well my point was a small chip becomes replace the whole thing (there was no picture). I've asked him to substantiate costs for the table but he refuses to do so - it's irrelevant apparently. There was also no checkin provided at the time of starting the AST - he sent on after 4 months or so

well we're in the 'negotiation' phase. He either has no idea what he's doing or is an evil genius! The claims are things like the checkout report says: Long glass shelf:Small chip. Which he interprets as: Replacement of glass shelf = £133.00 (exc. vat) - The DIY tradesman declined to plain it in case the broken area shattered the glass shelf and has advised to have it replaced. Result = long, splintered chip in centre of shelf is sharp and potentially dangerous > replace. also a 3k charge to polish a table...

Has it become normal for the landlords to try and appropriate the deposit by threatening legal action for more than the deposit? My former landlord has come up with a spurious (in my opinion) list of charges and claims I owe him 2x the deposit but he will be kind and accept just the deposit if I write a letter saying it belongs to him and not sue me. Anyone seen this before?