Important Information About Your Claim

Congratulations, the solicitor has confirmed to us that they have accepted your claim and they should have sent you out a copy of the paperwork to sign – this is the last step you need to take in order to start your claim.
This is sent to you by email as an eSign document, which means you can sign and return it online, without having to print it out.
If you haven’t received your paperwork, please check your spam folder.
If you still can’t find your paperwork, please send us a message or give us a call and we’ll ask the solicitor to resend it to you.

A Guide To Your Paperwork & Common Questions

We have written this guide to talk you through your paperwork and the process in a clear, simple, jargon-free language so you know exactly what to expect during your claim.

We aim to run through all the common questions we get asked to make sure everything is as clear as possible for you.

The paperwork is a long document and can seem daunting but we’ll explain all the most important points for you. All solicitors use the same basic outline which is drafted by the Law Society, which means it will contain a lot of legal jargon to ensure the contract is enforceable and legally correct.

Please continue reading below.

Fees & How They Work

This next section will explain how the fees work and if and how much you’ll be charged.
The paperwork is what is known as a CFA – this stands for Conditional Fee Agreement, and is more commonly known as a no-win, no-fee agreement. In simple terms, it means that the fee you pay is conditional on the case being successful!

Read more below.

Key Information About Costs

  • You Pay Nothing Upfront

    You pay absolutely nothing upfront! All the costs of running your claim are paid upfront by the solicitor, nothing comes out of your own pocket. This includes things like court fees, the solicitors time, enforcement, tracing work, everything!

  • No-Win No-fee

    All of our solicitors work on a 25% no-win no-fee basis. This means when you win your case the solicitor will retain 25% of what is awarded and you will keep 75%

  • Violations

    The only time you would be charged by the solicitor is if you are in clear violation of the terms of this agreement – we will go into this in more detail in the Fees FAQ below so you're totally clear about this point.

  • Solicitor Costs

    All of the basic charges, disbursements, etc, are paid upfront by the solicitor and then recovered from the other side as these claims are classified as a 'Part 8' claim. In other words, the solicitor will claim these costs back from the landlord separately to your compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fees

Below are the most common questions we are asked about fees along with detailed answers.

These types of claims are known as a Part 8 claim.

This means the claim will go through County Court, not a Small Claims Court. In other words, there would be a proper judge and the case would be presented and argued on legal precedent and case law. This process is more complicated for a normal person to do so the expectation is that a solicitor will do all of this for you.

With this in mind, it would be totally unfair on you to pay for a solicitor out of your own pocket, when it is your landlord that has broken the law and not you. Therefore, Part 8 claims ensure that the losing side, i.e. the landlord would be ordered to pay all legal costs, including the tenants.

In short, the solicitor handling your case will pay for all of the costs and fees required to bring your claim and then the solicitor will recover these costs from the landlord when you win the case.

This is why the costs such as hourly rates are listed in your paperwork, to enable the solicitor to claim those costs back from the landlord. If the solicitor does not include these costs in the paperwork, they won’t be able to claim it back.

Your paperwork will specifically state that the solicitor will seek recovery of all basic charges and disbursements from the landlord.

Yes – like any contract, if you break it, then you would be asked to pay the fees but let’s be totally clear about the circumstances in which this could happen;

1) If you settle the claim directly with the landlord. This does NOT mean if the landlord randomly transfers your deposit back – which happens a lot as landlords try to wriggle out of their situation! This clause applies if the landlord comes to you directly and suggests that you drop the claim and in return they offer to pay you ‘x’ amount. If you accept this payment from the landlord in order to drop the claim, this would make you liable to pay the fees. If your landlord ever tries to make direct contact with you once the claim has started, please let the solicitor know as soon as possible.

2) If you just drop out of the case. We understand that things happen in life sometimes, if something major comes up and you need to delay the case, please speak to the solicitor as soon as you can. Provided the case has not already been issued to court, the solicitor should be able to delay your claim.

This really only applies as a breach when you simply refuse to engage and vanish. The solicitor will make multiple attempts to contact you and they will also let us know so that we can try and reach you.

3) If you provide false or fraudulent information. This is the most important of them all and to be clear, the solicitor is not expecting you to be an expert or have a perfect memory, you are however, expected to answer honestly. If you are unsure about something please do not try to guess – simply say you are unsure.

To give an actual example from a real case, we had a tenant change the deposit amount on the tenancy agreement from £100 to £1,000 in order to inflate the value of the claim, this is a clear example of fraudulent information. This is very rare and is not something you can do accidentally, as long as you act in good faith and honest throughout the process, you will not be charged.

In each of these cases you would prevent the case from going ahead whilst stopping the solicitor from being able to recover the money and time they are putting into your case. To be very clear, in the 8+ years and thousands of claims we have handled, only 2 clients have ever been charged for doing this.
If you lose the case, you do not pay us or your solicitor anything. All claims are managed on a no-win, no-fee basis.

The only way you would be liable to pay and fees is if you lose the case because you have lied or your claim is fraudulent.

Now beyond that, these claims are Part 8 claims – which means the losing side pays the legal costs of the winning side. However its very important to note, this would only apply to you if you lost the claim in court; there are two very important reasons that won’t happen;

1) Before the solicitor issues the claim to court they will conduct a detailed final assessment of your claim. If based on the information available at that point they think you are at risk of losing the claim, then the case would simply be closed at no charge to you.

2) The cases are very factual and black & white, either your deposit was correctly protected or it wasn’t. We KNOW in your case, your deposit was not protected correctly to the letter of the law. This means as long as we argue your claim correctly (which of course we will), a judge has to award in your favour.

We have been doing this for 8 years and handled thousands of claims successfully, as long as you are honest with us, the risk is absolutely minimal.
It’s important to understand that the claim is NOT just for the return of your deposit, the claim is always for any of your deposit back plus compensation on top.

Our team should have messaged you with an estimated value for your claim, if this hasn’t come through or you need it sending again, please let us know.
Summary on Fees

You pay 25% of the compensation that is awarded to you at the end of your case.

You never pay anything upfront, nothing comes directly from your own pocket.

The fees listed in the paperwork ARE NOT payable by you, these are charged against your case and then recovered from the landlord.

The only way you would be liable to pay those fees is if you break the contract in the ways set out above.

General Questions About Paperwork

This next section will answer some key questions and explain other terms included in your paperwork.

Read more below.

Frequently Asked Questions About Your Paperwork And Claims

Below are the most common questions we are asked about your claim paperwork along with detailed answers.

Legal jargon for physical fees that have to be paid out.


Basic charges are things like the hourly rates which is the time spent by the solicitor managing your claim.


Disbursements are actual chunks of money to be paid out, with the court fee being the most obvious one. Others disbursement examples would include things like a ‘tracing agent’ if they needed to track the landlord down or a costs of hiring a bailiff if they needed to enforce payment against the landlord.

This is legal jargon for the cost of the solicitors time.

No, all you pay is the 25%.


All of the basic charges, disbursements, etc, are paid upfront by the solicitor and then recovered from the other side (the landlord) as these claims are classified as a Part 8 claim.


Basically, the law makes a provision for you that says, these claims are complex and you probably need a solicitor to assist you to bring the claim. You are not the person who broke the law, so it would be unfair and prohibitive for you to have to pay these costs. Ultimately, the landlord is the one who broke the law and has to bare those costs.

From your point of view, there is no difference at all – Both are capped at 25% of the compensation that you are awarded.


The difference is purely technical for the solicitor, it is there on the very, very, very small off-chance that the case be transferred to small claims court – It allows the solicitor to still be paid under the DBA.

This is probably one of the biggest concerns a lot of our clients have, however, it is something we are very used to dealing with and not something to be scared about.


A landlord can bring a counter claim if they believe you owe them money, this can be for two things;


1) If you owe them rent from the property.

2) If you have damaged the property.


In both cases this will be handled by the solicitor.


A couple of things to note is that the property does not have to be in perfect condition – Fair wear and tear has to be taken into account. Secondly, a small amount of damage isn’t the end of the world, it would only be an issue if the value of the damage is equal to or higher than your minimum claim value.


The most important thing to note is that it’s not enough simply for the other side to allege these counter claims. They are going to have to provide detailed evidence to show that you owe them money. In a nutshell, provided you are honest with us, this isn’t something you need to worry about. It would only be an issue if you have caused significant damage to the property or not paid your rent.


The solicitor will deal with any alleged counter claim as part of the case. What they will NOT deal with, is a proven and valid counter claim, so if the other side (landlord) can demonstrate that you owe them a substantial sum, the solicitor reserves the right to end the agreement.

The short answer is no and no they cannot simply refuse to pay, plus if they don’t pay, you do not pay a penny.


If the other side refuse to settle the matter out of court, the claim will be issued and once we win the hearing, we are granted a county court judgement – better known as a CCJ against the defendant.


A CCJ is a serious thing. Firstly, it will destroy the landlord’s credit score, making it hard for them to renew or get a mortgage, loan, credit card, etc. It will even prevent them from working in certain jobs.
Secondly, there are a number of steps the solicitor can take to enforce that CCJ, including but not limited to; placing charges against properties they own or sending bailiffs to their property to take goods.


Because of the serious nature of this, it’s incredibly rare that defendants do not pay up.


However, in some rare cases, for example they go bankrupt, vanish abroad or if they are a company and go into liquidation, we cannot enforce the payment. In this instance, you pay absolutely nothing – the 25% comes from what is recovered.

As we mentioned before, your case is split into two parts.


Part 1 is your compensation and part 2 is the costs of running your claim.


Ultimately, a court have to award both a minimum sum of compensation and they have to award costs. As above, the defendant cannot simply decide to pay one part and not the other.

The file is kept under constant review as we await the landlord’s defence.


Common reasons include the other side providing evidence the deposit was in fact correctly protected or if they were to go bankrupt. In these cases, the claim would be closed with no charge to yourself.

That should cover most questions about the paperwork itself but what about the process? What can you expect along the way?

The claims are very ‘hands-off’ for you. Once you sign the paperwork, the solicitor will get straight to work on starting the claim.

The Claim Process

The solicitor has to follow a strict process when bringing these claims, which are set out in a bit of legislation known as the ‘civil procedure rules’. These rules govern how cases have to be run to satisfy a court and it is so important that these steps are followed closely.

Read more below.
Below is a basic outline of the claim process to give you an indication of what happens and when, plus some potential scenarios.

  • Formal Letter Before Action

    The very first thing that will happen is a formal letter before action is sent out to the defendant.

    In this letter, the solicitor will set out all the details of the claim, how the law has been broken, what we are seeking in compensation, as well as making clear they (the solicitor) are acting on your behalf in this matter.

  • 14 Days

    The letter will give a time frame – usually 14 days for the defendants to reply.

  • Further Timescales

    After this stage, claims will vary as it depends on what, if any reply the solicitor gets from the other side (the landlord).

    Assuming they do engage and reply to the letter, the solicitor will make you aware of what has been said. Sometimes they will come back making an offer, equally they might come back trying to make some sort of counter argument or defence.

    The solicitor will review all of this and discuss the content with you to ensure you get an outcome you are happy with.

    The majority of claims do settle without the need to go to court, even the most stubborn, aggressive and difficult landlords often realise once the solicitor is involved, they cannot win and the costs to them will only increase if the claim does go to court.

  • What If They Don't Respond To The Letter?

    This does happen occasionally, especially with the first letter - in fact, it's a pretty common tactic to try to ignore it and hope that it goes away!

    If the defendant ignores the initial letter, this is when the Civil Procedure Rules we mentioned above kick in. The solicitor is required to make numerous extra attempts to contact the defendant, this can be time consuming and frustrating. We know some defendants will intentionally delay everything to the last possible second essentially in the hope that you get frustrated and drop out of the case.

    Please understand that whilst these delays can seem annoying and it can seem like the solicitor is behaving strangely by just sending letter after letter, it is a crucial step they have to take.

    But Why?

    Let's say you send one letter, or even two, and you get no reply but you decide to issue the claim to court. The landlord arrives in court and may deny getting the one letter and a judge has the right to either throw the claim out or force the solicitor to start the whole process again, which causes a huge delay. In the absolute worst case scenario, the judge can even rule that because the case has not been run correctly, it cannot be brought again.

    Whilst this part of the process can seem frustrating, it is vitally important. The solicitor has an obligation when they arrive in that court room to show a judge that they have made EVERY REASONABLE attempt possible to make the defendant aware of the case and settle it without going to court, so please bare with them.

    Once they have completed this process, if either the defendant has ignored everything or has failed to offer an acceptable settlement amount, the solicitor will issue the claim to court. The solicitor will prepare all of the relevant documents and pay the court fee, they will also attend the actual hearing and argue your case with the judge.

    Please note: Some courts do have long waiting lists. Once the solicitor submits to court for a date, we simply have to wait, there is nothing the solicitor or anyone else can do to speed that process along.

  • How long will the case take?

    It is impossible to answer how long the case will take as there are so many variables that are hard to predict.

    Some cases resolve relatively quickly, others can take a long time. It largely depends on the other side and if they engage with the process. The aim is to try to get the matter settled and the hope is that they engage with the solicitors’ initial letters. In terms of timing, the worst thing is if they simply ignore everything - we can still take the matter through the court and obtain a judgement in absence, but this is a slow process, as for how they will react, this we cannot predict.

    Overall, the process is very hands off for you, the solicitor will deal with everything. There might just be spells were it feels like not a lot is happening, as they are having to wait for the court or to give the landlord a set amount of time before they can move forward.

Offers

The hope is that the case can be resolved without the need to go to court. This makes the process much faster and it means you get your money sooner.

We previously mentioned, the solicitor has a legal obligation to try to resolve the matter without the need to go to court.

Next, we’ll talk you through ‘offers’ and what that means for you.

Read more below.

Your Landlord Makes An Offer - What Does It Mean?

First off, the other side (the landlord) can offer you anything they want.

Offers can include totally insulting offers that are much less than the legal minimum you are entitled to or on occasion, they can be reasonable and fair offers.

Please note: The solicitor has to present any and all offers to you, no matter how bad they are – we think this might actually be a tactic employed by some defendants in the hope that it annoys you so much that you drop out or fall out with your solicitor.

So, if you think an offer is too low, please don’t get angry, simply state that it’s less than you’re happy with. The solicitor will also advise you to reject poor offers. Sadly, there is nothing we can do to stop defendants from making these offers, but solicitors are legally bound to present them to you.

Global Offers - What Are They?

A global offer is a specific type of settlement offer that a defendant may make in tenancy deposit claims.

Although they are not very common, it’s important to understand what they are and how they work, just in case you encounter one.

In simple terms, a global offer is a single lump-sum payment that is intended to cover both your compensation and the costs of running your case.

To clarify, your claim is generally split into two parts:

  • Compensation

    This is the amount awarded to you for the landlord’s failure to comply with deposit protection rules.

  • Costs

    These are the expenses incurred by the law firm in handling your case, which are typically recovered from the other side.

When a global offer is made, the defendant does not separate these two parts.

Instead, they propose a single amount that combines both compensation and costs.

If such an offer is accepted:

The solicitor’s costs are deducted first.
The remaining balance is treated as your compensation, from which the 25% is deducted (as discussed earlier).

Things to keep in mind with Global Offers

  • Solicitors Must Inform You

    Your solicitor is required to present any offer made by the defendant to you. However, receiving a global offer does not mean you should accept it. Every case is different, and it is important to carefully consider the details of the offer.

  • Potential Downsides

    Whilst global offers are not always disadvantageous, they are sometimes used by defendants to frustrate claimants. For example, the lump-sum nature of the offer can make it unclear whether you are being fairly compensated or whether the costs are adequately covered.

  • Your Rights

    If your case goes to court, the court is obligated to award:
    A minimum amount of compensation.
    Reasonable costs to cover the legal expenses.

    This ensures fairness and prevents you from being left out of pocket.

Can I reject offers until I'm happy with the amount?

Yes – Within reason. It’s important that you listen to the solicitor’s advice. If an offer is rejected and your claim ends up going to court, a judge could take the view that the offer made was fair and reasonable and could therefore deem your claim to be a waste of the courts time and either; throw the case out or simply award the offer amount but refuse to allow the solicitors costs (as they are seen as having wasted the courts time)

The solicitor will use the vast experience they have in this area to guide you on any offer that has been made. If you are unhappy and would like to seek more, by all means discuss this with the solicitor – if it is possible for them to push back, they will, but ultimately it’s important to be reasonable. Clients who refuse to accept offers less than the maximum could put their claims at risk.

Are Tenant Angels Involved In This Part Of The Claim?

We are not directly involved in the running of your case, this will all be done by our partner law firm. However, we are there in the background should you have any issues with your case.

Updates
We are never directly updated on your case, nor do we have access to your case file, so please ensure you contact the solicitor directly for updates on the case.

Issues
Of course, if you have any issues, or something does not make sense, please do reach out to us and we can then get involved.

Finally, when your case settles and you get the money, we would love to hear from you. It’s always great to receive an update from happy clients!

Complaints or Problems With Your Claim

Whilst we have an incredible 5-star reputation from 100’s of reviews and the fact we select our partner solicitors very carefully to ensure high quality work with a seamless experience for you, we understand that issues can sometimes happen. Issues are extremely rare but we want to reassure you that we have a robust complaints procedure in place should you encounter an issue.

The first step should always be to speak with the solicitor directly. In many cases the issue is a simple misunderstanding caused by confusion over technical language that has been used.

However, if after speaking with them, you still feel something is not right, please do get in contact with us – you can call or message us on WhatsApp. For the fastest resolution, please send an email to dan@tenantangels.co.uk – In your email you should set out the details of the complaint and the issues you are facing.

We aim to reply to all emails initially within 48 hours. Depending on how much information you have provided in the initial complaint, we may request more information in order to answer your query.

We will then open a formal investigation into the issue you have faced. This will involve us speaking with the law firm and getting full details about your case, including what has happened over the course of your claim.

Finally, we will contact you with our findings and aim to come to an amicable resolution – The timescale for this process is approximately 14 days from your initial complaint.
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How Do I Get Updates On My Case?

Once you sign the paperwork, the process does start to slow down a little. It is likely that over the past few days, you’ve had a lot of contact from us so once you sign the paperwork, please let us know and we will confirm with the solicitor and drop you a detailed update of what will happen next.

From that point, the case will start. As mentioned previously, there are parts of the claim that involve pre-set waiting periods where the landlord has to be given a fixed amount of time to reply or we might be waiting on a hearing date from the court – the solicitor should update you on any notable changes. The solicitor will only be in touch with meaningful updates, they will not continually email to say they are still waiting for a hearing date or a response.

Equally, if a letter has been sent giving 14 days for the defendant to reply, please note that they will not always update you on day 15. It is common practice to allow a few extra days. Up until now, you have been used to speaking with us at Tenant Angels who are always on hand to speak with you. Solicitors are a little different in that they might have court hearings that day or have to prioritise a case that has a set deadline. It would be unfair to judge their speed of response based on our timescales.

If you have been waiting a while for an update, always feel free to drop the solicitor an email or call their office.

If you are really struggling to get a reply, please do get in touch with us. Whilst we cannot update you directly, we can speak to the partner firm about getting an update for you – however, please do not contact us without first reaching out to your solicitor directly whilst allowing a reasonable amount of time for them to respond.

Who Are Your Solicitors And How Do You Pick Them?

All our solicitors are fully regulated by the SRA and have a wealth of experience in running housing claims and tenancy deposit cases.

Each law firm is hand-picked by the business owners, Dan & Emma, who carry out detailed due diligence on each law firm to ensure they work to the same high standards that Tenant Angels do.

Every law firm is held to strict standards. We are under absolutely NO contractual obligation to refer any particular law firm a case, and any law firm found to fall below our high standards will immediately be removed from our panel – this helps to ensure a high quality service.

We have worked with many of the firms on our panel for years and they have managed thousands of cases for us. We could not and would not have the exceptional reviews and reputation that we have without our partner law firms.

Still Have Questions About Your Claim?

We hope this guide has been helpful.

Please take your time reading through the paperwork, take a look at our 5* reviews on Google & Trustpilot, and visit our success story section on our website which has recent example cases to give you an idea of how they work.

If you’ve read through the information and frequently asked questions above and there is something we haven’t covered, please get in touch to speak to a member of our UK based team.
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