Tenants Deposit Protection Scheme
A Tenants Guide To The Custodial Scheme
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING YOUR DEPOSIT
Since April 2007, all assured shorthold tenancy deposits received by landlords and letting agents must be protected by a Government-authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme.
We’re the UK’s largest provider of deposit protection, so your money is secure with us. Your deposit will be returned at the end of the tenancy, once you and your landlord/letting agent have agreed how it should be repaid.
2. HOW DOES THE CUSTODIAL SCHEME WORK?
- You pay your deposit to your landlord/letting agent.
- Your landlord/letting agent must submit your deposit within 30 days.
- Your landlord/letting agent will also provide us with your contact details.
- We will send you a Deposit Protection Confirmation, detailing your Deposit ID and Repayment ID. You will need this information whenever you make an enquiry.
3. ONLINE ACCESS TO YOUR DEPOSIT
It’s easy to access your deposit via our website. You just need your Deposit ID and Repayment ID handy.
Once you have accessed your deposit, you can:
- View the details of your deposit
- Update your contact details
- Request a repayment when you move out
- Access information on our processes
4. HOW DO I UPDATE MY DETAILS?
Throughout your tenancy you can access the details of your deposit online and are able to keep your contact details up to date. This is especially important if your phone number or email address changes.
When you move out, please provide us with your new postal address. It is important that you update your account with this address as your landlord/letting agent cannot do it for you.
5. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I MOVE OUT?
At the end of your tenancy, you and your landlord/letting agent need to agree how your deposit will be repaid.
We need to hear from you both before we can repay your deposit.
You will need to log in to your account using your Deposit ID and Repayment ID.
Your landlord/letting agent will also need to log in to their account. This does not have to be done at the same time, but no amount of the deposit will be released
until both parties have submitted their instructions.
6. WHAT HAPPENS IF WE CAN’T AGREE ON HOW THE DEPOSIT IS REPAID?
If you can’t agree on how your deposit should be repaid, you can use our independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service to resolve the dispute. It’s free to use and avoids the need for court action.
Once you and your landlord/letting agent have agreed to use this service, we’ll ask you to send us any evidence you would like our independent, legally trained
adjudicators to consider.
Need more information?
Please visit www.depositprotection.com for more information on the Custodial scheme.