Tips on Tenancy Deposit Disputes 4: Inventories

Tip 4: Inventories and check-out reports

Adjudication decisions often hinge on the quality of the check-in and check-out inventories. There are several factors that determine how much evidential weight an inventory carries.

Wherever possible, inventories should be signed and dated by both the landlord and the tenant. Although admissible, and better than nothing, unsigned inventories will always carry less evidential weight. That said, if there is a good reason that the tenant didn’t sign it, be sure to include an explanation in your evidence.

As an adjudicator, having to work from an inventory that simply lists the contents of a property without any detail can be frustrating. I can recall numerous claims where landlords sought to rely on unsigned, undated inventories, sometimes literally scribbled on the back of an envelope, that read 1x table, 1x bed, 2x chair etc, in claims relating to furniture damage. Even if the adjudicator accepts your word that the inventory dates from the beginning of the tenancy, there is nothing in a bare inventory to show what state the furniture was in. Without evidence to show a change in the condition of the furniture over the course of the tenancy, it is difficult to convince an adjudicator that the tenant should be liable for the damage.

Even if you show that the tenant caused the damage, in order to work out the appropriate award adjudicators need a schedule of condition that notes the age, condition and as much relevant information as possible about your property. I will go into more detail about how awards are calculated in future posts. For now, you should know that, without sufficient detail, adjudicators may have to estimate elements of the calculation and you could end up with an award that does not reflect the value of your loss.

Tom Derrett is the Principal of Deposit Claim, an ex-adjudicator and an expert on the Deposit Protection Schemes.

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