for the reply. When you speak of hefty legal costs, what do you mean by hefty?! lol. Do you have a ballpark figure? Sorry I have never had any dealing with courts before. The deposit is £900, therefore overall claim would be for (£900 + (3x£900)) = £3600 Do I not worry about the interest? Im really not fussed about it, but if it is usual practice to add it on, I dont want to make myself look like an amateur straight off. Also, do I add the legal costs into the claim price or do they court automatically add it on when there is a verdict? Thanks again.

Hi All, I have read through lots and lots of forum posts on the DPS system and non-compliance of it. I am much more aware of my options and the law behind it all, however I am not 100% sure on a few things, so wondered if people with previous experience or knowledge could point me in the right direction if I am wrong on anything? It's a very long post, but I appreciate peoples patience. I think there are 2 issues here: 1. Non compliance of the DPS 2. Dispute of deposit for damages I have recently ended my tenancy, I had a ASHT for 6 months and then went onto a rolling monthly contract. All in all I was in the property for 11 months. The tenancy began a long time after the DPS come into play. I was fairly sure my deposit had not been registered with any of the DPS's however did not know I could sue for non-compliance. It is only now that I have left and there are issues with getting the deposit back that I have found this out. I have spoken to all 3 DPS's and they have all confirmed my deposit is not held with them. I have emailed confirmation, do I need written confirmation? Or are emails acceptable? My LA is holding the deposit, claiming the LL wants to inspect the property before the deposit is released back to me. The LA inspected the property with me upon leaving and collected the keys back and took final meter readings. He then arranged for the LL to go with him for an inspection, the LL has cancelled 3 different appointments and as far as I am aware is still to complete the inspection. Although I know the LL maintenance chap has been into the property to begin doing work to make it ready for the next tenants. The LA has told the LL that there is damage to the property caused by us, (ie a broken double glazed window), however this damage was caused by the previous tenants. Hence the reason the LL will not authorise the release of the deposit without inspecting it themselves. They are claiming that they inspected the property before we entered, however I know this is not true, just can't prove it. I do not know who actually holds the deposit, the LA or the LL? I paid the deposit to the LA and have a receipt from the LA, so I assume it is them I should be hounding? Or sueing if it goes that far? Also, is the LL allowed to send somebody in to begin work on the property, if she is disputing that there is damage we caused? The property itself is in quite a state of disrepair, however it is an old farmhouse and they generally are. We have never hounded the LL to repair things, we tend to have dealt with it ourself as it seemed quicker an easier to do so. When we moved in, no opening inventory or check in was completed, niavely we did not request for one to be done either. Upon leaving, obvisouly no closing inventory has been completed, not that there would be anything to check against anyway! My understanding is that I should put in a claim for non-compliance of the DPS. Completing a form N208, which would be for the original deposit amount in full, 3x the deposit value, the cost of filing the claim and interest on the deposit amount from the date it was due back to us. What rate should I charge the interest at? When is the deposit due back to us, is it due back from the day we handed back the keys? Or is there a waiting period of a set amount if days? Are there any other forms to complete (I have see an application questionaire mentioned a few times). Do I have to wait a set period of time before I send a LBA to the LL, is 14 days enough time to demand repayment of my deposit. Or I issue the court claim? I understand if the LL feels strongly that we are to blame for the damage then they may submit a counterclaim, however without an inventories to speak of I believe this would not be granted as there is no proof that the damage was not there went we took pocession of the property. I have taken LOTS of photos of the property. Every damp patch, every rotten floor board, every leaky pipe. We have never seen an electrical certificates for the appliances in the property, however it was taken as unfurnished so I assume that would only apply to the showers and boiler as they are fixed appliances. If upon writing to the LL, they go ahead and submit the deposit to the DPS does that invalidate my court claim? Does it then become a grey area and therefore I should not submit that claim as I risk losing my court fees? Should I just take the money and run? If the money does get submitted to the DPS, I will feel happier. At least there is an independant person acting on neither parties behalf. Plus with the lack of inventories, I assume it would be awarded in my favour anyway. So, so sorry for the huge post, I have lots of little unanswered questions! I'm not an unreasonable person, I just want whats mine back

I'm just jotting up on all this myself to do a claim, however when you speak to any of the 'Deposit Protection Schemes' they all state they will speak only with the lead tenant or the landlord. Hence I would have thought you should nominate a lead tenant amongst you and this should be the claimant, to reduce confusion?!