Is this real? It sounds too good.
It's real law, and it's deliberate: Parliament decided the punishment for landlords who dodge licensing should be paid to their tenants. Read it yourself in the Housing and Planning Act 2016, Chapter 4, and the offences in the Housing Act 2004, section 72. Councils' own reports show huge numbers of unlicensed rentals, and almost nobody claiming.
Are there any other costs?
Only if your landlord refuses to settle and you take the claim to the tribunal: the tribunal charges an application fee of around £100. That fee goes to the courts and tribunals service, not to us. Students and lower-income tenants usually pay nothing through Help with Fees, and your completed form asks the tribunal to order your landlord to repay it on top of your claim.
Can my landlord evict me for claiming?
The law now protects tenants from revenge eviction, and unlicensed landlords are blocked from the old no-fault route anyway. Many people also claim after they've moved out. You have one to two years for rent claims, and deposit claims run for six.
I've already moved out. Is it too late?
Usually not, and this is the commonest reason people wrongly assume they cannot claim. You do not have to still live there. A rent repayment order is about rent you already paid while the offence was being committed, so a former tenant claims on exactly the same footing as a current one.
What matters is the deadline, and it does not run from the day you moved out. It runs from the day the offence ended, which is usually whichever came first: your tenancy ending, or your landlord getting the licence. From that day you have one year for offences before 1 May 2026, and two years for offences from that date onwards. One detail that has cost real tenants their claims: the last day is the day before the corresponding date, not the date itself. Two sets of tenants lost at the Upper Tribunal over exactly that, one by two days and one by one.
The free check works your own date out from your tenancy dates and tells you how long is left, rather than leaving you to count it.
Do I need a lawyer?
No. The tribunal was designed for people without lawyers. Everything is decided on documents and a short video call, and the documents are exactly what we prepare. Independent advice charities like Shelter say the same.
What if I'm not actually eligible?
You'll know before you spend a penny. The free check does the rules and the maths, then sends you to the official register so you see the answer with your own eyes. One honest caveat: registers can't show a licence application still sitting in the council's queue, which is exactly why the pack's first letter makes the council confirm the full position in writing before anything is filed.
What does VetMyLandlord do, and not do?
We check the public records, do the maths, and prepare every document, filled in and ready to send. We're not a law firm and we never act on your behalf. Letters go in your name, decisions stay yours, and 100% of any payout is yours.
