Renting - MyDeposits.co.uk - deposit dispute - Are MyDeposits fair to tenants?

jcass1

Hi all,

I am about to enter the deposit dispute process to claim back nearly one third of my £3200 rental deposit, of which i am rather unfairly been charged.
There are several cases of Betterment which i am confident about, but i stand in the position of not knowing whether i should go through the MyDeposits process, or claim the amount independently through courts.

I'm unsure which course to take as my landlord is a serial west london property owner, who probably funnels a lot of deposits through MyDeposits.co.uk (has nearly 40 London residential properties on rent).

Does anyone have experience with the MyDeposits dispute process? are they fair/good for tenants?

Please see my options below as pasted form MyDeposits website:

You have two ways in which your deposit dispute can be resolved:

1. Through my|deposits Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service.

2. By commencing Court proceedings.

ADR is an independent and quick method of resolving your deposit dispute. A fully trained, impartial adjudicator will have conduct of your case and make a decision based on evidence submitted by you and your landlord / agent.

We will inform your landlord that you wish the matter to be resolved by ADR. The landlord will inform us whether they agree to ADR. As this deposit dispute has been raised, they must lodge the disputed amount with us.

If you do not agree to the use of ADR the dispute will still be raised but you will have to obtain a Court Order for us to release any money. Court proceedings can be issued through your local County Court. You may wish to seek independent legal advice.

G_M

go through the deposit scheme


Courts don't like it when the scheme set up by the government specifically for this purpose is ignored. Plus why pay court costs (and risk that being added to your debt)?

breaking_free

jcass1 wrote: »

Hi all,
I am about to enter the deposit dispute process to claim back nearly one third of my £3200 rental deposit, of which i am rather unfairly been charged.

Just curious: if you're claiming back nearly one third, that's over £2000 that you're not disputing. What did you do to the property to cause £2000+ worth of damage?

swingaloo

I was thinking that they have got the rest back but I may be wrong.

breaking_free

swingaloo wrote: »

I was thinking that they have got the rest back but I may be wrong.

Ah, upon re-reading the OP I think you may be right.

jcass1

Hi there,

Yes i have the rest back!
It's absurdly funny as we actually helped the landlord obtain a higher rental income by leaving, since the way we furnished the place attracted a bidding war, but that's irrelevant.

I have gone down the the deposit scheme route. Thanks for the queries thus far.

saajan_12

jcass1 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am about to enter the deposit dispute process to claim back nearly one third of my £3200 rental deposit, of which i am rather unfairly been charged.
There are several cases of Betterment which i am confident about, but i stand in the position of not knowing whether i should go through the MyDeposits process, or claim the amount independently through courts.

I'm unsure which course to take as my landlord is a serial west london property owner, who probably funnels a lot of deposits through MyDeposits.co.uk (has nearly 40 London residential properties on rent).- may seem a lot, but theres only 3 schemes, so each would have 1000s of properties, and its a low return, high volume business getting just the interest / £25 protection fee from LLs.. don't think they'd risk appeals etc from showing bias for piddly fees.

Does anyone have experience with the MyDeposits dispute process? are they fair/good for tenants?

Please see my options below as pasted form MyDeposits website:

You have two ways in which your deposit dispute can be resolved:

1. Through my|deposits Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service.
- free, faster than getting a hearing date, tailored to deposit disputes..
2. By commencing Court proceedings.
- court filing fees upfront which you may not get back since you had a free option, slower as you have to wait for a hearing date,..
ADR is an independent and quick method of resolving your deposit dispute. A fully trained, impartial adjudicator will have conduct of your case and make a decision based on evidence submitted by you and your landlord / agent.

We will inform your landlord that you wish the matter to be resolved by ADR. The landlord will inform us whether they agree to ADR. As this deposit dispute has been raised, they must lodge the disputed amount with us.

If you do not agree to the use of ADR the dispute will still be raised but you will have to obtain a Court Order for us to release any money. Court proceedings can be issued through your local County Court. You may wish to seek independent legal advice.

I would go via the ADR.. its free, fast and the people are specifically experienced in deposit disputes, ie know what to look for re betterment etc.

If you file a court claim, you'd have to pay the court fees upfront, and the judge may not award the fees against the LL as you had the opportunity to mitigate your damages by using ADR.