Acknowledgement of Service (part 8 claim) - Defendant

[Tommyboy79]

I have been involved in a legal dispute with a former tenant since July 2019 when they moved out over their security deposit. They instructed a solicitor who wrote to me on 2 occasions and I in turn have wrote back to them to argue my case. My last correspondence to their solicitor was at the end of August and I thought this was the end of the matter however I have received today in the post a Claim form (CPR part 8), a county court statement and an acknowledge of service (part 8 claim) form to complete. I am unsure what I need to do here in this situation and need some advice.

[Amethyst]

Is the claim anything to do with failure to put the deposit in a deposit protection scheme?

[Tommyboy79]

Yes it is. The former tenant is claiming that I didn't secure the deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme so is claiming the deposit and 3 times the amount as compensation. further more, I moved the tenant to another property in 2015 when I sold the house and they are claiming again I didn't secure the deposit and claiming 3 times the amount. So the sum is £3450 plus costs (£575 rent) they are claiming for. The issue here however is that the tenant is (or was) a close family friend of me and my parents so I never took a security bond from them in both cases. We just had a 'gentlemen's agreement' that I wouldn't take a bond as I knew them and they were close friends. I never thought it would be an problem but they are now claiming they did pay me a bond on both occasions, hence why they have instructed a solicitor and put a claim in to the county court.

[Amethyst]

You did not take any deposit in the first place though ? Does your tenancy agreement/documents say that you did ? ( eg did you try helping him out by putting in the documents that a deposit was due/paid ? )

There is no law that you have to take a deposit, but if you do, you must put it in a protection scheme.

[Tommyboy79]

I did not take a deposit from them in either 2012 or 2015 because they were family friends. They are saying they did give me a bond. I have other properties I rent out and know you have to protect the deposits as I have done with my other tenancies. I didn't take a bond from the claimant because they are close friends however I did write a tenancy agreement myself coping wording from the internet and an old tenancy agreement that an agent did for me in the past and I amended the details and did leave in the wording about their being a bond in place. This is where it is getting messy as the solicitor has said I wrote in on both tenancy agreements in 2012 and 2015 therefore a bond was in place however I have disputed this and said I had this verbal agreement in place to not take a bond as I knew the tenant. I have asked on 2 occasions for my former tenant to provide proof they gave me a bond (such as a bank statement or receipt) but they have not supplied me with anything, claiming the tenancy I wrote is the only proof they need. I have checked my bank statements from 2012 and 2015 and can find no evidence of a bond so I am 100% confident I didn't take a bond on both occasions.

[Amethyst]

You're not going to have an easy time defending the case with that Tenancy Agreement stating that a deposit was due and paid. Have you done annual statements or anything through the tenancy?

When does your tenancy agreement say the deposit was/should be paid? Was it payable with the first months rent? How was the first months rent paid?
You could have accepted the deposit payment in cash. Have you got them to disclose how they believe they paid it?

These kind of claims are going to be on the increase as claims companies scavenge about for new business ... eg . https://www.depositrecoveryclaims.co.uk/testimonials/
and same firm https://www.mckayssolicitors.com/ser...eposit-claims/
Can't risk being nice to people any more

[Tommyboy79]

It is a lesson learnt to never rent to friends or family. I don't do annual statements to the tenants no. The tenancy agreement I wrote just says the bond of £575 will be hold on this property. The first tenancy started 10th December 2012. The tenant has said they paid a deposit but they have not said how they paid it. I have checked my bank statements and there is no record of a bond being paid. the only money received was there monthly rent. I don't have any record of them giving me a cash deposit and again they haven't provided me with any proof they did. In my last letter back to their solicitor, I advised the solicitor that the tenant has a 6 year window to claim a financial penalty after the deposit was not protected in 2012 and that they could not pursue me for this as the time limit had expired. I read this online with the Statute of Limitations Act. I thought they wouldn't be able to take to court for this at is was statute barred and it would be thrown out. Would this still not be the case?

[Amethyst]

The argument will be that the time limit for a claim starts from the end of the tenancy since that is when the deposit becomes repayable. There isn't any case law on the matter as yet as far as I am aware.

[Tommyboy79]

How I am best to reply on the acknowledgement of service (part 8 claim) that I have received (see attached). ? I am not prepared to accept the claim and pay £3500 plus costs for bonds that were not paid. Do I tick Sections D and E, giving my reasons as well tick section E and provide a copy of my 2012 and 2015 bank statements showing only rent? Do I also need to include the letters I wrote to the solicitor with my comments of statute barred?

[Amethyst]

Yes you can complete D as that's to say the claim should be a part 7 rather than a part 8 claim, and although it is correct that it was brought as a part 8 claim there is now a substantial dispute of the facts ( ie a deposit was not paid ) - that should push it over to the small claims court procedure.

You also want B and E. Although it is extremely difficult to evidence something that didn't happen ( ie that they didn't pay you a deposit ). Bank statements yes. You should attach the tenancy agreements as well ( did you not even zero the amount of deposit payable ? )

The tenancy agreement I wrote just says the bond of £575 will be hold on this property.

Write a witness statement signed with a statement of truth.

Any emails/ text messages at all from when you told them what to pay etc or was everything just in person ? It is likely to be a 'he said/she said" issue but your having left the deposit details in the tenancy agreements is going to be a big hurdle.


You rent other properties and have deposit protection in place - that will help show that you know and follow your obligations.

When they moved properties in 2015 - so ended the 2012 tenancy - did they ask for return of their deposit ?( no because it wasn't paid in the first place) - was there any reason for you to withhold their deposit ?( no damage etc ) - did the 2012 deposit just get moved over to count as deposit for 2015 tenancy ?( harder to answer).


The signed tenancy agreements are going to be important though

Any outstanding rent ? Dispute on damage when they left in July ? Did they ask at any time for their deposit back at the end of the tenancy ? ( any texts/emails etc about the deposit etc ? )