lost deposit

[s_terrington]

Help
My estate agent Property Magnate, E16 has stopped trading and disappeared whilst holding my tenants £1500 deposit.The deposit is being protected by mydeposit.co.uk However, mydeposit are stating that the agent is acting on behalf of me and I am liable for the deposit as and when my tenant decides to move out.
They have underwritten this deposit yet it seems this insurance company will not protect me, the landlord, an innocent victim of the demise of an estate agent.
What are the chances of the small claims court forcing the mydeposits.co.uk to pay up on their insurance for the lost deposit?

Thanks in advance.
Steve

[Ericthelobster]

Blimey. This sounds like a pretty fundamental issue - are you sure it isn't covered in mydeposit's T&Cs ?

[s_terrington]

this is what they are saying. I suggest everybody that is unsure of the solidity of their estate agents, ask to hold your deposit yourselves. It seems that I'm going to have to put a lot of effort into getting them to pay for his deposit.

I can see by the few replies that this appears to be an uncharterd piece of news on this forum

[Ericthelobster]

this is what they are saying.

I'm sure they are; but have you checked yourself?

[attilathelandlord]

I suppose there are two issues here:

1) Agent acts for landlords, therefore if the agent (and disappears) then the landlord is liable to the tenants for the deposit. (law of agency)

2) Agent acted as deposit taker and as such had to insure the deposit. The only parties to the insurance scheme would be the agent and the tenant. The landlord would not benefit from this insurance. However, surely the tenant would need to recover the deposit from the insurance scheme in the first instance because that's what they've been insured for.

If they get no joy from the insurance scheme then they may well come after the landlord.

It seems there is a potential clash where the tenants have two places to go for the return of their deposit whereas the landlord has nowhere to go. If the agent has ceased trading then you can be sure they have no money. Unless of course they were bonded in which case the deposit should be safe.

[s_terrington]

attila,
your point 2 is exactly the situation. When this goes to the small claims court, my bet is the insurance company are going to push all responsibilty in my direction, as they have already suggested. It seems as if we can't win

[Paragon]

Isn't this the group that is partly owned by the NLA and some insurance broker Fraser something? What does the NLA have to say about this?

[Ericthelobster]

The deposit is being protected by mydeposit.co.uk

Who is protecting the deposit? That URL doesn't work; neither does www.mydeposit.com.

[PaulF]

Unfortunately it's the old, old story I keep banging on about - if you used a regulated agent you have a much better chance of getting your money back

[Paragon]

Try this one! http://www.mydeposits.co.uk.