How to Serve Prescribed Information for a Tenancy Deposit in England

Service Is the Half That Gets Missed

Most landlords understand they need to protect the deposit in one of the three authorised schemes — DPS, TDS, or mydeposits — within 30 calendar days. Fewer understand that protecting the money is only half the legal obligation. Under Section 213(5) of the Housing Act 2004, you must also serve the statutory Prescribed Information on every tenant and every relevant person within the same 30-day window.

"Serving" means delivering the complete document to the right people by a method allowed for legal service, and being able to prove service. This is where self-managing landlords are most vulnerable. The deposit gets protected on day one; the Prescribed Information never gets served; three years later, a tenant brings a Section 214 claim and the landlord faces a mandatory penalty of one to three times the deposit.

Who Must Receive the Prescribed Information

Every named tenant on the tenancy agreement. In a joint tenancy, that means every person named — not just the lead tenant or the one who paid the deposit.

Every relevant person. A relevant person is anyone who paid the deposit on the tenant's behalf — a parent, employer, guarantor, or local authority. If a student's parent transferred the deposit directly to the landlord, the parent is a relevant person and must receive their own copy of the Prescribed Information.

Missing a single recipient is non-compliance. In a flat share with three named tenants, serving PI on two but not the third is a breach.

What Must Be Included in the Package

The Prescribed Information is defined by the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 (SI 2007/797). The complete service package contains:

1. The completed Prescribed Information form. All three schemes provide a downloadable template. Every field must be filled in:

• Scheme name, address, telephone number, and email
• Exact deposit amount received and protected
• Full address of the rented property
• Full name, address, phone, and email of the landlord and any managing agent
• Full name and contact details of every tenant and every relevant person
• The specific circumstances under which the landlord may make deductions — these must be taken from the tenancy agreement, not paraphrased in generic terms

2. The scheme's official explanatory leaflet. Each scheme publishes its own leaflet explaining the tenant's rights and the dispute resolution process. This must be included with the PI form — not merely referenced or linked, but provided alongside the form.

3. The landlord's signed declaration. The PI form includes a section where the landlord certifies that the information is accurate, with space for the tenant to sign an acknowledgement.

Do not confuse the Deposit Protection Certificate with the Prescribed Information. The certificate confirms the deposit is registered with the scheme. The PI is a separate, more detailed document with fields the certificate does not contain. Serving only the certificate does not satisfy Section 213(5).

How to Deliver the Prescribed Information

The law requires service, not just sending. You must be able to prove the document was served by the method used. Accepted methods:

Hand delivery with a signed receipt. The strongest proof. Give the complete PI package to the tenant in person, have them sign and date a statement confirming receipt, and keep that signed statement. For joint tenants, each person signs separately.

Recorded delivery (signed-for post). Post the PI package by Royal Mail Signed For or Special Delivery. Retain the proof of postage receipt and tracking confirmation. Under the Civil Procedure Rules, first-class post is deemed served two business days after posting.

Email — only if the tenancy agreement explicitly authorises electronic service of legal notices. If the tenancy agreement does not contain this clause, email service is not valid. If it does, send the PI form and leaflet as attachments (not links to a scheme portal), request a read receipt, and ask the tenant for written email confirmation of receipt.

For each method, keep the evidence filed. If a Section 214 claim is brought years later, you need to produce proof of service on the specific date.

Timing: Within 30 Calendar Days

The 30-day clock starts on the day you or your agent receive the deposit money — not the tenancy start date, not the day you register with the scheme, not the day the tenant moves in. Day 0 is the day the funds arrive. Day 30 is the last day to have both protected the deposit and served the complete PI package.

Calendar days count strictly. Weekends and bank holidays do not pause the clock. If the deposit arrives on a Friday, day 30 falls 30 calendar days later regardless of how many of those days are non-working days.

Technical problems — portal outages, postal delays, the tenant being abroad — do not extend the deadline. Courts evaluate compliance strictly on whether everything was completed within the statutory window.

What If You Are Late?

If the 30-day deadline passes without the PI being served, you have breached Section 213. No guide, no software, and no subsequent action can retrospectively cure the original failure. What you can do:

• Serve the PI now to cure the ongoing breach (stop the non-compliance from continuing)
• Accept that the tenant retains the right to bring a Section 214 claim for the period of non-compliance
• For most possession grounds, a court cannot grant an order unless the deposit is in an authorised scheme, the scheme's initial requirements have been met (even if late), and Prescribed Information has been served; the deposit is returned in full or with agreed deductions; or a Section 214 challenge has been decided, settled, or withdrawn. This restriction does not apply to grounds 7A and 14.

Serving late is still better than never serving. Courts consider whether the landlord eventually cured the breach when deciding the penalty multiplier (1x vs 3x the deposit).

For the complete deposit protection workflow — including a PI completion checklist and proof-of-service log — the Tenancy Deposit Protection guide walks through every field, every recipient, and every delivery method in order.

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