Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

[ionfly]

Hi Folks, We've recently had an offer from PDA Solicitors to pursue litigation against our previous landlord for tenancy deposit protection errors. Over the phone they said they would take 25% of any potential award and that is all. Upon reading through the CFA (Conditional Fee Arrangement) and Terms of Business, it would seem that we could potentially be liable for alot more upon completion of the case. It does state in the letter of engagement that any fees would be capped at 25% of the award, but not in any of the forms I'm supposed to sign. I remember quite a few people getting stung during the PPI 'era', and having to pay thousands over and above their awards. Has anybody had any experience in this aspect of legal proceedings, or with PDA at all? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Celestine]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

Welcome to LegalBeagles xx

Firstly, well done for reading your conditional fee agreement thoroughly. They can be extremely complex and confusing, but the letter of engagement should marry up with what is offered in the contract.

Can you upload an anonymous image of the terms in the agreement that concern you?

I can't find much online about PDA such as reviews yet, so approach with caution, how did you hear about them? Why did you decide to use them?

[ionfly]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

The main points are that the CFA does not cover any proceedings taken by or against the client to enforce a judgement, does not include any counter claim, does not include any appeal the client may make against the final judgement order and does not include any work which Solicitors do which ordinarily would be funded by way of commission, such as the task of selecting certain ATE insurers.

Elsewhere it states that the Success Fee would be 25% of the award in the first instance and 100% in all other proceedings (i.e any appeal).

There is also alot about Disbursements, Interim Hearings, Basic Charges, Referral Fee Sharing etc which sound to my layman mind like I could get a massive sting at the end of the proceedings, whatever the outcome. To be honest, alot of it seems irrelevant in respect to what I was told over the phone (they take a 25% cut of any awards and nothing is paid directly from my account etc). We were told that there was a small risk that we should be aware of, which is the possibility of having to pay the opponents costs in the event that the claim is unsuccessful (however we have been assured that after the checks that have been carried out, the chances of that scenario are slim to none).

Embarrassingly, I heard about this through a friend of a friend on social media. This has raised a red flag for me, hence the research.

[R0b]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

It sounds like a one size fits all CFA and that's not uncommon to see from law firms, as it's time and resources spent on tailoring terms for different types of cases.

If your claiming against the landlord for failure to protect the deposit within the first 30 days then the court must award an amount between one and three times the deposit amount (the legislation says "must" so there is no discretion for the court to award no monies). The facts will generally determine how much you are awarded such as whether the landlord is experience or if it's their first time, if the deposit was eventually put into a deposit scheme at any point during the tenancy and when this took place.

In fact if you have the money to pay for the fees it's actually quite straightforward and should really be a form filling exercise.

[ionfly]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

Thanks Rob. I believe they've identified 3 errors. There are no upfront fees with PDA. My concern is that I get stung over and beyond the agreed 25%. I remember hearing about PPI awards being awarded to Pensioners in the region of £5-10K and they then receive a bill larger than their award, even though they went no-win-no-fee. Bottom line, I do want to proceed, but how strong a leg to stand do I have should it all blow up in my face, if the only mention of a 25% cap is in the unsigned letter of engagement? I have a young family and cannot afford to get hit with Solicitors bills that run into thousands. If the other side decides to appeal, am I I going to be left high and dry etc, etc?

[Diana M]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

I believe they've identified 3 errors. There are no upfront fees with PDA. My concern is that I get stung over and beyond the agreed 25%.

I'd like to know what those three errors might be and how any court would put a price tag on them since the sanctions mostly apply to current tenancies and deposits currently unprotected. You said in your first post that this is in relation to your previous tenancy.

When you left that tenancy did the Landlord refund all of your deposit or make any deductions which you disputed?

I can't comment on the CFA on offer but I do think you need to check (for free) whether you even have a claim against your ex-Landlord. You wouldn't want this to rumble on with you having to pay for the firm's disbursements only to find you can't claim a bean.

How much are they saying you can claim (how much was the deposit)? If you did have a court claim the DJ can use his discretion on how much to award and this is often only the full a mount of the deposit paid not any multiples of it.

Di

[ionfly]

Re: Tenancy Deposit Protect Claim - No Win No Fee - Scam? UK

Many thanks Di.

The original deposit was £875 and my understanding is that the 3 errors (one of which is that is was not protected within the 30 days) make the minimum payments up to 3 x £875. There are also 2 renewals which have yet to be looked at. The deposit was returned in full.

How would I check for free whether or not I have a claim against my ex-landlord?

We have been told that some costs are recovered from the other side, and that PDA will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the landlord/agent before starting proceedings. With no-win-no-fee surely I wouldn't be liable for disbursements in the event that there was no claim to answer?

[HarryHill]

IONFLY what was the outcome of this? Interested as I am looking at using them for a similar clam ofLL not using TDS scheme. Did you employ PDA in the end and if so did they only take 25%?