TENANT DAMAGE CLAIM LETTER
Important legal advice, jurisdiction and formality warning
This fictional letter is an educational worked example, not legal advice and not a binding determination that any deduction is recoverable. It concerns an assured shorthold tenancy in England. The landlord must check the tenancy agreement, prescribed information, deposit scheme rules, inventory quality, fair-wear-and-tear evidence, repair obligations, prohibited fees and limitation periods. A landlord must not charge for ordinary ageing, improvement or a condition caused by its own failure to repair. The tenant should obtain independent advice and use the scheme’s dispute process promptly. Do not treat this letter as a substitute for the scheme’s forms or a court’s decision.
From and to
5 November 2027
From: Hannah Louise Mercer, landlord, 41 Redbridge Crescent, Cambridge CB4 2NT, hannah.mercer@example.test, 01223 555 410
To: Ethan Miles Carter and Sofia Elaine Carter, former tenants, 7 Mill Court, Cambridge CB1 3DP, ethan.carter@example.test
Property: Flat 3, 9 Juniper Street, Cambridge CB1 8RA Tenancy: assured shorthold tenancy dated 1 October 2025, ending by agreement on 30 September 2027 Deposit: £1,800.00, protected with Deposit Protection Service, deposit ID DPS-88421763
Dear Ethan and Sofia,
I write after the check-out inspection at Flat 3 on 1 October 2027. The keys were returned at 11:20 a.m. The inspection was carried out by Maya Singh of Cambridge Inventory Reports, who compared the signed check-in report dated 29 September 2025 with the check-out report dated 1 October 2027. The check-out report and 22 dated photographs were sent to you by email on 3 October. I have considered your email of 9 October, in which you accepted the damaged bedroom door but disputed the carpet, wall and cleaning items.
The property was professionally cleaned before your tenancy. The check-in report recorded a clean, smoke-free flat, an undamaged bedroom door, pale grey living-room walls with only minor pre-existing nail marks, and a living-room carpet with light traffic shading but no stains. It also recorded two working keys, a clean oven and an intact bathroom vanity. I have not claimed for the pre-existing nail marks, ordinary traffic wear, faded paint or the seven-year-old washing machine.
1. Itemised claim
The following figures are supported by the check-out photographs, the inventory comparison and contractor invoices or quotations. They are claims for reasonable remedial cost, not an improvement to the flat.
1. The lower bedroom door has a 14-centimetre punched hole and a split around the latch. The door was intact at check-in. Westbrook Joinery’s invoice WJ-7714, dated 4 October 2027, charges £286.00 to supply and fit a matching hollow-core door, reuse the sound hinges and refit the existing handle. I have applied a £60.00 betterment allowance because the original door was five years old and the replacement is new. The claimed amount is therefore £226.00.
2. The living-room carpet has a dark red wine stain measuring approximately 38 by 24 centimetres and a smaller circular mark beside the sofa. A professional clean by Fenland Floorcare on 4 October cost £144.00 including VAT. The cleaner’s report says the stain remained after treatment and replacement of the affected 2.4 square metres is reasonably required. The carpet was four years old, with an expected useful life of ten years. The like-for-like replacement quote is £640.00. Applying a four-tenths age allowance gives a deduction of £384.00; after adding the cleaning cost of £144.00, the claimed amount is £528.00. The calculation is £640.00 × 60% = £384.00, plus £144.00 = £528.00.
3. The living-room wall has 11 new screw holes and blue paint transfer around the television mount. Patch repair and repainting the affected wall by Brightline Decorators cost £210.00 on invoice BD-2098 dated 6 October. I have not claimed to redecorate the whole room. The claimed amount is £210.00.
4. The cooker was left with heavy grease in the oven, on the extractor filter and beneath the hob. This exceeded the cleaning level recorded at check-in. Cambridge Home Cleaners charged £96.00 on 2 October for a three-hour end-of-tenancy clean of those areas. I have claimed £96.00.
5. One front-door key and one post-box key were not returned. The locksmith’s receipt AR-4112 dated 2 October charges £78.00 to cut two replacement keys and change the post-box cylinder. The tenancy inventory records two front-door keys and one post-box key issued to you, and you returned one of each. The claimed amount is £78.00.
The total is £1,138.00, calculated as £226.00 + £528.00 + £210.00 + £96.00 + £78.00. I have not claimed the £45.00 inspection fee, the cost of replacing a cracked plant pot, or the £120.00 I spent repainting a hallway that showed ordinary use. Those are not included in the claim.
2. Proposed deposit release
I propose instructing the Deposit Protection Service to release £1,138.00 of the protected deposit to me and £662.00 to you. The balance is calculated as £1,800.00 less £1,138.00 = £662.00. There is no additional sum claimed from you, and I will not seek double recovery if an insurer or contractor later reimburses any item.
Please reply by 19 November 2027, stating whether you agree to the proposed split. If you agree, I will submit matching instructions to the DPS within two business days and will confirm the transaction reference. If you dispute any item, please identify the item and your reasons rather than withholding agreement to the items you accept. I will submit this letter, the signed inventories, photographs, invoices, quotes, the cleaning report and the betterment calculation to the DPS’s alternative dispute resolution service if you consent to or initiate that process.
The DPS may set its own evidence deadline and decide the dispute independently. I will comply with that deadline and will not remove funds outside the scheme. If the deposit cannot meet a sum that a court or agreed process decides is properly due, I reserve the right to seek the proven balance through the county court, subject to the tenancy terms, evidence and applicable law. Nothing in this letter waives either party’s rights or admits that a disputed item is recoverable.
Please keep the photographs and reports already sent to you. If you have a contrary quotation, proof of a repair, or evidence that a mark was pre-existing, send it to me by the response date. I will consider credible evidence and correct any arithmetic or factual error. Correspondence may be sent by email or to my postal address above.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah Louise Mercer Landlord
Signature: ____________________ Date: 5 November 2027