Unipol/TDS Deposit Protection Scheme

Dispute Procedure

The scheme operates a dispute procedure which is an operational first level to the Deposit Protection Scheme.  Disputes can be raised by either a landlord or tenant and providing the deposit is protected under the Unipol/TDS scheme it will be subject to this dispute procedure.

The dispute procedure follows the following stages so far as is necessary to reach a satisfactory conclusion:

• Informal resolution between landlord and tenant
• Report dispute to Unipol who will liaise with both parties
• Unipol Deposit Protection panel will meet and adjudicate on the dispute
• If necessary, the case will be passed on to TDS for final adjudication

Dispute Procedure in Full

Disputes must be raised with Unipol within 3 months of the end of the tenancy

Stage 1

Whenever a landlord or tenant contacts Unipol to raise a dispute, all complaints are referred back to the parties for informal resolution. If no agreement is reached between the parties within 10 working days of a referral, or if the parties have already done this, then it moves to stage 2.  

Stage 2

If there is still a dispute either the landlord or tenant can report the matter to Unipol by completing the “Deposit Scheme Complaint Form”.  Unipol will notify the other party of the dispute raised within 5 days and provide them with the opportunity to respond formally within 7 days of the notification.  Based on the evidence submitted, Unipol will determine whether to proceed the case to stage 3.

Stage 3

If the dispute is still not resolved then it will be heard by a Deposits Panel consisting of 3 people. The Deposit Panel will not constitute a complaint under the Unipol Code which is a separate process. The membership of the panel is a Chair, a student member and a landlord member.

The Panel will meet every 21 working days on prearranged dates in July/August and September and cases will be referred to the next available meeting so long as three working days notice can be given to both parties. During the other 9 months of the year the Panel will meet 6 times on pre-arranged dates.  

For 2010-2011 the dates will be:

• December 7th 2010
• February 3rd 2011
• April 7th 2011
• June 5th 2011
• July 20th 2011
• August 10th 2011
• August 31st 2011
• September 21st 2011

Future dates will be set by June 30th 2011

Both parties will be notified of the date of the panel at least 3 days in advance of the panel and invited to submit evidence.  Each case will be considered by the panel who will suggest an outcome based on the evidence presented to them.   This is the final stage of the Unipol disputes resolution process.  

At the completion of the tribunal, each party will be asked to confirm their agreement to the decision reached by the Unipol Tribunal by signing a declaration to this effect. 

Where there is no agreement from all parties, TDS will make an adjudication to ensure the complaints procedure is complete.  The adjudication made by TDS will be independent from the initial decision but such a decision may be treated as evidence in TDS’s adjudication.  

The Unipol dispute procedure is free for users, but Unipol reserve the right to make an administrative charge of £100 to the landlord for the services of the Panel if it considers that there are an high number of complaints in relation to one landlord or where it considers a complaint brought by the landlord to be frivolous.  Unipol's decision in this charge is final and is independent from TDS.  

Stage 4

If either party still has reason to dispute the outcome, the parties can either;

• Refer the matter to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) of The Dispute Service for free dispute resolution, or;
• Take the matter to Court  

Assuming the parties are happy to refer the matter to TDS, any party can instigate a dispute by filling out form TDS2, and submitting it with evidence in support of their claim.   The Dispute Service will write to the other party, allowing them to comment on the claims and submit evidence.  The ICE will not go looking for evidence.  

The decision of The Dispute Service is final and binding on the parties.