This week on #ExpertView, Kelly Wallace – Senior Business Development Executive – talks about how we are making life easier for our customers.
Deposit protection legislation came in to force over 10 years ago making it the law for landlords and letting agents alike to protect deposits taken on assured shorthold tenancies. The Act was designed to achieve two objectives: ensure that tenancy deposits are protected in a Government-authorised scheme; and provide a free dispute resolution service if parties are unable to agree on how the deposit should be allocated at the end of the tenancy.
In an industry with an ever growing list of regulatory requirements, complying with deposit protection legislation may be seen by some as a time-consuming process. At TDS, we want our customers to feel that their deposit protection provider is a benefit rather than a burden and we are constantly exploring ways we can make deposit protection quicker and more straightforward for our customers.
Deposit Protection under one roof
On 1st April 2016, TDS launched a Custodial scheme to run alongside the existing Insured offering. For the first time, agents and landlords had a choice of Custodial providers and transferring deposits between schemes became possible. For many landlords and agents, this was a welcome opportunity to streamline their deposit protection and bring all of their deposits under one roof.
We often see agents using a combination of Insured and Custodial schemes or existing TDS Insured members with historic deposits lodged with an alternative scheme following an acquisition or merger. Previously, deposits lodged with a Custodial scheme provider were unable to be moved mid-tenancy but with the introduction of a switching agreement between the tenancy deposit schemes, we can facilitate a seamless transition of data and deposit monies from one Custodial scheme provider to another, enabling you to manage all deposits under one roof.
For more information about the switching process and how you can maximise the effectiveness of your deposit protection provider, please visit the switch to us page.
Improvement through Innovation
As the only not-for-profit deposit protection provider, TDS is unique in that we can invest any surplus back into the scheme to continue improving our already multi-award winning service. We are constantly introducing system updates to better benefit our customers and make the user journey as seamless as possible.
TDS Custodial customers can now enjoy benefits such as the pre-populated Prescribed Information, a tenant changeover function and multiple user access. Registering deposits shouldn’t be a laborious task and to ensure a slick and simple process, we have also introduced a bulk import option in both TDS Insured and TDS Custodial, enabling members to register multiple tenancy deposits by simply importing a spreadsheet.
We are currently working on an API (Application Programming Interface) which is currently in beta testing. Watch this space for further information…
About the author:
Kelly Wallace has been part of The Tenancy Deposit Scheme for four years, initially within the Dispute Resolution team, progressing to a central role within the Customer Relations department and now the Senior Business Development Executive. Kelly’s focus within TDS is membership, business development and growth; this encompasses all aspects of new business across both the Insured and Custodial schemes.
About TDS
Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is a Government-approved scheme for the protection of tenancy deposits; TDS offers both Insured and Custodial protection and also provides fair adjudication for disputes that arise over the tenancy deposits that we protect.
We provide invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and disputes for agents and landlords through the TDS Academy as well as joining with MOL to provide the Technical Award in Residential Tenancy Deposits.
TDS Insured Scheme: where a TDS member can hold the tenancy deposits as stakeholder during the term of the tenancy.
TDS Custodial Scheme: where TDS hold the deposit for the duration of the tenancy.
TDS Academy: TDS provides property professionals with invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and tenancy deposit disputes.
TDS Northern Ireland: TDS is Northern Ireland’s leading and only not for profit tenancy deposit protection scheme.
TDS can only comment on the process for our scheme, other deposit protection schemes may have a different process/require different steps. Content is correct at the time of writing.
These views are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the view of TDS, its officers and employees.
ARLA|Propertymark: For agents who would like to stay up to date, you can contact Propertymark | ARLA at: join@propertymark.com. By being a member of Propertymark | ARLA you will be eligible for TDS Insured best headline rates.
RLA: If you are a landlord and would like to keep up to date with any changes that may affect you or your responsibilities, you can contact the RLA at: info@rla.org.uk and quote reference: dg715 to receive 25% off your first year’s membership.
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