Does he get his deposit back?

[Gracelet]

Client of mine sacked me with no warning and now he's demanding his deposit back - can he do this??

What does the contract say? But no, not usually

You've given the minimum information possible. How can anyone help based on that?

What's the deposit for?
If the person holding the deposit can't deliver the goods or service then they should return the deposit.
If deposits were just refundable to the depositor when requested there would be no point in having them on the first place.

What more information would you like? I'm a freelance writer and this particular client suddenly decided he didn't like my writing style so I got an email out of the blue sacking me.

Informal arrangement and no contract, though an hourly rate was agreed and the hours stipulated. I'm now left with allocated hours that I won't be able to fill because of the sudden nature of his decision.

No inkling that he was going to do this, he's been happy with all work to date, bar one piece.

I can provide the services, he's just suddenly decided that he's sacking me and demanding his deposit back.

So what is the deposit then ?
I think given you have no contract and it's all informal you'll struggle to argue much.
He should pay for all services rendered to date but it's going to be hard to argue for future services if there's no terms and conditions covering your arrangement

Then I would suggest that he is failing in his side of the 'contract' and consequently the deposit should not be returned.

There clearly is a contract. It may not be written down but it still exists. You do work and he pays. That is the contract.

What was said about the deposit when it was paid? What is it for? If it was a part payment, it may be refundable. If it was a deposit, it probably isn't refundable.

Deposit non-specific actually, this client was a former friend. I asked for £150 to be held on account and he was happy with this. I've since done work that he now won't pay for.

The deposit is balanced against monies owing for work completed. How much does he owe you? Surely you hold the cards here?

Take the cost of the work done out of the £150 and return the rest, or if you have done more than that send him a bill detailing the work and deducting the £150 to arrive at what he owes you. He may well not pay, but I would only give back any amount of the deposit not already used.

That sounds like a pre-payment rather than a deposit. If he owes you more than £150, keep the deposit and remind him that he needs to pay the balance. You can, if necessary, take him to court to recover anything he owes you. If he owes you less than £150, keep what he owes and return the rest.

Depending on what was said when you agreed to do the work, you may have a claim against him for the hours allocated to him that you are now unable to fill. If that is the case, he owes you for those hours in addition to any work he hasn't yet paid for.

Thank you everyone. I think I know the way forward now.