Tips On Tenancy Deposit Disputes 52: Avoiding Disputes

Tip 52: Avoiding disputes in the first place

We have reached the end of this series of blog posts. Every week (give or take) for the last year I have posted a titbit of information to help you win your deposit protection disputes. Thank you very much to those of you who have got in touch. I am very happy to have helped you out and I am really glad that you have found this blog useful.

If you have a problem with a deposit related matter and would like some help, do get in touch. I am always happy to advise and I may start a deposit clinic blog where I answer reader’s questions.

The final tip is on avoiding disputes in the first place:

There are two main ways to achieve this. 

The first way to avoid disputes is to get a really good inventory. I’ve already written a lot about this and I don’t plan to go on about it again. Get the best one you can. They pay for themselves. Enough said.

The second way to avoid disputes is to do really comprehensive tenant referencing. A good agent will make sure your tenant’s pass a credit check and are employed, but very few agents or landlords go much further than this when a little extra effort (but no extra money) can pay dividends in preventing damage to your property.

I’m talking about network referencing, which is fairly new but very useful. There are two main tenant referencing sites that I know of. Tenant ID and Landlord Referencing Service. They differ in small ways but the concept is the same. Landlords register with the website and leave references, good or bad, for their tenants. When you have an applicant who wants to move into your property, simply check their details online and find out if they have a history of treating properties badly. 

Of course, these systems rely on landlords actively taking part. The beauty of it, though, is that landlords can actually do something about tenants who mess them around, and by working together can protect each other. I would strongly advise that you set up an account with a network referencing service and when you or your agent have a prospective tenant, check them out online. It only takes a few minutes of your time, is FREE, and it could save you a fortune.

I hope you have enjoyed these posts. Please keep an eye on my personal blog and look out for my ebook, How To Win Deposit Disputes, which is on sale now at Your Law Store and which gives you detailed, step by step instructions on how to claim a protected deposit. 


If you need further help, you can contact me using the form on my website.

Tom Derrett is the Principal of Deposit Claim, an experienced deposit protection adjudicator and an expert on the Deposit Protection Schemes. Tom helps landlords to claim money through the deposit protection schemes.

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