Compensation from deposit

StephenA88

Evening people,

I've been reading the forums for a while but this is my first post.

I left my previous flat in July 2016. We paid about £1100 as a deposit (approx) and at the end of the tenancy they disgracefully held £500 because we had left it in a 'poor state' according to them. As our deposit was in a protected scheme we used one of their companies to try and claim this money back by fighting our case against them. In the end we recouped £410 and they were awarded £90 as an admin fee. So not a bad result for us. It was disgraceful it escalated the way it did (long story) and I was still slightly annoyed they were awarded anything at all.

However, a year onwards it still makes me upset the stress they caused and the week I spent putting together pages and pages of evidence for our case. I spent hours on it. I'm not someone that is motivated by money but the disgrace of this estate agents still doesn't sit well with me (one of their local offices has since closed) and the customer service we received was non existent. I was astonished they were getting away with it despite the numerous times they ignored us during our tenancy, which was part of the basis of my argument.

With the time that has passed, where would I stand in trying to claim compensation? Say through a Housing, Financial Ombudsman? Or has too much time passed since July last year?

It's more of a query at the moment as I'm still in two minds if I want to reopen this 'can of worms'. I just wanted to check out all my options first before dismissing it.

G_M

Debts can be pursued through the courts for up to 7 (I think) years.

Are you seeking the remainder of your deposit back (you could do this provided your evidence is sufficient), or compensation for your time, aggravation etc (forget it!).

As for the ombudsman, you could certainly complain if you feel the agent broke their Code of Conduct. Check which ombudsman scheme they belong to and read the relevant C of C.


* The Property Ombudsman
* Ombudsman Services Property
* Property Redress Scheme

StephenA88

Thanks for replying.

The remaining £90 would be good. I'm certainly not keen to go through the courts so may do some research into the Ombudsman way. I just wonder if it is worth the time to do so. That's the main thing I'm wondering and if there' s a time limit I should do this within. Cheers for the help so far.

G_M

StephenA88 wrote: »

..... Cheers for the help so far.

Errr.... you want more?? :undecided

AlexMac

You did incredibly well in fighting this and getting the majority of your cash back. You also have the moral victory of being proved right, albeit at the cost of a lot of hard work and stress (and the £90!). And the schadenfreud of knowing that one of the Agencies concerned has gone out of business.

I'd be inclined to chalk it up as a victory and leave it at that. You know you're right (and we do, now). So maybe it's time to draw a line under it, not least because further struggle will merely prolong the anger and cause more work and stress.

Good luck whatever you decide

davidmcn

I don't think there's any sort of legal proceedings where you can claim for your own time/bother in pursuing it. If it were the other way round would you think it fair for a landlord to claim for the "stress" of having to repair their house, rather than just their actual costs?

saajan_12

There's no compensation for the stress / time taken on preparing evidence for a case. It is up to you how much time you put in and impossible to prove / quantify anyway.

Mossfarr

Its time you let it go. in the big scheme of things £90 is not a lot of money.
You are spoiling your present and future by trying to change the past.

Put it behind you and move on, life is much to short and precious to waste any more time on this.

steampowered

I think chasing them is hopeless I'm afraid.

You cannot make a legal claim simply for "stress".

You also cannot claim for the legal/help costs you incurred fighting this.