Thanks for the heads up. I did however ask them (verbally) to return all the money to myself, as none of it belonged to the other tenant. I'm livid that they feel they can distribute it as they please after the contract ended, as now I will probably have to go through the Small Claims process. Are you saying this isn't advisable?

Not sure where to start with this one! I rented a property with my partner and a friend over a year ago. My friend was skint, and in the interest of getting the property, I (foolishly) paid his part of the deposit (so I had paid two thirds). My partner and I moved out in January, effectively ending the contract, however my friend stayed on with other people with a brand new contract. I verbally reminded the letting agent that I paid his share and I would need it back. However they kept it and used it as payment for the new deposit. I have since been chasing my friend for the money back, but he's effectively said he's keeping it. I've now emailed the letting agent asking for it back, as they have effectively breached the contract (?) by not returning the deposit back to the depositors. Note that they have also not notified me of any other reason to retain any money (i.e. due to damage to the property). Can anyone give me any advice on this? I think it's quite obvious to be honest, but a spot of sanity checking wouldn't go amiss! Cheers.

I'm not sure you understood my question ... Or maybe I don't understand your answer?

Hello all, We this is certainly getting interesting. I got a letter yesterday along with a cheque for the amount I had asked for along with a letter saying they don't admit liability and they're only doing it for commercial reasons. However! They've misspelled my name (slightly) on the cheque so it's useless. I emailed them about this (direct to their legal representative) and she apologised. I asked for a new cheque and she started making it conditional which I found a bit cheeky. I said they can just cancel the cheque, but no, they can't do that. I offered to write "VOID" on the cheque, scan it, and then email it to them. But no, that's not good enough either. I said I'll send it back when I get the replacement, but no! I offered to film me shredding the cheque too! But no! I said fine, I'll send it back but you'll have to increase the value of the new cheque to cover my time and expenses, and I wasn't prepared to subsidise their mistake especially after all the alternatives I offered. It's now reached deadlock and I said I'll request judgment if I don't get a new cheque by the 12th, because they have failed to settle in time due to a technicality. She basically said go for it and then said: "I will be resisting robustly any request for a judgement in default." Does anyone have any advice on this? Am I being unreasonable, and how do you think the court would respond? I'm not entirely sure what happens when I request judgment, as I've never done this before.

pampam: Good luck to you. However I think you should not have paid the penalty and taken it through the appeals process. I did that without sending them a penny and they eventually decided not to defend 2 weeks before the tribunal was due to commence.

How do you account for your time? I thought £15 was quite conservative for 4 letters plus queueing at the post office and research. Of course I can't prove any of it, so does it sound reasonable?

I filed a claim against them on the 19th. It's now been issued and they've got until March 10th to respond (I think). I'm claiming £30 for the ticket, £30 court fees and £16 in expenses. My expenses were one recorded delivery letter (£1), and then £15 for my time (which was about 1 paper letter and 3 emails), was that the right thing to do? Or is that unreasonable or not allowed at all?

Hi all, the appeal was booked for March 10th but I got a letter today saying that the council will no longer be contesting my appeal. Thanks for all the advice, peeps.

Well I've sent them an LBA now. The way I see it is that the ticket was just invalid, simple as. The law applies to everyone, and if Barnet Council can't even be bothered to run their own administration properly, then I want the money back whether I was liable or not. For the record I was in a loading bay which I didn't know at the time, and it wasn't deliberate, as it looked like an ordinary bay and I didn't know the area too well. I haven't used that in my case against them, and I don't think ignorance is an excuse anyway. I just want restitution on legal grounds, even though it's just £30. I'm quite enjoying it anyway, my theory is that right or wrong, they'll just give it back to make me go away.

I'm probably in the minority, but I'd hold out for the £70 too. They've been playing hardball with you for ages, now it's time to give it back - and it's your money! Plus if they don't cough up you can stick on interest and re-claim charges which will make it all the more satisfying. But anyway, yeah, I say get every last penny, unless you're absolutely deperate for the money.

Heh. That sounds good to me too.

aceades: I'm dealing with my sister's money claim and you're in the same boat as me, same bank and everything. They're defending too, and my sister is probably filling out the next court form as I type this. The time for negotiating is over, by the way. Screw DG, don't waste your time trying to negotiate with them, the ball's in their court and you just need to show you mean business. Stick to the court route, they'll crack without your prompting, they're just trying to get you to bottle it.

Hi, I just wanted to offer my support. My sister's claim seems trivial in comparison to yours, and I think you've been shafted more than most, especially having an IVF to show for it too. I just hope you get every penny back! Please don't settle for less or let them grind you down. It's your money! Every penny! Good luck!

Hi BankFodder, Yes, it's my sister's claim. They offered to give her the money in full, but only by paying it into her bank account when she wanted a cheque. They said they would only pay up but not if it involved a cheque. We do ask for a cheque in one of the letters, but they still won't. When they sent the letter saying they'd pay in full, they asked my sister to fill out a form which she did, but I told her to alter the agreement to say a cheque was necessary instead. So they sent her the form again telling her she didn't fill it out properly. She called them to discuss and gave them a choice: cheque or court. They still said no and that she can do what she likes.

Hi guys, We're still battling this out! I can't believe how long it's taking. HSBC did make a full offer, but they said they would only pay it into my sister's bank account, even though we requested a cheque. They're disputing this, and we got so fed up with them saying they won't send a cheque that we just sent them the LBA and then finally filed the court claim. They're now defending this and my sister has a letter from the court asking for another £100 as allegedly HSBC want to see this through (?). Can anyone allay our fears or let us know if this is normal? Have we made a booboo by refusing the money into her current account and insisting on a cheque?