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Landlord-Law Kits - Kit 2 - Tenants Damage Deposit Claims.

The aim of our online kits is to help individuals to bring simple claims themselves to the county court, without the need for instructing a solicitor.

Although tenants damage deposits are now required by law to be protected under one of the government authorised tenancy deposit schemes, there are still two situations where a tenant may need to go to the courts:

1. Where the deposit does not have to be protected under one of the schemes - this is the case where the tenancy is not an assured shorthold tenancy, or where the deposit was paid to the landlord or his agent before the scheme came into force on 6 April 2007 and the tenancy has not been renewed since then, and

2. Where the landlord has failed to protect the deposit when he should have done

This kit covers both situations.

Part 1 deals with where the deposit scheme does to apply and the landlord has wrongfully failed to return all or part of the deposit. Tenants should not be fearful of bringing a county court claim in these circumstances as Judges are very understanding and will expect a landlord to justify all deductions made and for all deductions to be supported by proper receipts for work done. If these are not provided, or if the Judge does not think the expense justified, he will find for the tenant.

Part 2 gives guidance on making a claim to the court for the landlord to either return the deposit or protect it under the custodial tenancy deposit scheme, and for the landlord to pay the tenant a ‘fine’ of three times the deposit sum as a penalty for failing to comply with the rules. Note that if the landlord complies with the scheme late, but before you issue proceedings you are unlikely to succeed in the claim for the fine.

Kit contents

Instructions. This is the most important part of the kit. The instructions:

The instructions are written on the basis that the reader knows nothing about court proceedings, and are very detailed.

Letter before action. This relates to Part 1 claims and should be sent before court action is started

Schedule of deductions. This is self calculating so will automatically total up the value of items you agree should be deducted from the deposit.

Court forms. The most important of these is the court claim forms. There are various versions, all pre-drafted and self calculating so your interest claim will be worked out for you. There are separate forms for Part 1 and Part 2 claims. We have also included the form you need to claim judgement, and a blank court form just in case the kit forms are not suitable for you

Application for substituted service. This is a procedure you may need to use if your landlord lives outside England and Wales, or if you cannot find out the address of your landlord.

Other forms. We have also included some other forms from the Landlord-Law site, such as our diary sheets, and the certificate of service form.

Articles. There are also some relevant articles from the Landlord-Law site, to help you.

All kits include telephone support (save for those used by annual members where telephone advice can be purchased for a fixed fee of £40) and access to an online discussion forum.

Petra Hirsch, Tenant: "I won my claim at the Small Claims Court against my former Landlord and she had to return the full deposit and pay for the costs. Thanks for the advice, otherwise I would probably not have had the courage to go ahead and sue her."

The kit can be bought or downloaded from the Online Kits section.

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