£2M of rental deposits go unclaimed
10.01.11
Despite the current economic climate, the DPS reports that millions of pounds of tenants deposits go unclaimed.The DPS protects over 670,000 rental deposits of which £2M is yet to be claimed.15.9% of unclaimed deposits belong to people who have rented in London. A reported 729 Londoners are still missing a large chunk of money, a sum that could come in very useful post-Christmas. “There is still a significant amount of unclaimed monies and tenants are missing out on money which is rightfully theirs. We are committed to repaying deposits as quickly as possible – and text message notification has helped enormously with this challenge but unfortunately some tenants are still not keeping their contact details up to date, putting their deposit in limbo,” explained Mr Firth, director of the DPS. Thanks to the new SMS initiative, the DPS has returned over £3M of rental deposits since last year."We introduced a text messaging service to help remind users to re-claim their deposit at the end of their tenancy, a tactic that has so far helped £3m of unclaimed funds find its way back to its rightful owners."Stephen Ludlow says, "All tenants should ask their landlord for a copy of their DPS certificate once their deposit has been protected. This is really important, not least of all to help claim back their deposit if they decide to move. Tenants can significantly aide their deposit return by keeping their landlord and the DPS updated with their latest contact details. By doing this they can have their deposit returned automatically rather than risk it floating in the ether. The DPS' text message system has been widely welcomed as it has helped to make the deposit process even more straightforward. Deposits are typically of a high value, at least a month's rent, so it is worth protecting properly by following the DPS' simple tips."
Source: www.thedpsblog.com