Deposit Protection Service (DPS)

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) is one of three government-authorised tenancy deposit protection schemes in England and Wales, alongside the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) and mydeposits. It protects a tenant's deposit either by holding the money itself (DPS Custodial, free) or by insuring a deposit the landlord keeps (DPS Insured, paid). Landlords must use one of these schemes under sections 212 to 215 of the Housing Act 2004.

The DPS has operated since 2007 and is a trading name of Computershare Investor Services plc, according to the DPS's own about page. August is not the DPS and cannot access, release or discuss deposits held by it. To manage a DPS deposit, contact the DPS directly using the details below.

How to contact the DPS

These details are taken from the DPS's contact and connect page and help pages, checked in October 2026.

Phone number
0330 303 0030. This single customer service line handles enquiries from tenants, landlords and letting agents.

Opening hours
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6.30pm.

Email
[email protected] for general enquiries.

Login and live chat
Tenants, landlords and agents log in to their account at myaccount.depositprotection.com. Live chat is available to logged-in account holders through the chat icon in the corner of the account page.

Online form and virtual agent
If you cannot get through by phone, the DPS help pages offer an online form and a virtual agent for common questions.

Postal address
The Deposit Protection Service, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol, BS99 6AA.

Disputes
Raise a dispute through your DPS online account at the end of the tenancy, not by phone. The process is covered in the dispute section below.

DPS Custodial and DPS Insured

DPS Custodial

Under DPS Custodial, the landlord or agent sends the deposit to the DPS, which holds it in a protected account for the whole tenancy. The scheme is free to use, however many deposits a landlord protects. Under the DPS Custodial terms and conditions (v35, May 2026), tenants receive interest only where the DPS has held the deposit for 183 days or more. From working with self-managing landlords across the UK, we find Custodial suits landlords with one or two properties: it costs nothing and removes any temptation to treat the deposit as working capital.

DPS Insured

Under DPS Insured, the landlord or agent keeps the deposit in their own account and pays the DPS a fee for each deposit protected. The DPS insures the deposit, so the tenant is still covered if the landlord fails to repay. If a dispute arises, the landlord must pass the disputed amount to the scheme until it is resolved. Insured suits landlords and agents who want to hold the money themselves; check the current per-deposit fee on depositprotection.com before choosing.

What landlords must do

Protect the deposit within 30 days

Since 1 May 2026, the deposit rules apply to assured tenancies, which replaced assured shorthold tenancies under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The landlord or agent must protect the deposit in an authorised scheme within 30 days of receiving it, as gov.uk's guidance for landlords confirms. The same rule covers deposits paid by a third party, such as a parent or a council rent deposit scheme. A holding deposit does not need protecting until the applicant becomes the tenant and it converts into the tenancy deposit.

Serve the prescribed information

Within the same 30 days, the landlord must give the tenant, and anyone who paid the deposit on their behalf, the prescribed information: the scheme's details, how the deposit is protected, how to get it back and how disputes work. Landlords using August consistently tell us that the prescribed information, not the protection itself, is the step most often missed, because the DPS certificate alone does not satisfy the requirement.

Stay within the deposit cap

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps a tenancy deposit at five weeks' rent where annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent where it is £50,000 or more. Any amount above the cap is a prohibited payment. The cap applies whichever scheme protects the deposit.

What happens if a deposit is not protected

If a landlord fails to protect the deposit or serve the prescribed information, the tenant can apply to the county court under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004. The court must order the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit, and can also order the deposit to be repaid or paid into a scheme.

Section 21 no longer exists in England, so the old sanction of an invalid Section 21 notice has gone. Instead, under section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, as substituted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a court cannot make a possession order on most Section 8 grounds while the deposit is unprotected or the prescribed information has not been given. The bar lifts if the landlord protects the deposit late, returns it in full or with agreed deductions, or a section 214 claim has been decided, withdrawn or settled. It does not apply to the antisocial behaviour grounds 7A and 14. Transitional rules apply to tenancies that converted from assured shorthold tenancies on 1 May 2026.

Getting the deposit back from the DPS

At the end of the tenancy, either the landlord or the tenant can request repayment through their DPS account. For a Custodial deposit, the landlord either returns the full deposit or makes a claim for deductions, and the DPS asks the tenant to accept or reject it. Once both parties agree, the DPS repays the agreed amounts within five calendar days of being told of the agreement. Gov.uk separately requires the landlord to return the deposit within 10 days of agreeing the amount with the tenant.

If the landlord does not respond to the tenant's written request for repayment within 14 days, the tenant can use the DPS statutory declaration process to recover the deposit without the landlord's involvement. For an Insured deposit, the landlord repays the tenant directly and then closes the deposit in their DPS account.

Tenants who are not sure where their deposit sits can search the DPS deposit checker at myaccount.depositprotection.com. If the DPS does not hold it, the deposit may be with TDS or mydeposits, or not protected at all.

How DPS disputes work

If the landlord and tenant cannot agree on deductions, either can refer the dispute to the DPS Dispute Resolution Service, a form of alternative dispute resolution. Both sides submit evidence online within 14 calendar days of being invited to do so, and an independent adjudication decides the split on the written evidence, without a hearing. The DPS then pays out in line with the decision.

The service is free for assured tenancies and Welsh occupation contracts. For other tenancy types, the DPS terms allow it to charge the landlord a fee. Both parties must consent to adjudication; a party that refuses must reach agreement or start court proceedings within six months. In our experience, landlords who win adjudications almost always have a signed check-in inventory and dated photographs, which is why August's landlord compliance checklist walks through deposit protection, prescribed information and check-in records for each tenancy.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The DPS operates in England and Wales only. In Wales, deposits for occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 go into the same three schemes, and the prescribed information is known as the required information. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own approved deposit schemes, so landlords there cannot use the DPS.

For the wider rules on taking, holding and deducting from a deposit, see our entry on the tenancy deposit. For a side-by-side look at the DPS, TDS and mydeposits, read our guide to how the tenancy deposit scheme works in the UK.

Frequently asked questions

What is the DPS phone number?

The DPS customer service number is 0330 303 0030, open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm. The same line serves tenants, landlords and letting agents. Logged-in account holders can also use live chat.

Is the DPS free to use?

DPS Custodial is free for landlords and tenants. DPS Insured charges the landlord a fee per deposit. Dispute resolution is free for assured tenancies and Welsh occupation contracts.

How long does the DPS take to return a deposit?

For a Custodial deposit, the DPS repays agreed amounts within five calendar days of both parties confirming the split. Where the tenancy goes to a dispute, repayment follows the adjudicator's decision.

Is the DPS a government scheme?

The DPS is government-authorised but privately run. Computershare Investor Services plc operates it. It sits alongside the two other authorised schemes, TDS and mydeposits.