Small claims court compensation

snapple

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

foxtrotoscar_2

snapple wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

You may get a better response if you post here:-


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Poppie68

snapple wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

You want to put in a claim for the stress of having to chase through the courts, but surely you will suffer more stress chasing an additional claim for stress?

I would personally take the deposit owed and move on with my life, you may want to take legal advice or speak to CAB.

wealdroam

snapple wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

This sounds a bit like "if I'd known that horse was going to win I would've put more money on it".

You should've listed all your loses in your claim.

The Small Claims Court deals in money.
If you now want compensation for stress, hassle, etc, you will need to start an expensive new claim in the 'big claims court'.

Consult a solicitor before doing anything rash.

naedanger

PS

snapple wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

I thought that failure to place a deposit into a protection scheme was seen as a serious and easy to prove failure. (I am sure fabricating damage would also been seen as serious but harder to prove.)

According to the following article (if the circumstances are applicable to your case) it seems you could have claimed a penalty of 3 times the deposit sum plus (in most cases) the return of the deposit or an order that it be protected in the custodial scheme (s214).

http://prsupdate.co.uk/2013/05/tenancy-deposit-scheme/

However I don't know if it is now too late for you to add this to your claim. (I would have thought if you had issued papers it would now be too late, but I don't know.)

PS Is there not someone at your uni who can advise on accommodation disputes?

bris

No, you can't.

foxtrotoscar_2

bris wrote: »

No, you can't.

You can't what?

bris

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

You can't what?

Claim for stress, what else? Isn't that the whole point of the thread so what else could it mean.

Ectophile

bris wrote: »

Claim for stress, what else? Isn't that the whole point of the thread so what else could it mean.

It could have been a response to the post by naedanger for all we could tell.

wrightk

snapple wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am hoping someone here can help me

Several months ago (June) I moved out of a student property ( I will try to shorten this without leaving out the important details). Basically we were told that due to damage of to the property we would not be receiving any of our deposit back, and were informed by the landlord that we owed her additional money due to the so called damage (this came as a big surprise to us as we were careful tenants). So Not convinced by this we asked for an inventory and proof of damage and the work carried out, none of which could be provided. After a bit of digging it appeared that our deposit had never been placed into a protection scheme and that these charges had been fabricated ( I believe that our deposit had been spent long ago!) I therefore took my landlord to court, papers were sent etc etc but my claim went unanswered. I have now applied for judgment ( as yet unanswered) However I was wondering if I could now claim for compensation seeing as I have had to go through all this hassle, was unable to move into a new rented property for some time due to a lack of deposit and references etc ( it has also been a massive stress) I feel as though I am being punished by chasing my landlord through the courts and yet she has only been asked to pay back the money owed. Any idea what can be done?

exactly what are you claiming for?
Just the deposit or for 3x's the deposit?
Both are straight forward and there is a wealth of info on claiming. If you've already claimed for just the deposit and have now found out about the 3x you cannot retrospectively claim for this too
Is this why you are now asking for compensation on top?

If the LL has not protected your deposit the decision will immediately go in your favour.The court is not interested in property condition or inventories. This is the point in a DPS scheme, to mediate in the event of a dispute,it is down to the LL after they have returned your deposit to bring a separate claim against you for damage if they wish.
Wait for the judgement and if no contact from LL through courts you have enforcement options


Either way forget the compo option, get your deposit back and next time remember it is the LL's responsibility to give you information on where and which DPS scheme your deposit is held within 14 days of your tenancy start date

agrinnall

Ectophile wrote: »

It could have been a response to the post by naedanger for all we could tell.

Only if you haven't engaged your brain before entering the thread. "No you can't" is not a sensible answer to naedanger's post, but is the answer to the OP's question.