I recently went through My Deposits dispute process. It took both a significant period of time to get through and it is clear the adjudicators will side with landlords / estate agents on most matters. While the people I reached out to on the chat were helpful, the undisputed amount was released 4 weeks late - I was told this was unusual but that is clearly not the case based on reviews. I presented detailed evidence that clearly demonstrated that the landlord and estate agents/checkout - who tried to claim £250 from our deposit for a professional clean on a very tenuous basis including a couple of falsified pictures - provided a fictitious checkout report, including saying everything was dusty which was not the case as everything had been dusted, hoovered and wiped down before leaving. The evidence I submitted clearly showed this, including through videos, pictures and a written report. The arbitrators report seems to go purely off the landlords evidence which is biased and inaccurate, not least because the check in report shows the flat in the same condition (I included photos in my evidence from when we moved in which clearly demonstrate this as theirs were blurry, seemingly on purpose). I even demonstrated that the landlord was clearly occupying the flat between tenancies and this seemed a highly convenient way of covering cleaning fees. Looking at some of the reviews above, the adjudicators are not seemingly consistent in their rulings as some landlords have not been able to vclaim for damage such as painting on walls vs our situation where we returned the flat in better condition including having filled cracks and done proper painting to even out surfaces which certainly had not been done when we moved into the flat. The whole process feels geared towards landlords and estate agents who are their primary customers and they don’t want to lose. If you are a tenant, be very wary of using them as they are not a safe pair of hands or impartial adjudicators. I have one prior experience of dispute with another company where the landlord tried to claim cleaning charges (seems like a favourite option to retain some of tenant’s deposits as it’s hard to dispute) and was treated far more fairly than this.

I talked with Hannah today for my deposit account. She give me great help. She is a clever, nice girl. Thanks very much for her.

As always, the My Deposits help support was excellent and especially so today when I was assisted by Hannah who could not have been more professional, courteous and a pleasure to deal with in quickly protecting a new deposit (insurance backed).

Great customer service today from Clare-Louise. Really clear and helpful information and guidance about my deposit dispute.

Really helpful, fun, professional and super polite Thank you Hanna

Needing some help and advice today I phoned My Deposits and spoke to this fantastic adviser - Lynn. Not only was she extremely professional and knowledgable but also very helpful, personable and nivce. If only all call advisers were like her!

My tenants moved out in April and created over £2k of damage and did not want to use the dispute resolution service. Mydeposits is supposed to give them 6 months to take the matter to court and release the deposit to me if they don’t. 6 months ended in October and obviously they have not initiated court action as they cannot dispute the damage they did . I have been chasing Mydeposits ever since for the money to be released to me and I am writing this review at the end of December. I paid out for the repairs in April so that new tenants could move in and I have been out of pocket for months. I spent over an hour on the phone trying to resolve this a month ago and am still no closer. They blamed a system change for the issue but I can’t see how that can be my problem. I am still waiting for an acknowledgement to an email I sent over 2 weeks ago. Looks like I am going to have to take legal action against them to get the deposit. I will NEVER have a custodial deposit with them again.

This is a dreadful company in stating it is capable of adjudicating but unable to understand the basics of law. My tenant left the place with child graffiti on the walls and admitted to this in emails to me which I sent in evidence. I deducted £150 to rectify The damage yet MYDEPOSITS returned the entire deposit to the tenant. I suspect this company is either incompetent or has an ideology towards the left. Neither making it a trustworthy company.

Just come of a call from Scottish Nic :-) Nic was so helpful and understanding to my queries, it makes such a change to speak to someone who listens, tries to find solutions. Have to say a massive thank you for the great service which is very rare these days! Well done Nic, Merry Christmas to you and your family!

My experience with Mydeposits has been nothing but positive. Yes you have to wait at least 3 months before you get your result, maybe a bit longer, but if you're patient like me, it's well worth it. All the negative reviews on here have said they side with the Landlord but mine is not the case. Our student house got back 2 thirds of the deposit that was withheld & we are more than happy that we persevered the agonising wait for our result. Mydeposits deal with hundreds of students at around the same time of year requesting their money back so please be patient and they will deal with you if they feel that you have been unfairly deducted of your deposit. The lady on customer service is very polite & understanding of your grievance. Give Mydeposits a chance.

Fraudulent company! Complete scammers. Ignore all national landlord-tenant guidance when decided upon deposit returns. Refuse to respond to complaints.

Thank you Claire for the kindly support about the deposit release process.

The phone call was efficient and effective with Hannah. She sorted out everything for me.

Clair was very helpful on my issue and went above and beyond to help me today

I recently went through My deposits dispute process. They asked me all the evidences and mail chains. The whole process took 10-12 weeks for arbitrator replies and conclude the case. What i liked: - Easy to raise the dispute and able to track the whole process - They provide easy way to upload the documentation required What i disliked - The whole process looks like sham - In my case, I presented detailed way of how the owner violated the contract and raised my concerns in a detailed manner. When my arbitrator replied - there was no statements on those concerns. The owner didn't even properly claim what he needed, but the mediator assumed what is the concern from the owner side and judged the case just from photos. - I am not even sure whether the mediator gone through the contract even when highlighted the violation of the contract - In my case, me and my owner had only one specific issue and we agreed of End of tenancy cleaning charges. But the mediator replied that it seems from the pic that it needed extra cleaning, so he added extra £65 for cleaning even though there is no such claim from the owner. - In another case, the owner just uploaded an invoice to state the worktop is damaged. The mediator just awarded 20% of that invoice to the owner, there was no review of whether the invoice makes sense and whether that product will take that much charge to replace. In summary i feel, Mydeposits doesn't want to lose owners money - it is owners and rental agencies are their primary customers. So they don't want those people to move away from the platform - so they adjudicate mostly in favor of the owners. So as a tenant try to avoid them.

Late in repaying deposit - with no compensation. Yet again I had to find a way of contacting them (their online chat function once you've logged in hasn't worked since I joined earlier this year) to find out why my money hadn't been returned after 6 working days since the release date. I was told, after a considerable wait, that there had been a problem with the payment and it would take two more whole days for money to be returned. Totally unacceptable and unprofessional. Avoid.

I have been using mydeposits for years and always had a good experience with staff that I have contacted for help. Today on customer services I spoke with Claire-Louise who gave an excellent service and I would definitely highly recommend this company.

Nic was amazing she really went above and beyond to help and make sure everything was sorted, Thanks so much and have a lovely Christmas I hope you get a good bonus at Christmas for all your hard work 🎄😁🌲

I would like to thank Georgia and her team for their support in successfully recovering my deposit from my letting agent. Their professionalism and efficiency ensured a smooth process, and I would confidently recommend MyDeposits for their excellent service.

I am deeply disappointed by the unprofessionalism and unethical way of work I experienced with MyDeposit during my case. My experience has been riddled with inefficiencies, poor communication, and a lack of adherence to their own guidelines. -Repeated Requests of Evidence and Mishandling: I was asked three separate times to submit the same rent payment documents&emails regarding the August rent waiver. Despite complying each time, the lack of attention of Mydeposit resulted in the partial and sided upload of my evidence. This disorganisation directly impacted the case and ultimately the decision. -Biased Decision-Making due to lack of attention: The adjudicator based their decision on only the first part of the landlords’ email (saying "wording of the email, phrases" yet completely ignores a full direct sentence), either ignoring crucial evidence or not given fully. This evidence included the landlords' explicit offer to waive rent in exchange for withdrawal my complaints and following the request for my bank details. Despite this, MyDeposit chose to side with the landlords, who have consistently engaged in manipulative and threatening behaviour and did not even bother to process my following complaint, disregarding their own standards. The landlords themselves initiated the rent waiver, yet when the matter moved to mydeposit, they completely changed their stance and played a game to distort the truth. Shockingly, MyDeposit appeared to accept their narrative without fully considering the evidence. -Failure to Follow Procedures: According to MyDeposit’s own guidelines, complaints about errors or missing documents after the decision of the adjudicator, the case should be handled by someone with no prior involvement in the case. However, upon resubmitting the email thread and pointing out omitted evidence, MyDeposit failed to comply with the guideline. They did not assign a new adjudicator to reevaluate the case, despite their policies clearly stating that cases should be reassessed in instances of errors or missing documents. Instead, they ignored the new evidence, raising serious concerns about fairness and impartiality. -Disregard for Ethical Concerns: The sequence of events with my landlords highlights the lack of ethical oversight by MyDeposit. Initially, my landlords engaged in threatening and homophobic behaviour, prompting me to file a police report. When they realised the seriousness of the issue, they offered a rent waiver and safe return of my deposit upon inspection if I withdrew the report. Trusting their promise, I took the police report down. However, they later reneged on their agreement. When I submitted my case to MyDeposit, they initially rejected it, citing the "past" police report as a barrier. Only after I clarified that there was no active report did they agree to proceed. Yet when the landlords retaliated by filing their own police report to disrupt the process, MyDeposit took no action to warn or address the landlords' behaviour. This double standard is unacceptable and demonstrates a lack of ethics and accountability in their handling of cases. -Unclear Communication: MyDeposit failed to provide a clear explanation as to why significant parts of my evidence and correspondence were ignored by the adjudicator. Additionally, they did not address the arguments regarding the missing evaluation of omitted documents, leaving me without any transparency or justification for their decisions. This lack of communication undermines trust in their institution and raises concerns about the integrity of their processes. This entire ordeal reflects poorly on MyDeposit's professionalism and commitment to justice. Their failure to follow their own procedures, combined with their inconsistent treatment of ethical issues and lack of transparency, eroded my confidence in their ability to fairly adjudicate disputes. I will be raising these concerns with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as other relevant authorities, to ensure these practices are scrutinised and addressed.