Estate Agents Failure to return my tenancy deposit

G_M

and what have you decided to do?

HampshireH

By!jimjamz8221st Apr 19, 1:17 AM

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I raised a dispute with the tenancy dispute scheme I'm associated with. They gave two options. Either to raise the dispute through their own arbitration system, or follow County Court proceedings. It seems the arbitration scheme offers no penalty or compensation for damages. The estate agent will simply pay back the deposit that is long overdue and there will be no penalty against them. In County Court proceedings, I could have filed for damages and/or some some form of compensation as penalty for their late return of the refund.

And be both time consuming with a financial outlay but no guarentee of winning.

As above. Which route have you taken? I know which I would take, but I don't need extra hassle in life

anselld

jimjamz82 wrote: »

In County Court proceedings, I could have filed for damages and/or some some form of compensation as penalty for their late return of the refund.

You can file for the crown jewels if you like but you are unlikely to be awarded anything that you cannot substantiate as tangible losses. Plus the Court take a dim view of failure to use the normal dispute procedure without good reason.

The delay is in any case mainly self-inflicted as you should have claimed with the scheme from the start.

ThePants999

Let's imagine that your deposit was £1000. A month's interest on that, at current savings rates, is about a pound. That's the compensation you're considering going to court for.

jimjamz82

anselld wrote: »

The delay is in any case mainly self-inflicted as you should have claimed with the scheme from the start.

What do you define as the 'start'? I gave the estate agents the ample time required to return the deposit, which they did not. Hence, the raising of the dispute.

jimjamz82

ThePants999 wrote: »

Let's imagine that your deposit was £1000. A month's interest on that, at current savings rates, is about a pound. That's the compensation you're considering going to court for.

Yes, of course, I would happily put myself through much work and additional effort for the benefit of seeking damages for a pound. I love this forum. It just emanates positivity and constructive support.

jimjamz82

G_M wrote: »

and what have you decided to do?

I chose the arbitration route as it seems to be a more straight-forward and supported method (via the scheme) to having the refund returned. All supporting evidence can already be provided up front, removing any possibility for it to be countered. The county court would prove largely inconvenient in my current situation as I'm currently overseas.

saajan_12

jimjamz82 wrote: »

Yes, of course, I would happily put myself through much work and additional effort for the benefit of seeking damages for a pound. I love this forum. It just emanates positivity and constructive support.

So you would "happily" pay £ x court fees to get £1001 rather than £0 through arbitration to get £1000. The court may not even award you court costs etc as you have a duty to mitigate damages and court costs were entirely avoidable by using the arbitration scheme. So net net you'd be down £x - 1. That sounds smart.