Anyone challenged landlord for non protected deposit ?

[rowbotham]

Dd rented a flat last year. It was an absolute dump when she moved in , we had had to take it on a video viewing and were shocked at its condition. I posted on here for advice at the time . We cleaned it , repaired wardrobe doors that were off the runners etc. Landlord was terrible at fixing important things like the boiler so dd gave up asking for little things to be fixed ( ie no door handles ) . The plumber, on one of his many visits to try and bodge a boiler repair , told her that her landlord was the worst one he had ever dealt with as wanted everything done on the cheap.
She moved out last month , leaving flat in a much better state having spent a whole weekend cleaning ( this is the girl who gives me tips on cleaning grout properly!)
Ll since refusing to refund deposit , saying he is disgusted by the state of the flat, citing all the things that were missing / broken on arrival. Dd sent him photos of everything from the day she moved in ( there was no inventory) so he has had to back down but found a patch of mould that she hadn't photographed and is withholding £315 for that.
It transpires that the deposit was not placed in a scheme, despite him assuring her then and now that it was. She has contacted all the schemes and no one had it and he won't give specific details ( because he is clearly lying ) she gave him x days to refund her deposit in full or she would investigate this and he hasn't budged .
Next step is to take him to court for not putting deposit in a scheme . This seems to be easy on line but has anyone actually done it ?
Am happy to fund this if needed as the bullying fuckwit needs to
Learn he can't do this and lie and get away with it .

Which part of the UK are you in? The procedure is a bit different between England and Scotland.

I have no personal experience with this - although where I'm living now a previous tenant had her deposit returned direct from the landlord's account, so perhaps it's coming (the landlord has already shown himself completely ignorant of the law problematic in other areas). I'm in Scotland, but I know someone who works for this organisation in England: https://www.justicefortenants.org/ which might be worth a chat.

Thanks
In England
Will have a look at link

Not done it myself but it’s a really straightforward process.

This link explains it well.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/how_to_make_a_tenancy_deposit_compensation_claim

Sounds like she should do it and in those circumstances, she may even get more than the deposit back.

I successfully did it several years ago. Very simple process. Note that you can claim the deposit back plus three times the deposit. The LL unsuccessfully tried to counterclaim for alleged damage we had made. Went all the way to court as LL refused to mediate. The judge advised that as it wasn’t protected we were automatically entitled to the full amount so the only thing to consider was the counterclaim which we proved due to all the pictures we had taken. Good luck!