Capita enter Tenancy Deposit Protection Price War

Capita enter Tenancy Deposit Protection Price War

9:15 AM, 21st May 2013, About 11 years ago 4

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Capita enter Tenancy Deposit Protection Price WarIf you didn’t already know, there are now four Deposit Protection providers in England and Wales and between them they have seven schemes, all with different rules!

The new kids on the block are a corporate giant called Capita, a FTSE 100 company. You may not have heard of them before as they generally service contract for their clients without using their own brand. Did you know that Capita administer TV licencing?

Should the other Tenancy Deposit Protection providers be worried?

Well when it comes to pricing Capita could theoretically crush their competition. A business of that size could probably put the other providers out of business by offering TDP free for a couple of years and then owning the monopoly. Early signs though are that’s not what they will be doing, however, they are putting the pressure on by undercutting their competition enough for it to hurt.

Gareth Kings, managing director of Capita TDP, based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, said: “Building upon our proven track record in both the property and insurance sectors, we hope to bring a fresh approach to deposit protection, providing a simpler, cost-effective solution for protecting tenants’ deposits.” Let’s hope he does just that but only time will tell.

I could save money by moving to Capita but I will not consider moving for at least a year in much the same way as I don’t install new Windows software straight away. Yet another set of TDP scheme rules to learn is not something I relish any more than having just had to learn how to find my way around Windows 8. I will probably wait for the legal eagles to pour over the rules and I will listen to their critique. I will then consider the outcome of the tribunals and no doubt read up on comparisons between the schemes, especially in terms of how many landlords win/lose their cases.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve never had a despot dispute so arguably I have nothing to worry about and should go for the cheaper option. Nah, I’ll be sticking with MyDeposits until I hear of a better reason to switch than saving just a few pounds.

What are your thoughts?

 


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Comments

18:19 PM, 21st May 2013, About 11 years ago

With respect to TDP, I am glad I operate in Scotland. We only have three statutory schemes, the systems are all essentially the same, and the service has to be free to tenant and landlord. It's bad enough that the law requires these schemes, but that landlords have to pay through the nose for it as well, and are at the mercy of market forces governing the schemes, is outrageous. Our landlord registration scheme too, while so far proving toothless at rooting out the non compliers, is at least relatively inexpensive to register, whereas some of the proposed schemes by English local authorities sound pretty prohibitive. It's becoming harder and harder to make any profit at all by the time you meet all your statutory requirements.

GP

9:51 AM, 22nd May 2013, About 11 years ago

I agree and Capita are known for putting in a lot of sneeky items and things in some commercial contracts.
no rush at all they are probably after all the interest on the deposit schemes rather than the insurance based scene.
Expect other ways they might charge tenants etc

Bob Smith

13:51 PM, 30th September 2013, About 11 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Winsome P" at "22/05/2013 - 09:51":

Their website doesn't look very encouraging - rumour is they have closed their doors !

https://www.capita-tdp.co.uk/register/?landlord

Romain Garcin

15:03 PM, 30th September 2013, About 11 years ago

Their website's landing page:

"Capita Tenancy Deposit Protection is no longer accepting new deposits with effect from 14th September 2013.

Any deposits registered with the scheme will continue to be protected unless otherwise notified.
Landlords, agents and tenants who are affected have been notified in writing."

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