Evidence Review and Adjudication

During this stage, Zero Deposit reviews the evidence and identifies whether there is any final opportunity to come to an agreement. If there is no opportunity to do so, we will refer the case to The Dispute Service, our expert adjudication partner.

The Dispute Service will review all the evidence and make a formal adjudication. During this period they may get in touch to request clarification. Any emails from The Dispute Service will be from [email protected].

We are bound by this decision, so will make payment of the defined amount to the landlord and request payment from the tenant(s).

Evidence review can take up to 5 working days and Adjudication can take up to 20 working days. 

You do not have to do anything on the claim system during this stage, so we have not provided step-by-step guidance. However, you may wish to understand what is happening during these stages. 

Evidence Review and Final Opportunity for Settlement

Firstly, Zero Deposit will review the evidence that has been submitted by both landlord/agent and tenant, alongside the latest claim value and the latest offer from the tenant. 

If we identify that there is an opportunity to reach an agreement before adjudication (for example, where the value difference is only small or where there is missing evidence that means part of a claim is unlikely to succeed) we will contact the tenant and the landlord/agent. We will explain why we think you may be able to reach an agreement and facilitate any discussions between you.

If it is clear that agreement cannot be reached or we attempt to facilitate agreement and it is not possible, then we will refer the claim to The Dispute Service.

Adjudication

The Dispute Service (TDS) is independent of both landlord and tenant. They manage the longest running tenancy deposit protection scheme in the UK and have 18 years experience of resolving disputes. All of their expert adjudicators belong to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. No-one is better placed to ensure that you receive a fair and impartial outcome.

The claim will go to one of TDS’s adjudicators, who will review all the evidence and make a final decision on how much is owed. They will produce a report to share these findings and Zero Deposit will then pass this report on to you, alongside confirmation of how much will be paid out to the landlord/agent and how much needs to be paid by the tenant.