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Landlords

Q. What is tenancy deposit protection?

  • Mandatory tenancy deposit protection was introduced on 6 April 2007.
  • The law was introduced to ensure that tenants are able to recover their deposit from their landlord or letting agent at the end of the tenancy, less any amount that the landlord/agent is entitled to withhold.
  • The legislation covers all deposits taken on Assured Short-hold Tenancies (AST’s) in England and Wales.
  • All deposits taken after 6 April 2007 on an AST must now be protected by one of the government-authorised deposit protection schemes.

Q. What are the different types of tenancy deposit protection schemes?

There are three government authorised deposit protection schemes, two insurance based schemes and one custodial model.

Custodial

  • The landlord must hand over the tenant’s deposit money to the custodial scheme to hold for the duration of the tenancy.
  • The custodial scheme retains any interest earned on the deposit for that time.
  • When the tenancy ends, both the landlord and the tenant must apply for the release of the deposit in the proportion agreed between them.

Insurance-Based

  • The landlord keeps hold of the tenant's deposit and pays a fee to protect it.
  • At the end of the tenancy the landlord is free to discuss and agree the amount of deposit to be returned, without involving the scheme.

All three schemes offer a free dispute resolution service if the landlord and tenant cannot agree over the amount of deposit to be returned at the end of the tenancy.

Q. Who is my|deposits?

  • In April 2007 the Government appointed my|deposits to operate an Insurance-based Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme.
  • my|deposits is jointly owned by the Hamilton Fraser Insurance (HFIS plc) and the National Landlords Association (NLA).

Q. How do my|deposits protect deposits?

  • Once a Landlord has joined my|deposits they can protect a deposit by paying a deposit protection fee to formally protect each deposit.
  • Once purchased, the member is provided with a Deposit Protection Certificate (DPC) as proof of protection to pass to their tenant.
  • You keep hold of the tenant’s deposit in your bank account for the duration of the tenancy.

Q. Who can join my|deposits?

  • Any Landlord who is resident and domiciled in the United Kingdom (excluding the Isle of Man) can apply.

Q. What are the penalties for not protecting deposits?

  • The Landlord will be unable to regain possession of the property by
    notice-only grounds for possession under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988
  • The Tenant can apply for a Court Order requiring the deposit to be protected, and for the Prescribed Information to be given to him/her
  • If the Court is satisfied that the Landlord has failed to comply, the court must either:
    1. Order the Landlord to repay the deposit to the Tenant within 14 days of the issuing of the Court Order, or
    2. Order the Landlord to pay the deposit into the designated account held by the Custodial Scheme Administrator
  • The Court may also order the Landlord to pay the Tenant an amount equivalent to three times the deposit amount within 14 days of the making of the Order
  • The Court is likely to also award costs against the Landlord

Q. How do I join my|deposits?

As a Private or a Company Landlord there are three ways to join:

  1. Online: - pay by credit/debit card.
  2. By phone: 0844 980 0290 [8.30am to 6.30pm Monday-Friday] - pay by credit/debit card
  3. By post.

 

All members must have read the Scheme Rules and agree to abide by them before becoming a my|deposits member. The Scheme Rules set out the terms and conditions of your membership.

You will not be able to protect deposits until mydeposits provides confirmation of Membership by email or by post.

Q. I do not live in the UK. Can I still join mydeposits?

No. Only landlords that permanently reside in the UK and can supply a registered UK postal address are eligible to join. We do accept Landlords that are temporarily living abroad for business purposes or members of the Armed Forces who are stationed on short stay foreign assignments.

Q. Why do you not accept a correspondence address that is a PO Box or C/O address?

If you breach any terms of your membership, we are required to formally contact you. Our insurers will not allow our members to supply PO Box or C/O addresses as they do not provide a guarantee that formal contact has been made or attempted. It could also disguise that the landlord is not resident in the UK.

Q. What is the difference between a Private Landlord and a Company Landlord?

A Private Landlord is a landlord that owns property in their individual name, e.g. Mr Michael Smith.

A Company Landlord is one that owns the property in the name of a company, e.g. Michael Smith Properties Limited. We consider a Company to be any legal entity such as a Public or Private Limited Company, Partnership or Limited Liability Partnership.

Your Membership name must reflect the name of the landlord stated on any AST agreement you have with your tenant(s). If it does not then any protections may be invalid.

If you wish to protect deposits taken on properties both in your own name and a company name, you need to set up separate memberships.

Over 99% of deposits returned to tenants with no issues

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