Thanks for your response. I realise I have to go to court but the question is which route do I need to go? can I use "money claim online", do I need to complete a N1 or a N208? unfortunately I had to put the whole deposit into dispute as the LL has not officially confirmed how much he wants to deduct and what for! all I had was a text say if I agree to £150 he will release the remainder or come up with a sensible counter offer.

Hi All, I am having a nightmare with my previous LL. We have completed all of our contractual requirements. Inventories were carried out at the start and end of the tenancy by an estate agent. (The estate agent were not managing the property but were hired by the LL to find nd vet new tenants). The exit inventory states no issues with property and this has been passed to LL. The LL is refusing to authorise release of our deposit he has failed to give me a legal reason why. First of all he tried saying that we had 2 kids so there must have been some damage at the property (this is a joke as we have only just had our first child and he has just turned 3 months when we left) and wants £150 deduction from the deposit. He is now saying that he had to pay for an entry inventory and fees we need to pay for exit and other fees. The Estate agent did the exit FOC and I have had no other invoices. As he i seeing unreasonable and the deposit is protected with TDS I raised a dispute and submitted all my evidence. The LL then refused for TDS to adjudicate so they are now holding my deposit awaiting court action. I have served him with a notice before action letter and I am now preparing to go to court. My question is: I was going to submit my claim via the "Money claim online" website as this is cheaper but at the start it states not to be used if reclaiming a deposit that has been protected? Where do I go from here? can I continue the submission or do have to go another route? Many thanks in advance