Deposit held until bills are paid

dotdash79

Cognito wrote: »

is this preferable to filing a dispute with the TDS? and if so, how do I go about it? lawyer?

No the service will have a process, you need to read that and get it started. You might need a lawyer or other officer of the court to signed the form stating you are who you say you are.

https://www.depositprotection.com/help/browse/custodial/tenant/single-claim-process thats if your depoisit is with the deposit protection service.

Cognito

thanks again the TDS made it sound like it was either/or, so I was weighing them as mutually exclusive options. I'll file the dispute and see how that goes.

thesaint

Cognito wrote: »

thank you so very much for your suggestion, but would that actually be any help, or will I simply be wasting time? (the TDS has a time limit on filing disputes with them)

At the time of writing my post, you had not decided whether you were filing a dispute with the TDS, or taking it to the County Court.

Sending a "Letter Before Action" opens up both options.

Cognito

I know, but if I owed someone that amount of money, and wished to repay it, I wouldn't need a reminder. and I've already sent them a few anyway. thanks for taking the time though

thesaint

Cognito wrote: »

I know, but if I owed someone that amount of money, and wished to repay it, I wouldn't need a reminder.

It's not a reminder, it's a "Letter Before Action".

ValHaller

Cognito wrote: »

thank you so very much for your suggestion, but would that actually be any help, or will I simply be wasting time? (the TDS has a time limit on filing disputes with them)

File the dispute with the TDS. It is the way forward.

Cognito

just for completion's sake, I filed the dispute with the TDS and immediately they "remembered" how to reply to emails and I got my money back pronto. sincere thanks to everyone who contributed with useful advice

if you're reading this thread because you're stuck in a similar situation, my advice would be to simply waste no time and file a dispute with the deposit protection scheme. don't waste time "sorting out the bills first" as a poster advised me. however good his/her intentions might have been (and I don't think they were), it was simply a costy timewaster...