Deposit protection service-anyone had problems with them?

sasquatch77

Hi everyone

I am a 'hobby' landlord. We recently had to go through the deposit protection service to try to settle a dispute between us and the tenant. Although we were awarded some money, we have been left significantly out of pocket by their out of touch views on how much things cost these days. They also did not take into account all of our evidence and seemingly forgot one section of our dispute completely. I have made a formal complaint and got quite a rude response saying basically 'tough!' and if I want to take it further I have to go to court..
I know other services like the TDS have a complaints procedure where things can be revisited. Has anyone had any dealings with the DPS? Is there an ombudsman whom I could right too? I'm p****d off by their dismissive attitude assuming that all landlords are unscrupulous! Any advice would be appreciated please...

Thank you!

vax2002

They are worse than the Landlords they replaced, they slam down hard on the side of landlords and have completely forgotten who they are supposed to protect.
I have openly said many times, they are due a spanking in court, but as usually only a few hundred quid is involved no body can be bothered.
So on they go dishing out your cash to lying landlords who know how to play them.

jjlandlord

sasquatch77 wrote: »

Although we were awarded some money, we have been left significantly out of pocket by their out of touch views on how much things cost these days.

I don't know if this applies to your situation, but they (or a court) will not award full replacement cost in most cases, as wear and tear must be taken into account to estimate the actual loss.

BitterAndTwisted

What sort of replacement costs? The tenants' deposit is not a new-for-old insurance policy: you can only claim for what use of it the tenant may have deprived you of. If something cost a grand five years ago (and you can prove it) and the tenancy lasted three years, the maximum you could claim for it would be £400, that is 20% of the original cost IF the expected life of whatever it was in a tenanted property would be five years.

Perhaps your annoyance/dismay is based on a misunderstanding....

FireWyrm

vax2002 wrote: »

......
I have openly said many times, they are due a spanking in court, but as usually only a few hundred quid is involved no body can be bothered.
So on they go dishing out your cash to lying landlords who know how to play them.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I was thinking about my previous EA and LL as they were trying to steal all £1400 of my deposit for perceived 'damage' that was anything but. My notionally 'reputable' EA lied on their submission claiming for 'damage' to carpet that existed prior to our tenancy and proceeded to jack the price up on everything else. I ask you, where in the country does a 40W lightbulb cost £20 to replace? In the end, my LL lost his case with the adjudicator because he couldn't even be bothered to provide evidence of the alleged damage or actual receipts for the costs he claims to have incurred.

I'm sorry OP, but the adjudication service makes it quite clear in bold letters at the top of the submission forms that their decision is final.

Also, the clue as to their bias is in their name - Deposit Protection Service. Tenants are sick of being ripped off by landlords who seem to believe the deposit is either a) a new for old replacement policy b) their own personal piggy bank and holiday fund or c) the landlord's by right.

Before you say that you're a reputable LL, I believe you. However, neither of mine were and from what I can tell, the bad ones significantly outnumber the good ones. I had a LL try to claim for 'damage' to a wooden floor which was UNDER the varnish I made him put down before the tenancy commenced!

Flibsey

I've been screwed by landlords too. scemes like this were set up to protect tenants from lying landlords.

sasquatch77

I agree there are some dodgy ones out there. One LL tried to keep all my sister in laws deposit when she moved out claiming that she had to pay for general wear and tear. We helped her dispute it and she got awarded all her deposit back. I think these schemes definitely favor the tenant and tar all LL with the same brush. I have had 5 different tenants in the property and have never taken any of the deposit before. In this case one example is that the property was returned to us with thick gloopy mould over all the windows and reveals, there were pustules that when popped oozed this orange gunge..It had penetrated through the mastic and rotten the wooden surrounds in places. We had to have it professionally removed and mastic replaced and reveals treated. There were other things too. I am more annoyed that the DPS thinks it cost £20 to call out a washing repair man (for something that was not wear & tear) when they were provided with 3 quotes from companies in our area from £50-150. We were asking for the £50 contribution.
If anyone knows who the ombudsman is it would be greatly helpful..thanks!

DVardysShadow

sasquatch77 wrote: »

I agree there are some dodgy ones out there. One LL tried to keep all my sister in laws deposit when she moved out claiming that she had to pay for general wear and tear. We helped her dispute it and she got awarded all her deposit back. I think these schemes definitely favor the tenant and tar all LL with the same brush. I have had 5 different tenants in the property and have never taken any of the deposit before. In this case one example is that the property was returned to us with thick gloopy mould over all the windows and reveals, there were pustules that when popped oozed this orange gunge..It had penetrated through the mastic and rotten the wooden surrounds in places. We had to have it professionally removed and mastic replaced and reveals treated. There were other things too. I am more annoyed that the DPS thinks it cost £20 to call out a washing repair man (for something that was not wear & tear) when they were provided with 3 quotes from companies in our area from £50-150. We were asking for the £50 contribution.
If anyone knows who the ombudsman is it would be greatly helpful..thanks!

That sounds like fungus in your rotten woodwork. If it was, would you expect your tenant to pay?

sasquatch77

yes, we used a calculation on a website to work out fair wear and tear. That bit was OK but it was other costs that the DPS seemed ignorant about...

sasquatch77

it was caused by poor cleaning and no ventilation and this was agreed by the DPS. It is a new build so the woodwork wasn't rotten as shown on the inventory..

captainscarlet1259

Hi DPS is the worst rip off experience I have every had. The have refused to return my deposit to a tenant that left my house in a complete mess, garden looking like a jungle , burning the carpet in the lounge needing replacement, 3 rooms needing re decorating and 3 trips to the tip. She gave no reason for the dispute, I sent in all the documents but they claim not to have received the tenancy agreement and inventory, but still sent it for adjudication without querying where these where. They did not communicate and have said its not there problem.. DO NOT TOUCH any one else with problems and anything we can do about it? they are not fit for purpose