After a release request has been started, you can negotiate to reach an agreement on the deposit release
The tenant can view the property manager’s initial proposed release terms and respond, either accepting a settlement or offering a new amount.
The property manager can then respond either accepting the tenant’s proposed amount, proposing a revised amount they wish to claim, or entering the original proposed amount.
There is no limit on the amount of negotiations or proposals the parties can make. The aim here is to consider the evidence provided and be open to negotiation and finding a resolution that works for all parties.
Both parties can accept settlement amounts by selecting ‘Accept settlement’ under each settlement.
If all the proposed settlement amounts are accepted, you can click on ‘Accept all’ to confirm this.
The deposit will then automatically be released to both parties on the agreed terms.
Payment will be made within five working days.
Under each settlement, there is an option to select and click on ‘Offer new amount’ when you can enter a new offer amount
Enter the new proposed amount for all relevant settlements and add a comment to explain the reasons supporting your proposed amounts.
Once this is complete, click on the ‘Renegotiate’ button and confirm your offer.
Yes, the property manager can add a new settlement during negotiation and the tenant will be notified.
The option to add a settlement is next to the ‘Settlements’ section on the Release request page.
Yes, evidence can be added by either party throughout the negotiation process.
We advise that evidence is added at this stage as it can help with reaching an agreement between the parties.
The chat feature is available for both the tenant and property manager to discuss settlements and negotiations.
Documents and evidence can be shared and saved to settlements. Once a document is shared in a message, you can select it by clicking the three dots to the left and clicking ‘Add as evidence’. You can then select which settlement you are adding the evidence to.
This can be useful when sharing quotations/estimates or invoices during negotiation, or if new evidence is available.
Chat messages are saved to the release request so that our resolution team can see these later, if required.
You will have three months to negotiate a resolution from the time the release request is started.
If no agreement can be reached during negotiation, then a formal resolution can be started by either party.
The case will automatically be sent to our resolution team if neither party selects ‘start resolution’ within the allowed time,.
This makes sure a successful resolution can be reached.
If either party fails to respond to a settlement proposal within 14 days, the release request will be sent to our resolution team automatically.
This is to prevent unnecessary delays in the return of the deposit.
If no agreement can be reached during negotiation, the case can be referred to our resolution team who will try to reach a successful outcome.
The case will be assigned to a case assessor who will:
- thoroughly review all the evidence provided
- contact both parties and request any additional evidence or information they may need
- look to find an agreeable resolution outcome for both parties
Where a successful resolution has not been reached, the case will be referred to an adjudicator who will assess all the evidence and issue an outcome.
Either party can choose to take the case to resolution after one full round of negotiation. You can do this by clicking on ‘Initiate resolution’ on the right of the screen.
This is the chance for both parties to confirm their final evidence before resolution is started
This is the last opportunity to review your evidence and any comments you have made, so please make sure you check through everything you have provided.
Once confirmed, all the evidence will be referred to a case assessor who will initially review the case.
Both parties will have 5 calendar days to confirm their final evidence, starting from the next working day after resolution is started.
Ifyou have already provided all the evidence you feel is relevant, you canconfirm your evidence immediately, or wait for the timer to expire.
Any evidence that is not confirmed within the time allowed will be automatically confirmed when the deadline has passed
The evidence will then be referred to a case assessor who may or may not request additional evidence.
If neither party confirms their evidence during the time allowed, both sets of evidence will be automatically confirmed and referred to the case assessor.
The evidence will then be referred to a case assessor who may or may not request further evidence.
We will attempt to resolve your case in the quickest time possible but the resolution process can take up to 90 days to complete
In most cases, the case assessor will either resolve the case within 28 days or refer it to an adjudicator within this time
The adjudicator will have another 28 days to issue the outcome.
The comments and reasoning of the case assessor or adjudicator will be shown underneath each settlement on the release request tab
The comments can be viewed by logging into your online portal and selecting the relevant release request.
Yes, once an outcome has been provided by the adjudicator a link will appear at the top of the ‘Settlements’ section which you can click on.
This information can also be found here.
You will receive any amounts awarded from us within 5 working days.
Either party can choose to take their case to court, rather than use our resolution service, by clicking on ‘Initiate resolution’ and selecting ‘Take to court’.
The first party choosing the court option must provide evidence of court proceedings being started within six months of making that choice
Our resolution team will then review the court documents and:
- if satisfied that a court claim has been successfully started, we will wait for the final court order/judgment or
- request more information or other documents to show that proceedings have begun and will contact the party if needed
Once the court order has been issued:
- either party can upload this to our system by attaching the document under ‘Court outcome’ in the ‘Resolution’ section of the release request tab
- our resolution team will then review the court order and release the deposit in line with the instructions in the order. We may ask for additional information or documents if needed
The party who chooses court has 6 months to provide evidence of court proceedings being started. This time begins from the day ‘Take to court’ is selected.
Either party can provide evidence of court proceedings being started by uploading documents under ‘Evidence of court initiation’ in the ‘Resolution’ section of the release request tab.
If we receive no evidence in the time given, the deposit will be released to the party who did not choose court.
The party who did not choose court will be informed that the allowed time is expiring. They will be able to release the deposit by logging onto their portal, going to the relevant release request and confirming the declaration.
Our resolution team will then review the court documents and:
- if satisfied that a court claim has been successfully started, we will wait for the final court order/judgment or
- request more information or other documents to show that proceedings have begun and will contact the party if needed
Once the court order has been issued either party can upload this to our system by attaching the document under ‘Court outcome’ in the ‘Resolution’ section of the release request tab.
Yes, the party who initially chose court can move the case back to resolution if they would prefer to use our resolution service.
This can only be done once, and the case must then proceed through our resolution process.
Once our resolution team have received the final court order and reviewed it, the unresolved amount will be released.
The resolution panel is where you can find any active release requests. Just click on ‘Resolution panel’ on the left of the screen, under the ‘Activity’ section.
You can find it:
- on the resolution panel page by clicking on the release request ID number beginning with ‘RR’
- through the ‘Deposits’ page if you are a tenant, and the ‘Deposits’ and ‘Tenancies’ page if you are a property manager
- from any relevant emails or text messages we have sent you
This will reflect the current position of your case in the process.
Our resolution team has received your case and it is currently being assessed or adjudicated.
This means a new settlement proposal has been made by the other party which requires your attention.
A message symbol with a red dot on the right of the screen next to the resolution status means you have a new unread chat message from the other party.
You can go directly to the message by clicking on the symbol, or the release request ID.
The activity panel provides a timeline of events relating your release request(s). Here you will find times and dates of various actions taken by both parties as well as our resolution team.
Please check the activity log for any updates. This is the quickest way to find answers to any questions you have and may avoid the need to contact us.