Claim Process Overview

If you have a rent only claim and/or you are looking to find out more about our revolutionary 1 working day guaranteed rent claim process, then have a look at our explanation and guidance here (though be reassured that you raise a claim in exactly the same way and we take care of the rest!). 

If your claim involves any other forms of financial loss (e.g. damage, cleaning, decorating), then the claim journey is below. It's worth noting that a claim can be agreed or withdrawn at any stage of the claim process - and we currently see 40% of cases resolved by the end of self-resolution - but the full possible process is (please click on the links to see specific guidance):

Raising a Claim - You have 28 calendar days from the end of tenancy to notify Zero Deposit of a claim. During this period you need to attempt to resolve any financial loss directly. If that has not been possible, then a claim will be raised. If there is no claim, then you still need to let us know that the tenancy has ended.

Tenant Response - Once a claim is raised, a tenant has 5 working days to respond to that claim. They can agree to the claim or say how much they believe is owed.

Self-Resolution - A claim will then enter self-resolution, a new stage where you and the tenant(s) can negotiate to come to an agreement about the amount owed. Our claim support team will facilitate this. This stage will last 5 working days, with a further 5 working days if needed to continue negotiations. 

Landlord/Agent Evidence - If self-resolution has been unsuccessful, we will then ask you to provide evidence to support the claim. There are 5 working days to do this.

Tenant Evidence - The tenant(s) will then have 5 working days to review that evidence and provide their own. Once this is complete you will be able to see their evidence.

Evidence Review - We will then review the evidence to identify: a) if any clarification is needed; and b) any final opportunity to reach an agreement on the claim amount. This will last a maximum of 5 working days, but normally be shorter.

Adjudication - The Dispute Service (TDS) will then adjudicate on the claim. This lasts up to 20 working days and provides a final judgement on the claim value. Zero Deposit is bound by the TDS decision.

Payment - If you provided bank details when raising a claim, we will make payment within 2 working days. This can take up to 10 days to reach the account, depending on the bank. If not, we will ask for details and then make payment. From the tenant perspective, once the claim is finalised, we will ask them to make payment to us of that amount.