Skip to content
Letter library

Rental deposit

Security deposit — dispute through the protection scheme

Raise a dispute with the deposit-protection scheme. Scheme adjudication is free and the landlord cannot ignore it, which makes it a stronger first move than court in jurisdictions that have one.

deposit.scheme-dispute8 languages30-day reply window

What it actually says.

Rendered live from invented facts: A deposit of GBP 1,400 withheld in full, with no itemised statement and no protection in an approved scheme. The claimant is fictional and the figures are illustrative — your own claim produces its own numbers and its own citations.

The authority in the preview

It cites the article, not the act.

A document has to name the provision it relies on or it gets filed. These are the citations the sample evaluation put into the letter above; a real claim substitutes the ones its own regimes produced.
  1. Housing Act 2004, s. 214(4)Housing Act 2004 (c. 34)s. 214(1)–(4)
  2. Housing Act 2004, s. 213Housing Act 2004 (c. 34)s. 213(3), (5), (6)

Where it comes from

The laws that can produce this document.

A rule module declares the documents its evaluation can render into. These are the regimes in the current catalogue that offer this one — each with its own citations, deadlines and escalation ladder.
England & Wales — tenancy deposit protection (Housing Act 2004 ss. 213–215)GB-EAWSub-national — United KingdomHousing Act 2004, s. 213Confidence: highScotland — tenancy deposit schemes (SSI 2011/176)GB-SCTSub-national — United KingdomTenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, reg. 3Confidence: high

The rest of the sequence

Documents are written to be worked through in order: the opening demand, then the answer to whatever they refuse with, then the escalation. Sending the last one first usually costs you the first two.

Security deposit — demand for returnThe first letter to a landlord. States the statutory deadline they missed, the amount owed, and the penalty the law exposes them to if they do not pay.deposit.initial-demand8 languages14-day reply windowSecurity deposit — final notice before actionThe last letter before filing. In several jurisdictions a written demand is itself a precondition to the statutory multiplier, so this letter can be the step that unlocks the larger claim.deposit.final-notice8 languages7-day reply windowSecurity deposit — request for an itemised statementDemand the written breakdown of deductions. In many places failing to provide one within the statutory period forfeits the right to withhold anything at all.deposit.itemisation-request8 languages14-day reply windowSecurity deposit — particulars of claimA structured statement of case for a small-claims filing.deposit.small-claims-particulars8 languages14-day reply window

You send it

Fill in your own facts and this letter writes itself.

The claim wizard produces this document with your figures, your citations and your deadline already in it. You still print it, sign it and post it yourself — that part is not delegable and we would not take it if it were.

Start a claimAll documents

Duesday is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. This document is an editable template assembled from publicly available law. You are responsible for checking that the facts and the law stated are correct for your situation, and you send it yourself in your own name. Nothing here creates a solicitor–client or attorney–client relationship, and no outcome is promised.