UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has a template for a settlement agreement to settle a dispute by the Tenant on unprotected deposit. I feel like we are to reach an agreement but need it documented.

As a new landlord renting to a friend, I was unaware of this for 4 years. Proceeded to protect it and the Tenant (ex-friend) decided to claim compensation for the time that it wasn't protected. As the contracted was renewed once, they are asking for 3x the value of the deposit (715 deposit) x4 for the two contracts, which with solicitors fees of £1288 amounts to £10.000!!!

Wow, with friends like that....

Where does the x 4 come from if it was just 2 contracts ?  Frankly, I would rather take my chances with the court than roll over. If you want to settle I would get your own solicitor to take this on. 

There's no definitive answer about whether multiple claims should attract multiple penalties and the claim of a three times penalty is at the top of the scale - and letting to a friend in a situation where the deposit was returned in full (for example) shouldn't be the top of the range.

But they can't claim a four times multiple for 2 failures to protect.

The problem is that the claim sounds like it's from a claim mill. With each negotiation the fees increase dramatically, while the claim won't. If the claim goes to court, the claim firm will advise that they took the claim on a provisional basis and request a win bonus which will increase the fees further. And there's no chance of the OP winning.

Settle for as little as you can get away with.