New figures show that the Deposit Protection Service is protecting more deposits than the other two schemes. Further, its users experience the lowest level of disputes at the end of a tenancy. In the last year, the DPS recorded just 0.81% of tenancies using its adjudication service. Leading the way on disputes is property damage, followed closely by cleaning and redecoration requirements. There are sometimes more unusual claims, such as removal of cockroaches and repairs to a garden after a tenant dug up a dead dog! After the dispute process, the DPS returned 18.5% of deposits in full to the landlord or letting agent, compared to just 9% by one of its competitors and 18.2% for the other. In contrast, 54.7% are split between landlord and tenant with 26% being refunded in full to the tenants. DPS Director Kevin Firth said “Landlords and letting agents are as worried by bad tenants as tenants are by bad landlords – but both sides can be assured that they’re dealing with a completely impartial dispute service should they need to use it. The DPS’s track record is solid – we consider all the evidence provided in the case carefully, and make an unbiased decision, as demonstrated by these latest figures. As long as a claim is substantiated with conclusive evidence, tenants as well as landlords should be warned – they can’t expect to default on rent, cause damage to properties or fail to fulfill tenancy conditions and then look for a deposit pay out because our adjudicators work hard to weed out false claims.”