Tenancy Deposit Scheme
If your deposit is protected with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), its help centre has sections on returning your deposit and on deposit disputes, and its page on raising a dispute explains how to send one online for a deposit your landlord or agent holds (an insured scheme). Where TDS holds the deposit (a custodial scheme), your reference looks like EW1234567. Where your landlord or agent holds it, it looks like uh7sbj8gk.
Good to know
TDS's own page on complaints gives 0300 037 1000 for insured protections where you have a certificate code, and 0300 037 1001 for a custodial protection, with deposit account numbers beginning with EW. GOV.UK also lists 0300 037 1000. For an insured dispute, TDS says you must first have asked your landlord or agent for the deposit back and given them at least 10 days to respond, and that it can only consider disputes sent within 3 months of the end of the tenancy. The pages we read do not give opening hours.
Before you call
Have ready
- your case-sensitive TDS Tenancy Certificate Code, to raise an insured dispute
- the date you asked your landlord or letting agent for your deposit back: for an insured dispute, TDS says you must have given them at least 10 days to respond
They can
- take an insured dispute online: you complete the dispute forms online and do not submit evidence at that stage
They cannot
- consider an insured dispute sent more than 3 months after the end of the tenancy: its page says it is unable to consider your case
- adjudicate an insured dispute until you have tried to resolve it directly with your landlord or letting agent: its page says so
In the emergency guides: My landlord won't give my deposit back →
- Phone
- 0300 037 1000
- Website
- https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/
- Coverage
- England and Wales
- Languages
- English
- Last checked
- October 10, 2026
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Shared by FindAngel.org — free, always · https://findangel.org/resources/uk-tenancy-deposit-scheme/