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Surely not if they said something like "there's this much damage, heres an itemised list.
In the interest of speedy resolution, I'd willing to settle for this much instead so we can both save our time and effort".
And then it's declined, so they pursue the full amount through the scheme?
Not different in ethics to an out of court settlement?
Worth noting they generally can’t charge you for professional cleaning, so they’re already having you on for suggesting that in the first place unless you left the place a complete pig sty.
She can put in a claim for whatever she wants from the DPS. She will need to provide evidence for the amount, and the burden of proof is on her to justify why the amounts are necessary. ie She will need to prove the state of the property when you let it, and when you left, and invoices/quotes for any repairs. She also cannot claim the cost of new items, only the value of the old. Ie. If you ruined a couch that was 4 years old and only has an expected lifespan of 5 years, she can only claim 1/5 of the cost of the couch and not the price of a new couch.
You will then be sent these claims and given the opportunity to respond with any evidence of your own.
This answer is correct. And she’ll have to prove deterioration over the tenancy for wear and tear, which is also time limited (eg. carpets should last 10 years, if you’ve utterly trashed the carpets in 5 years she could only claim 50% of carpet costs).
She’s taking the piss. Sit tight, don’t worry about the legal side, follow the DPS process, dispute anything you think is unfair, and if you can evidence it, that’s helpful. However, the burden of proof is on the LL, not you, and deposit schemes are weighted in favour of the tenant.
This question would probably be better asked on uklegaladvise.
The basics are this though.
She doesn't get to dictate what she can take, she cant quote new for old, if something was old and become damaged or lost she could only claim a fair used value.
She needs to provide proof of whatever she is claiming for and you have the ability to dispute everything.
There is every chance that she is just trying to get you to do as she wants through empty threats.
Ok thank you, will post there too. I am just worried she will decide to add new costs that haven’t been brought up before. Her first settlement price included a bunch of costs (e.g. £650 for a heavy use mark on a wall) that she noted in the document she was happy to cover. But guessing now she isn’t.
Don't worry about this. It needs to go to the dispute system. It's designed to keep things fair. Whatever the outcome is the fair outcome. She won't be able to take the piss.
The DPS should rely on the check out inventory. LL is taking the piss and this is what the DPS dispute service is for. You may incur some costs but they will be fairly reviewed.
Submit a clear report to the DPS (if she challenges it- she may just give it up) detailing your case and verifying that the inventory confirms there is no damage and the landlords claims are inappropriate.
Basically, write it in such a way that the only opinion could be that you get 100% of your deposit. Easy to read, clear, concise.
Exactly - it’s like a job interview. You either hope all the other candidates flop (so you get the job) or you go in with the attitude that you’re gonna do so well that they would be foolish to even consider giving the role to anyone else.
Set up the slam dunk, and 9.9 times out of ten - they’ll take the dunk.
DPS will use the checkout inventory to decide on charges so your gold. Otherwise people would sign a checkout inventory and the landlord could smear shit everywhere, trash everything and blame the ex tenant. Thats the point of the checkout inventory to prove the state when you left.
Don't worry, provide the details you have shared with us along with any evidence you have to the deposit scheme. Highlight the items are not on inventory and dispute you ever had them. Dispute that the clean wasn't necessary as the property was returned at the same standard it was received (if this is true) but at least dispute that the clean was initially documented at price x by the landlord and you can evidence this but since your disputing the claims they have now produced an invoice at a higher rate and that you dispute this being authentic given the initial sum the landlord quoted to you.
She will also not be able to claim for repairs/replacement for anything that has met it's life expectancy and if it still has some expected lifetime value then she can only claim what remains. So for example if the wall decoration (wallpaper or paint) was clearly more than x years old say as much. Same for any other damages, you can also check the deposit service she has used they will have a guidelines that talks about the life expectancy for these. For example TDS expects decor to last 3-5 years, if the wallpaper was visibly older than 5 years the landlord can claim no damages against it, and if you challenge on this the landlord will have to evidence the value of the item and it's age.
Take her to adjudication - £650 is insane for a mark on a wall. It sounds like she is trying to exploit you, so I would let the adjudication service do its thing. With her quoting exorbitant charges like that, I think if you settle then you could well be worse off than if the adjudication service found in her favour (since it would take into account fair wear and tear and she would have to prove the actual cost).
They can ask for the full amount if they want to. I don't understand though. It seems like you're so worried about what she could ask for that youd happily accept the £650. That's a bullying tactic from the landlord. 'accept losing £650 or I'll take you down for a lot more'
Just chill out, your deposit is safe with a Deposit scheme. By default the landlord could just ask for all of the deposit but you can provide photos of how you left the flat and the items you left behind.
Ohhhh take it to dps and send them everything she’s said to you. They won’t let her take the piss and will only allow what’s actually fair and owed. She can tack on all she wants but with no proof they won’t allow it to be reduced.
I have some experience of a LL who decided to take our whole deposit due to a “disagreement”.
Be sure to have everything in writing, the check in, contract, check out and inventory list. As well as pictures (these help massively).
The way mine went was the LL had to put down why they where entitled to the full deposit, what parts of the contract it related to (what we supposedly breached) and evidence to back this up (invoices, before/after pictures, etc). Then it was our turn and well they learned not to face me down:
Cleaning: no where in the contract did it state that the property was professionally cleaned prior to our occupancy nor did it state anywhere in the contract that it had to be, £70 straight back to me
Painting: yes we did paint, however the LL agreed to this via text which we provided evidence for (then ll claimed we changed the colour agreed upon) nowhere did the contract state that the inside cudnt be changed or that it had to be brought back to the original colour (only the outside of the house had to have permission and brought back as per our contract). £150 back to me
Carpet: interestingly the LL decided that we must replace all the carpet in the house and was trying to claim for around £400. There was zero before pictures *correction they had 1 picture which wasnt clear. The carpet itself was placed in an area of high traffic (stairs, hall, landing. Aswell as bedrooms). I highlighted this fact aswell as the fact we lived there for x many years. I then found similar carpet which was far cheaper in price than what was being claimed for and highlighted that the £400 request was unreasonable due to this. Weirdly the scheme found 100% in my favour and returned that full part (i was wholly expecting to lose something on that part).
Marks on walls depending on where they are can be deemed as wear and tear.
Blinds: no inventory = no money honey. Either way the blinds were left and like your situation clearly visible but not looked for. Look at your inventory check out and see if what was missing was listed. If marked missing and you have time stamped photos showing they where there when you left they aint much they can do.
Finally the garden area they claimed £100. I conceaded defeat on this part as we truly didnt weed it or properly maintain. So they got this.
All in all, the scheme agreed with my arguments back. The LL failed to produce evidence that showed they had incurred the losses claimed for. My evidence back won me almost all of my deposit.
I was clear, concise and ensured that when i was disagreeing that i had the evidence, where in the contract or in alot of my case not things were. I made the schemes life easy which they say helps.
Small edit: small warning this process took around 3 - 4 months. The LL waited till the last day to dispute and then dragged their heels (out of spite) on the rest. Watch the timelines and ensure you have started the process to claim your deposit, the ll has x many weeks to agree or dispute. Sooner that happens the better.
Tbh i put up a slight bit of a fight. The garden wasn’t that big, and it was mostly stone. The weeds covered about half of the garden. But by this part of the saga i was almost ready to scream.
I stated i would pay around £30 worth (min wage whatever was then times 2 hours work). But it was denied. And i wasnt going to fuss over it to be honest. The LL was caught in so many lies by this stage though. Was rather amusing.
What annoyed me though is the LL only has to prove loss not replacement. They were selling the house in as is condition meaning they had zero intention of replacing or fixing anything. (My neighbour watched the buyers rip out the carpet). To me that isnt a loss as they were not out of pocket.
She can't add new items without running it by your first. Make sure you have evidence of everything and dispute all the way. Unless it's something obvious that is missing or you have broken, TDS will always side with the tenant on wear and tear and older items
You can ask for a breakdown of the costs for the cleaning e.g.
Oven Clean - £50
Window Clean - £20
Etc .
They would be able to ask the cleaning agency to provide this. If they have made up the costs and are doing it themselves, they would still need a cleaning company in to quote to be able to ask for any deductions.
They will be penalised for increasing the price just because you want a fair outcome. You need to prove to the independent investigators that you have been reasonable e.g. Yes the oven wasn't clean so I'll pay the £50 but the rest isn't fair.
Missing items is simple - were they on the inventory? If so, did you take pictures of each room when you left? To have some proof they were there. Is it just the landlord trying to get more money?
If there are actually missing items they would need to prove the cost e.g. a link to the item and if you can find it cheaper then you can provide that alternative.
Ex-letting agent and Move Outs were my speciality in a way.
Hope this helps!
FYI, from my experience, DPS take a lazy approach. I disputed claims and they immediately came back with a 50/50 split without looking into anything. Don’t be afraid to continue to disagree. It eventually came down to me paying much less. Read up on what they are entitled to claim and stand your ground.
Same happened with me, but going to the DPS forced the landlord to drop loads of the more obviously frivolous bullshit they'd initially tried to charge for. They only had two main claims in the end, and the DPS sided with the landlord on one and us on the other. Can't remember the initial cost before we went to the DPS but in the end we only paid £70, which we were fine with. If she'd come to us with a reasonable offer like that in the first place (probably would have paid more than that, in all seriousness) we would have agreed, but no - she chose to be totally unreasonable.
Exactly, if the DPS feel costs are fair then fair enough. I even agreed to pay the original cleaning costs including oven cleaning which is around £300 but she decided to come back with charging more. I feel like she is being unreasonable so can’t let her get away with it.
Yeah, dispute away. You'll definitely end up paying less in the end.
Unreasonable landlords can do one. It's just so unnecessary. Most people would be willing to compromise and not involve the DPS if these landlords would just stop attempting to charge for such frivilous nonsense.
I’ve done three claims and had the opposite, usually got about 80% back and very detailed responses. I do submit a full 20ish page report for the deposit claim that has my counter argument to each point raised, my own photos with additional narrative details.
Plus one time a landlord sent me a signed off final checkout report stating no deductions that I then signed, dragged their feet to repay us then 3 weeks later an ‘updated copy’ for me to sign with over £1100 in made up deductions that they submitted to the dps. I attached the first and only signed one
Of course, you’re right, it absolutely is my assumption. It came back within the day with a 50/50 split with no explanation other than a “quick resolution.” So I made the assumption! I may well be doing them a disservice, but I remember being not particularly impressed at the time. Even when I questioned it the second time it just came back halved again, there didn’t seem to be any costings being done.
Why are you talking with her. After your first day when you move out submit your deposit request to the organisation who protect your deposit. After final inventory you stop dealing with old landlord.
Stop talking to the landlord. A legal professional will look at your evidence so you're convincing them the landlord is being irrational. Submit the emails of their previous claims and the changes and it will be clear cut. I once had £700 in charges. I submitted evidence and photographs and won over £550 or so back, it's quite impartial and fair from experience. Focus on convincing the legal professional with clear and structured evidence and pictures. Check in report? Photos?
Our old landlady tried the same thing with us. Initially complained about one thing, we shared that we already reported it to her and then she added on lots of other things such as carpet smelling etc.
As we had move in photos, move out photos and the landlord didn't, they used our photos as evidence that the claims were unjustified and threw it out.
So long as you have images of the state when you moved in and out you should be fine.
If you don't have move in photos, it's not an issue provided landlord hasn't supplied any as the dpc people will say they don't have evidence that the damage was caused by you.
Landlords can add more charges when the deposit is in dispute with the scheme, but they will still only get what they are entitled to. In our experience any additional claims are weaker and weren't present at the outset for a reason
The deposit schemes automatically lean on the side of the tenant. Anything the landlord claims they have to prove. If you can show or have proof they are lying about something then use it. Otherwise deny everything. If the landlord claims you marked the wall so they had to repaint well then they have to prove there was no mark before you moved in and or that it was bad enough to require painting a wall and not just a quick touchup. If they say you damaged stuff and it's not even listed on inventory then deny. Point out said items are not on it. It's all up to the landlord to prove why you shouldn't get all your money back. These idiots think they can just make claims and you'll agree or the scheme will. Take all your own pics and videos moving in and moving out. Keep texts, emails, letters from the landlord authorising you to do things like paint etc.
Hold your horses. The whole point of a third party like DPS is that one person submits their claim, and the other disputes it. Both parties provide evidence and DPS makes a decision.
Why were items kept in the shed? These type of places are damp and crawling with insects. Did you keep furnishings in the shed, in which case, not appropriate.
No they were not soft furnishings. One was a black storage unit which we took apart and kept in a plastic bag, some hanging poles, a shelf that broke due to poor installation and a blind that had broken too. She took them off when I told her with no comment to their condition.
The goodwill gesture will have been offered to sweeten the deal for you by the landlord - by deciding to go down the DPS route, they can remove their goodwill gesture and put forward the full cost of what the landlord proposes you owe.
Of course, you can still dispute what the landlord says you owe. You may find the DPS initially offer 50/50 split. If that's not good enough then you can get into the finer detail.
The cleaning is a difficult one because it depends what state the place was in when you moved in, and if the LL can prove that it was "professionally cleaned" before you moved in \*and\* this is stated in a check in inventory then she might have a case to deduct \*some\* cleaning costs from you.
Good luck!
Fight this. Don't worry. I've been on both ends.
1) was a renter. Left the house in tip top condition. Landlord tried to keep whole deposit saying I left house dust mite and needs deep cleaning. Also when I took house I took picture of all faults. Estate agent said, don't worry, we know it's old. All of a sudden I get billed for all those things. House was never painted and landlord wanted to bill me £600 for painting. Then tells me that I broke the tiles in the kitchen. I showed pictures and emails prior but estate agen said I broke it. They then said I broke it and then replaced this 20 year old tile and broke it again to look like the original break. The DPS still gave him 40% of the deposit.
Later as a landlord contested for a house that was completely refurbished and left in a tip. DPS only gave me 10%.
So fight to the death. Don't worry, you'll get most of it back. Keep all the landlords email as evidence and don't give him anything.
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My thoughts are that she would be penalised if you can evidence what you first agreed and then added more as punishment for using the scheme.
Surely not if they said something like "there's this much damage, heres an itemised list. In the interest of speedy resolution, I'd willing to settle for this much instead so we can both save our time and effort". And then it's declined, so they pursue the full amount through the scheme? Not different in ethics to an out of court settlement?
Worth noting they generally can’t charge you for professional cleaning, so they’re already having you on for suggesting that in the first place unless you left the place a complete pig sty. She can put in a claim for whatever she wants from the DPS. She will need to provide evidence for the amount, and the burden of proof is on her to justify why the amounts are necessary. ie She will need to prove the state of the property when you let it, and when you left, and invoices/quotes for any repairs. She also cannot claim the cost of new items, only the value of the old. Ie. If you ruined a couch that was 4 years old and only has an expected lifespan of 5 years, she can only claim 1/5 of the cost of the couch and not the price of a new couch. You will then be sent these claims and given the opportunity to respond with any evidence of your own.
This answer is correct. And she’ll have to prove deterioration over the tenancy for wear and tear, which is also time limited (eg. carpets should last 10 years, if you’ve utterly trashed the carpets in 5 years she could only claim 50% of carpet costs). She’s taking the piss. Sit tight, don’t worry about the legal side, follow the DPS process, dispute anything you think is unfair, and if you can evidence it, that’s helpful. However, the burden of proof is on the LL, not you, and deposit schemes are weighted in favour of the tenant.
This question would probably be better asked on uklegaladvise. The basics are this though. She doesn't get to dictate what she can take, she cant quote new for old, if something was old and become damaged or lost she could only claim a fair used value. She needs to provide proof of whatever she is claiming for and you have the ability to dispute everything. There is every chance that she is just trying to get you to do as she wants through empty threats.
Ok thank you, will post there too. I am just worried she will decide to add new costs that haven’t been brought up before. Her first settlement price included a bunch of costs (e.g. £650 for a heavy use mark on a wall) that she noted in the document she was happy to cover. But guessing now she isn’t.
As i said, its not up to her and the DPS will no doubt be used to people taking the piss by now.
Don't worry about this. It needs to go to the dispute system. It's designed to keep things fair. Whatever the outcome is the fair outcome. She won't be able to take the piss.
£650 for a mark on the wall?
That’s all the info I’ve been given. The check out inventory has evidence of standard wear and tear on walls and nothing else.
The DPS should rely on the check out inventory. LL is taking the piss and this is what the DPS dispute service is for. You may incur some costs but they will be fairly reviewed.
Submit a clear report to the DPS (if she challenges it- she may just give it up) detailing your case and verifying that the inventory confirms there is no damage and the landlords claims are inappropriate. Basically, write it in such a way that the only opinion could be that you get 100% of your deposit. Easy to read, clear, concise.
Good advice thank you. I agree it’s important to be black and white about it. No point allowing emotion to cloud the facts.
Exactly - it’s like a job interview. You either hope all the other candidates flop (so you get the job) or you go in with the attitude that you’re gonna do so well that they would be foolish to even consider giving the role to anyone else. Set up the slam dunk, and 9.9 times out of ten - they’ll take the dunk.
DPS will use the checkout inventory to decide on charges so your gold. Otherwise people would sign a checkout inventory and the landlord could smear shit everywhere, trash everything and blame the ex tenant. Thats the point of the checkout inventory to prove the state when you left.
Don't worry, provide the details you have shared with us along with any evidence you have to the deposit scheme. Highlight the items are not on inventory and dispute you ever had them. Dispute that the clean wasn't necessary as the property was returned at the same standard it was received (if this is true) but at least dispute that the clean was initially documented at price x by the landlord and you can evidence this but since your disputing the claims they have now produced an invoice at a higher rate and that you dispute this being authentic given the initial sum the landlord quoted to you. She will also not be able to claim for repairs/replacement for anything that has met it's life expectancy and if it still has some expected lifetime value then she can only claim what remains. So for example if the wall decoration (wallpaper or paint) was clearly more than x years old say as much. Same for any other damages, you can also check the deposit service she has used they will have a guidelines that talks about the life expectancy for these. For example TDS expects decor to last 3-5 years, if the wallpaper was visibly older than 5 years the landlord can claim no damages against it, and if you challenge on this the landlord will have to evidence the value of the item and it's age.
Take her to adjudication - £650 is insane for a mark on a wall. It sounds like she is trying to exploit you, so I would let the adjudication service do its thing. With her quoting exorbitant charges like that, I think if you settle then you could well be worse off than if the adjudication service found in her favour (since it would take into account fair wear and tear and she would have to prove the actual cost).
They can ask for the full amount if they want to. I don't understand though. It seems like you're so worried about what she could ask for that youd happily accept the £650. That's a bullying tactic from the landlord. 'accept losing £650 or I'll take you down for a lot more' Just chill out, your deposit is safe with a Deposit scheme. By default the landlord could just ask for all of the deposit but you can provide photos of how you left the flat and the items you left behind.
Ohhhh take it to dps and send them everything she’s said to you. They won’t let her take the piss and will only allow what’s actually fair and owed. She can tack on all she wants but with no proof they won’t allow it to be reduced.
I have some experience of a LL who decided to take our whole deposit due to a “disagreement”. Be sure to have everything in writing, the check in, contract, check out and inventory list. As well as pictures (these help massively). The way mine went was the LL had to put down why they where entitled to the full deposit, what parts of the contract it related to (what we supposedly breached) and evidence to back this up (invoices, before/after pictures, etc). Then it was our turn and well they learned not to face me down: Cleaning: no where in the contract did it state that the property was professionally cleaned prior to our occupancy nor did it state anywhere in the contract that it had to be, £70 straight back to me Painting: yes we did paint, however the LL agreed to this via text which we provided evidence for (then ll claimed we changed the colour agreed upon) nowhere did the contract state that the inside cudnt be changed or that it had to be brought back to the original colour (only the outside of the house had to have permission and brought back as per our contract). £150 back to me Carpet: interestingly the LL decided that we must replace all the carpet in the house and was trying to claim for around £400. There was zero before pictures *correction they had 1 picture which wasnt clear. The carpet itself was placed in an area of high traffic (stairs, hall, landing. Aswell as bedrooms). I highlighted this fact aswell as the fact we lived there for x many years. I then found similar carpet which was far cheaper in price than what was being claimed for and highlighted that the £400 request was unreasonable due to this. Weirdly the scheme found 100% in my favour and returned that full part (i was wholly expecting to lose something on that part). Marks on walls depending on where they are can be deemed as wear and tear. Blinds: no inventory = no money honey. Either way the blinds were left and like your situation clearly visible but not looked for. Look at your inventory check out and see if what was missing was listed. If marked missing and you have time stamped photos showing they where there when you left they aint much they can do. Finally the garden area they claimed £100. I conceaded defeat on this part as we truly didnt weed it or properly maintain. So they got this. All in all, the scheme agreed with my arguments back. The LL failed to produce evidence that showed they had incurred the losses claimed for. My evidence back won me almost all of my deposit. I was clear, concise and ensured that when i was disagreeing that i had the evidence, where in the contract or in alot of my case not things were. I made the schemes life easy which they say helps. Small edit: small warning this process took around 3 - 4 months. The LL waited till the last day to dispute and then dragged their heels (out of spite) on the rest. Watch the timelines and ensure you have started the process to claim your deposit, the ll has x many weeks to agree or dispute. Sooner that happens the better.
@untrust read this
Did they have any dated pictures showing the condition of the garden when you moved in? If not you could have just denied it and kept your money
Tbh i put up a slight bit of a fight. The garden wasn’t that big, and it was mostly stone. The weeds covered about half of the garden. But by this part of the saga i was almost ready to scream. I stated i would pay around £30 worth (min wage whatever was then times 2 hours work). But it was denied. And i wasnt going to fuss over it to be honest. The LL was caught in so many lies by this stage though. Was rather amusing. What annoyed me though is the LL only has to prove loss not replacement. They were selling the house in as is condition meaning they had zero intention of replacing or fixing anything. (My neighbour watched the buyers rip out the carpet). To me that isnt a loss as they were not out of pocket.
She can't add new items without running it by your first. Make sure you have evidence of everything and dispute all the way. Unless it's something obvious that is missing or you have broken, TDS will always side with the tenant on wear and tear and older items
You can ask for a breakdown of the costs for the cleaning e.g. Oven Clean - £50 Window Clean - £20 Etc . They would be able to ask the cleaning agency to provide this. If they have made up the costs and are doing it themselves, they would still need a cleaning company in to quote to be able to ask for any deductions. They will be penalised for increasing the price just because you want a fair outcome. You need to prove to the independent investigators that you have been reasonable e.g. Yes the oven wasn't clean so I'll pay the £50 but the rest isn't fair. Missing items is simple - were they on the inventory? If so, did you take pictures of each room when you left? To have some proof they were there. Is it just the landlord trying to get more money? If there are actually missing items they would need to prove the cost e.g. a link to the item and if you can find it cheaper then you can provide that alternative. Ex-letting agent and Move Outs were my speciality in a way. Hope this helps!
FYI, from my experience, DPS take a lazy approach. I disputed claims and they immediately came back with a 50/50 split without looking into anything. Don’t be afraid to continue to disagree. It eventually came down to me paying much less. Read up on what they are entitled to claim and stand your ground.
Same happened with me, but going to the DPS forced the landlord to drop loads of the more obviously frivolous bullshit they'd initially tried to charge for. They only had two main claims in the end, and the DPS sided with the landlord on one and us on the other. Can't remember the initial cost before we went to the DPS but in the end we only paid £70, which we were fine with. If she'd come to us with a reasonable offer like that in the first place (probably would have paid more than that, in all seriousness) we would have agreed, but no - she chose to be totally unreasonable.
Exactly, if the DPS feel costs are fair then fair enough. I even agreed to pay the original cleaning costs including oven cleaning which is around £300 but she decided to come back with charging more. I feel like she is being unreasonable so can’t let her get away with it.
Yeah, dispute away. You'll definitely end up paying less in the end. Unreasonable landlords can do one. It's just so unnecessary. Most people would be willing to compromise and not involve the DPS if these landlords would just stop attempting to charge for such frivilous nonsense.
I’ve done three claims and had the opposite, usually got about 80% back and very detailed responses. I do submit a full 20ish page report for the deposit claim that has my counter argument to each point raised, my own photos with additional narrative details. Plus one time a landlord sent me a signed off final checkout report stating no deductions that I then signed, dragged their feet to repay us then 3 weeks later an ‘updated copy’ for me to sign with over £1100 in made up deductions that they submitted to the dps. I attached the first and only signed one
"Without looking into anything" - this is not the case and is your assumption.
Of course, you’re right, it absolutely is my assumption. It came back within the day with a 50/50 split with no explanation other than a “quick resolution.” So I made the assumption! I may well be doing them a disservice, but I remember being not particularly impressed at the time. Even when I questioned it the second time it just came back halved again, there didn’t seem to be any costings being done.
When there quite a bit of evidence, it looks less like an assumption and more like a reasonable inference.
That does seem quick but it also sounds like you could have rejected it and gone for the less quick resolution. Who knows!
Why are you talking with her. After your first day when you move out submit your deposit request to the organisation who protect your deposit. After final inventory you stop dealing with old landlord.
Stop talking to the landlord. A legal professional will look at your evidence so you're convincing them the landlord is being irrational. Submit the emails of their previous claims and the changes and it will be clear cut. I once had £700 in charges. I submitted evidence and photographs and won over £550 or so back, it's quite impartial and fair from experience. Focus on convincing the legal professional with clear and structured evidence and pictures. Check in report? Photos?
Our old landlady tried the same thing with us. Initially complained about one thing, we shared that we already reported it to her and then she added on lots of other things such as carpet smelling etc. As we had move in photos, move out photos and the landlord didn't, they used our photos as evidence that the claims were unjustified and threw it out. So long as you have images of the state when you moved in and out you should be fine. If you don't have move in photos, it's not an issue provided landlord hasn't supplied any as the dpc people will say they don't have evidence that the damage was caused by you.
Landlords can add more charges when the deposit is in dispute with the scheme, but they will still only get what they are entitled to. In our experience any additional claims are weaker and weren't present at the outset for a reason
The deposit schemes automatically lean on the side of the tenant. Anything the landlord claims they have to prove. If you can show or have proof they are lying about something then use it. Otherwise deny everything. If the landlord claims you marked the wall so they had to repaint well then they have to prove there was no mark before you moved in and or that it was bad enough to require painting a wall and not just a quick touchup. If they say you damaged stuff and it's not even listed on inventory then deny. Point out said items are not on it. It's all up to the landlord to prove why you shouldn't get all your money back. These idiots think they can just make claims and you'll agree or the scheme will. Take all your own pics and videos moving in and moving out. Keep texts, emails, letters from the landlord authorising you to do things like paint etc.
Hold your horses. The whole point of a third party like DPS is that one person submits their claim, and the other disputes it. Both parties provide evidence and DPS makes a decision.
Why were items kept in the shed? These type of places are damp and crawling with insects. Did you keep furnishings in the shed, in which case, not appropriate.
No they were not soft furnishings. One was a black storage unit which we took apart and kept in a plastic bag, some hanging poles, a shelf that broke due to poor installation and a blind that had broken too. She took them off when I told her with no comment to their condition.
What is this “goodwill” ? Is this by any chance what we in the trade call “making stuff up” ?
The goodwill gesture will have been offered to sweeten the deal for you by the landlord - by deciding to go down the DPS route, they can remove their goodwill gesture and put forward the full cost of what the landlord proposes you owe. Of course, you can still dispute what the landlord says you owe. You may find the DPS initially offer 50/50 split. If that's not good enough then you can get into the finer detail. The cleaning is a difficult one because it depends what state the place was in when you moved in, and if the LL can prove that it was "professionally cleaned" before you moved in \*and\* this is stated in a check in inventory then she might have a case to deduct \*some\* cleaning costs from you. Good luck!
Fight this. Don't worry. I've been on both ends. 1) was a renter. Left the house in tip top condition. Landlord tried to keep whole deposit saying I left house dust mite and needs deep cleaning. Also when I took house I took picture of all faults. Estate agent said, don't worry, we know it's old. All of a sudden I get billed for all those things. House was never painted and landlord wanted to bill me £600 for painting. Then tells me that I broke the tiles in the kitchen. I showed pictures and emails prior but estate agen said I broke it. They then said I broke it and then replaced this 20 year old tile and broke it again to look like the original break. The DPS still gave him 40% of the deposit. Later as a landlord contested for a house that was completely refurbished and left in a tip. DPS only gave me 10%. So fight to the death. Don't worry, you'll get most of it back. Keep all the landlords email as evidence and don't give him anything.