The Government introduced the schemes to protect tenancy deposits and provide a fairer system for settling disputes about the return of a deposit at the end of a tenancy. Before the introduction of these schemes, if a landlord kept all or part of your deposit it could be difficult to get it back.

You will be protected by the scheme if:

• You rented a home from a private landlord or letting agent on or after 6 April 2007, and
• you are paying a deposit (not the same as rent in advance) , and
• your tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy (this applies to most new private tenancies) – if you are not sure what kind of tenancy you have, use our checker tool to find out.
• It doesn't matter whether it is the tenant themselves or someone else such as a parent who provides the money for the deposit. Use our checker tool if you are not certain whether your deposit should be protected.

If your tenancy started before 6 April 2007, then you will not normally be protected by the scheme. However, if you have been given a new tenancy agreement since that date, you should get advice.

Your landlord or agent must protect your deposit using a tenancy deposit scheme.

There are two types of scheme available:

• A custodial scheme, where the landlord or agent pays the deposit into the scheme, where it will be kept until the end of your tenancy.
• An insurance scheme, where the landlord or agent keeps the deposit but pays insurance premiums to the scheme. This means that the deposit is insured if there is any dispute, and the scheme will repay the tenant the agreed amount directly. The insurance scheme can charge fees to landlords for membership and can require contributions towards the costs of insurance.

Within 14 days of paying your deposit, your landlord must provide you with:

• the landlord or agent's contact details
• which tenancy deposit scheme they are using and the contact details for the scheme
• information about the purpose of a tenancy deposit
• how you can apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
• what you can do if there is a dispute about the deposit.

There are three Government approved schemes:

• Deposit Protection Service (DPS) http://www.depositprotection.com/
• MyDeposits http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/about-tds.html

If your landlord hasn’t protected your deposit you can apply to the county court for an order that the landlord or agent should pay the deposit back to you, or protect it in one of the tenancy deposit protection schemes.

The court can also order the landlord or agent to pay you compensation equivalent up to three times the value of the deposit you paid. However, the law on this issue is unclear and the court can only order your landlord to pay if your deposit is still unprotected by the date of the court hearing, and you are still a tenant of the landlord.

The rules on how your landlord can evict you will change if your deposit is not protected. Normally, landlords of assured shorthold tenants can evict a tenant by giving a minimum of two months' notice and then getting a court order without having to show a reason. This is known as the shorthold ground. If your landlord or agent hasn't protected your deposit and provided the required information, then they cannot use the shorthold ground to evict you.

When you leave, if you and your landlord or agent both agree on how much of the deposit you should get back, you should get it back within ten days of agreeing.If your deposit was held in a custodial scheme, you will also receive some interest on the deposit.

The custodial scheme will repay tenants direct, either by cheque or by electronic transfer. Deposits held in the insurance-based schemes will be repaid by the landlord either in cash or by cheque, as they choose. Deposits held in the insurance-based schemes will not pass on any interest to the tenant.

Your landlord or agent is only entitled to keep all or part of your deposit if they can show that they have lost out financially because of your actions, for example, if you have caused damage to the property or you owe rent.

Ask your landlord or agent for a breakdown of the specific costs that they are taking out of your deposit. Your landlord or agent cannot keep your deposit to cover putting right normal wear and tear. There are rules on what costs can be deducted from your deposit. It is a good idea for both the landlord and the tenant to have a detailed inventory to avoid a dispute over your deposit.

If you don't agree that your landlord or agent should have kept all or part of your deposit, or you disagree with some of the costs that they have taken out of it, then the tenancy deposit protection scheme your landlord or agent has used will offer a free service to help resolve disputes.

Information on what you need to do if there is a dispute will be contained in the information your landlord or agent will have given you at the start of your tenancy (see above). Each scheme will contain an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service.

When a dispute occurs, and if you and your landlord both agree to use the service, you will have to agree to accept its decision and will not be able to apply to the courts. If you or your landlord don’t agree to use the ADR service then the dispute will usually go to the county court.