What your landlord was supposed to do
In England and Wales, landlords who take a tenancy deposit normally have 30 days to protect it in an approved scheme and give you the required paperwork.
If they missed that deadline, or never protected it at all, you may be able to claim compensation of one to three times the deposit amount.
RentersProtect checks your tenancy against the deposit protection rules at no cost.
Why this is easy to miss
Most renters assume their deposit is protected because they received keys and moved in. That is not always true.
Protection can be late, incomplete, or missing entirely. The only way to know is to check your specific tenancy against the rules.
What you could be owed
A qualifying breach can lead to a county court ordering your landlord to pay between one and three times your deposit on top of any deposit return dispute.
The value depends on your tenancy dates and what your landlord actually did. RentersProtect can check that for you.