Has anyone used DPS dispute service before? I have done a check out today and took a few pictures with witnesses (my side and tenant representive) showing a few damage needs to be put right, e.g garage door can’t open/shut properly, a big hole drilled in the living room, front garden has a lot weeds, general cleaness is not satisfactory. My tenant and I have both agreed to use DPS dispute service and requested to submit evidences. I have done today emailed DPS with checkout form with signatures from me and witness, pictures of taking today showing the damages.
My question is: now I am searching for trademan to repair to the damage, e.g. need electricity, garage door fixing, gardener, professional cleaner, painting etc. Do I need to get a quote now or show the receipt once job is completed or how I to put the cost down for repair, because at the moment I don’t know how much will be needed to put these right. DPS only allow another 10 days to submit the evidence. What happened I can’t find trademan to finish all the repairs within 10 days. How much I shall put down to dispute to retain the deposit? Do I need to put upfront the repair cost, then claim it back from DPS? I feel I don’t have enough time to find all these trademan.
Any experiences of DPS dispute service will be appreciated! Many thanks.
No personal experience, but from what others have said in a similar position to you is to send photos and descriptions to trades people asking for estimates and the DPS will accept these estimates and use them to deduct from the deposit if the tenant agrees that they are reasonable. Otherwise both parties have to wait for the work to be completed and invoices issued and that may take months perhaps.
If you use estimates, you may pay more but at least the worry over DPS is out of the way and both parties have cash in the bank, if any is left for the tenant!
I have used the DPS service and never again. It took me days of solid work to prepare, had photos everything and still found in favour of tenant. Their reasons defying all logic. All I was awarded was a standard clean. The evidence I submitted showed it needed far more than that.
Good luck I would be interested to know how you get on.
yes dps are arrogant, for the few pounds we pay to bond a deposit the people are unlikely to be very experienced or qualified. they seem to identify with the tenant so not much you can do. if its just one property you have with them you could try just ignoring them, they may just block you from using them again. you have a choice of 3 to use.
Thank you for your reply. How about other two schemes? The TDS and mydeposits. Are they easy to deal with and fair to the landlord? Thank you. I am considering switch for my next tenancy.
mydeposdits are the worst, tds are the ones that pay out most to landlords in disputes. i have seen evidence of this in some goverment data. we have had 46 rental units and tried all 3. with dps we just didnt bother returning the money on the last holding deposit and said we were going to the small claims direct, they huffed and puffed and shut up but you cant use them again under the name and address you supplied.
tip
use a different address if you can rather than your own home,
Can you share a bit more about why DPS block you if you don’t use their dispute service but go to small claim directly? Why use a different address rather than my own home?
DPS wont if you let them hold the deposit when you go to the small claims court
no problem using your own home address
i guess we have had 1000 tenants over the years and in that time had maybe 5 really bad people where it flips over from letters to physical threats and criminal damage and police involvement. thats why i try and keep my “footprint” as small as possible. I try and stay polite direct and professional and learnt if a situation isnt working tell them once, write to them secoond and give notice 3rd. my biggest regret is trying to recover situations with marginal tenants.
We went through the DPS a couple of years ago, via the rental agent. We belive the agents didn’t put a strong enough case together, and they failed in the quality of their 6 month inspections. I now photograph everything, and video just before the new tenant moves in. We now do all our own management, so far it’s gone well. We have a very thorough inventory agreed and signed by both parties. The DPS sadly seemed to be biased towards the tenant, even when you can prove one of them was doubly incontinent and all the carpets needed replacing. Good luck
Sadly all these scemes are in favour of the tenants than landlords! We pay for them but they protect the tenants who don’t want to follow their signed agreement
One tactic is to say you’ll go through DPS which can take a few months for the tenant to get their deposit back or not go to DPS and reach a settlement?
As others have written, the DPS is generally incompetent, poorly staffed, and they are biassed towards the tenant. But the dispute side is much more professional, I think. Provided your case is well supported (with copies of the Agreement and Checks In and Out) you shd succeed.
Hi was a few years ago :- we found the DPS were on Tenants side . Their cat had ripped the sofa to pieces and carpeting !!!. They got away with the cost !.
I would go ahead and get quotes and repair done ASAP. It’s unlikely you will get full cost to cover the repairs from DPS if at all.
I had a brand new kitchen installed in a tenanted property whilst the tenant was in situ. They damaged the worktop with water ingress. I supplied before and after photos of old and new kitchen. Invoices of original kitchen cost and installation And guess what. I got Zero. After just 18 months of this having been fitted with the same tenant in situ they said it was wear and tear.
I also had a burn mark to a brand new carpet (property is non smoking). They propositioned the size of the carpet to the burn mark and that’s all o got. Despite the fact the tenant breached their contract by smoking in it. They are most definitely are on the tenants side.
You’re ok if you are claiming against non payment of rent
Went to court on a section 8 and could prove eviction on payment
Took about a month to receive money after three weeks to get it in the firing line
They have to wait for about a month in case the tenant has proof that they paid and contests
Haven’t taken out for damage because you have to prove the damage is deliberate and over and above
Did a CCJ for the money but didn’t expect to get anything
I did it just to label them
However the next landlord took them in without a reference from me and despite the court eviction and CCJ!
Well good luck to him! They are career non rent payers , owe about £10000 To various people which followed them from their last property to mine and I took up references and credit checks and none of this showed up
