Interest on Custodial Tenancy Deposit

SunnySeagull

Hello, I wonder if anyone can assist me. 

My partner and I have just left a rental property, we left it in good condition and our landlord agreed to return the full deposit of £1800. The deposit was held with one of the authorised schemes, the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS).

If I am honest, I had not fully read the terms and conditions when the deposit was placed with them in December 2018 and so did not expect any interest. Despite that when returning the monies, the scheme have confirmed that they will pay £15.55 interest. 

This seemed to be incredibly low, and almost made less sense than no interest at all! Having queried it with them, they have said that for the majority of the period the deposit was with them the interest rate did not meet the threshold for interest to be paid and that during the period May 2023 to July 2024 the applicable rate varied between 0.43% and 0.84% (this again seems very low in relation to Bank of England base rates).

On asking the DPS what the threshold was for payment of intertest, the historic rates assessed and a copy of the calculation of the interest paid to me, all have been refused on the basis that they are not legally obliged to tell me.

This strikes me as an incredibly opaque way of doing business and not the transparent approach I would expect from a company authorised by the Secretary of State.  

DPS have pointed me toward the terms and conditions on their website relating to interest but nowhere does it explain that a threshold must be met let alone what that threshold might be. Nor does it explain the relationship between the rate payable and the Bank of England interest rate.

I appreciate that this is a small amount of money in the scheme of things but believe the principle is worth fighting for. Were this a consumer transaction I would argue that a key term had not been made clear from the outset or indeed the conclusion. In addition, all these small sums amount to significant monies for DPS.

 

Do you think it worth progressing a complaint on this or should I just remain indignant and give up?   

BarelySentientAI

SunnySeagull said:

Do you think it worth progressing a complaint on this or should I just remain indignant and give up?   

I do not think it is worth a complaint, nor do I think you should be indignant.

GDB2222

I normally use the custodial DPS scheme (as a landlord), and I always tell the tenants that there's no interest payable. There are no fees for the scheme, for either landlords or tenants, and DPS seem to survive on the interest they earn. Until the last year or so, this cannot have amounted to much at all, as base rate was only 0.5%. 

Mr.Generous

I use the TDS and the fee paid - although modest - is probably more than the interest if the tenant leaves after about 2-3 years.

6 years is quite a long time, you did a good job looking after the place to get 100% returned. I'd be happy with that.

Jemma01

I put mine in October 2018, if it is anything less than £50 would ask them to keep it. They don't charge to secure the money, that's great in it's own right. I lived the days we had to threaten landlords with legal actions for withholding deposits for no reason

Just checked, deposit was £1050

Bookworm105

SunnySeagull said:

 In addition, all these small sums amount to significant monies for DPS.

 

Do you think it worth progressing a complaint on this or should I just remain indignant and give up?   

which is precisely why there is no fee charged to either tenant or LL for using DPS, or did you think all those people work for free, or are paid by the taxpayer?

apply common sense, interest rates have been negligible until recently. A fraction of 1 % even on £1800 does not produce enough interest to enable a split between the DPS and the tenant and still leave the DPS with enough money to operate its business with.
As a taxpayer i do not think it would be fair to ask me to subsidise your deposit service that is of no use to me.  

do not complain, do not be indignant, educate yourself in the ways of the world instead.