It is claimed by the Deposit Protection Service that during 2014 one in six landlords that were required to submit evidence after agreeing to dispute resolution either, missed the deadline or provided no evidence… this means an automatic ruling in favour of the tenant.
The DPS, which protects deposits during tenancies and provides a separate independent adjudication service for disputes, claims that 17.63% of landlords missed deadlines or failed to respond.
Tenants were even less likely to submit evidence on time, with over 22.86% either providing evidence after the deadline or failing to deliver any at all.
“Too many landlords and tenants are shooting themselves in the foot during disputes by failing to get us the evidence we need to assess their cases. We do everything we can to make sure both parties understand what’s needed and by when, and it’s important that both landlords and tenants meet the 14 calendar day deadline.” – Alexandra Coghlan-Forbes, Head of Adjudication, the DPS
During 2014 failing to submit any evidence at all was more common than missing deadlines, with evidence from 10.37% of landlords and 15.77% of tenants never being submitted.
The best way to avoid a dispute is with a video inventory and schedule of condition report. Should a dispute arise then you will automatically have the best possible evidence available to submit to the DPS.