What is tenancy deposit protection?
Tenancy deposit protection was introduced by the Government in April 2007 for all assured shorthold tenancies in England and Wales where a deposit was taken. The aim is to make sure you’re treated fairly at the end of your tenancy. Your landlord or letting agent have a number of legal obligations, as set out in the Housing Act 2004, that they need to fulfil to ensure your deposit is protected lawfully and you’re notified of this.
Types of protection schemes
We provide two types of deposit protection – Custodial, a free service where we hold the deposit for the duration of the tenancy, and Insured, where the landlord or letting agent holds the deposit and pays us a fee to protect it.
Most of our customers use our free Custodial service. In this scheme, your landlord or letting agent gives us your deposit to look after for the duration of your tenancy. At the end of your tenancy, we’ll release your deposit once both of you have agreed on the amounts being returned.
Our Insured scheme is a little different – your landlord or letting agent will keep your deposit for the duration of the tenancy and pay us a small fee to protect it. They'll be responsible for returning your deposit to you at the end of your tenancy, but don’t worry, your deposit is protected for the duration of the tenancy, and the full deposit amount will be available at the end of the tenancy.
As the home of deposit protection we've got you covered
If you’re a tenant and you’ve paid a deposit to your landlord or letting agent, you may be wondering what happens to it. We’re authorised by the government to protect deposits for tenancies in England and Wales and are the biggest provider of deposit protection in the UK. We’ve been providing a simple, hassle free service for over 10 years, and in that time we've looked after more than 5 million deposits, so you can rely on us to keep your deposit safe.
To find out if your deposit is protected with us, and what type of protection your landlord or letting agent has chosen, use our deposit checker.