Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about our deposit check service.
It's an expert assessment that reviews whether your landlord or letting agent properly protected your tenancy deposit in a government-approved scheme, as required by law in England. We check the facts of your case against current legislation and provide a clear report.
You'll need basic details about your tenancy — the property address, your tenancy start date, the deposit amount, and whether you rented from a landlord or letting agent. If you have documents like your tenancy agreement or deposit certificate, those help but aren't essential to get started.
The questionnaire takes about 2 minutes. Once submitted and paid, our team aims to deliver your assessment report within 48 hours.
If our assessment finds that your deposit was properly protected, we'll let you know clearly and close your case. There's no obligation to do anything further.
If our assessment suggests you may have a claim, your report will explain why and outline your potential options. You can then decide whether to take further action — there's no pressure or obligation.
No. My Deposit Claim provides eligibility assessments, not legal advice. Our reports are designed to help you understand your situation. If further legal support is needed, we may be able to refer you to appropriate professionals.
There are three clear stages. Step 1 is a free instant eligibility check on our homepage. Step 2 is the full assessment for a one-off £9.98 — a written report setting out any potential breaches identified, an indicative claim range, and a strength assessment. Step 3, if you choose to proceed, is a court-ready claim pack for a flat £260 — with your £9.98 credited in full, so you pay £250.02. If you decide to file the claim, a fixed HMCTS court fee applies for this type of claim (several hundred pounds — we tell you the current exact figure before you decide); that is paid by you directly to the court. There are no other charges from us and no percentage of your award.
No — never. All our fees are flat and payable for the work we do, not the outcome. If the court awards you compensation, every penny goes directly to you. This is very different from no-win-no-fee firms, which typically take 25–35% of your award.
No. My Deposit Claim is an unregulated legal-services provider offering personalised assessments and document preparation. We are not a firm of solicitors, are not regulated by the SRA, and are not an FCA-authorised claims management company. We prepare documents for you — you send the letter before action and file any court claim yourself, with our guidance. We do not conduct litigation, negotiate with your landlord's representatives, or appear in court, and nothing we provide is a solicitor's opinion or creates a solicitor-client relationship. For independent legal advice, Citizens Advice and Shelter offer free guidance to tenants.
If your landlord defends the claim, the court will give directions and the matter may proceed to a hearing at which you would represent yourself as a litigant in person. Deposit claims of this type are not automatically small-claims cases, so there can be a risk of paying some of the landlord's costs if the claim fails — your claim pack explains this clearly before you file anything, and many claims resolve at the letter-before-action stage without any filing.
Sometimes. Where a deposit was never protected at all, case law (Superstrike v Rodrigues [2013]; and county court decisions since) supports separate awards for separate tenancy periods, so long tenancies can produce larger claims. But it is not automatic: where a deposit was properly protected first time round, the Deregulation Act 2015 can treat renewals as compliant. Whether more than one period is genuinely actionable is exactly what our full assessment examines, period by period — and the final award within the statutory range is always for the court.
Because the service involves professional assessment work that begins once your payment is received, refunds are generally not available once the assessment has started. Please see our Terms of Service for full details.
We cover all three government-approved tenancy deposit schemes: the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), MyDeposits, and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), including both custodial and insured variants. Our service covers England only — Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal frameworks.
Not necessarily. Under the Limitation Act 1980 you generally have up to 6 years from the date of the breach to bring a claim — so former tenants who moved out several years ago may still be entitled to compensation. Our questionnaire gathers the relevant dates to assess your position.