Getting started
DepositPack vs Citizens Advice and Shelter
Citizens Advice and Shelter explain your rights; DepositPack assembles a dispute pack from what you enter — formal letter, evidence index, per-charge responses and key tenancy dates for DPS, TDS or MyDeposits.
Citizens Advice and Shelter explain rights for free. DepositPack builds the dispute pack from your entered details — letter, evidence index and per-charge responses — when you are ready to submit.
Most tenants who lose deposit disputes do not lose because their rights were wrong — they lose because their submission was vague, emotional, or impossible to follow. Citizens Advice and Shelter can tell you what fair wear and tear means. They will not sit down with your 40 photos and write five separate responses before the scheme deadline. That is the gap DepositPack fills.
What DepositPack does for you
DepositPack is for when you already know you are disputing deductions and need the pack assembled from what you enter. You add evidence, list what the landlord claims, and get a PDF with a formal letter, evidence index, per-charge responses, dispute summary and key dates from your tenancy start and end.
- Turns your entered evidence into a numbered index linked to deductions
- Drafts itemised responses to each charge from your disagreement notes
- Produces a sendable formal letter and downloadable PDF
- Lets you preview before you pay — unlock for £29 when it looks right
What Citizens Advice and Shelter are good for
Citizens Advice and Shelter are independent charities. Their advisers and online guides help you understand housing law in broad terms — deposit protection, eviction risk, disrepair, when to escalate. That orientation is valuable, especially if you are confused about your basic rights or cannot afford to pay for anything.
- Free guidance on whether your deposit should be protected
- Broad explanation of fair wear and tear, scheme rules and escalation routes
- Signposting to solicitors or law centres on complex cases
- Support on wider housing crises — eviction, harassment, homelessness
- A human conversation when you need reassurance, not document assembly
What they typically do not do: download your WhatsApp exports, label each file against a cleaning charge, draft your scheme submission, or format a PDF before a 14-day portal deadline. That paperwork is on you — unless you use a tool like DepositPack.
Side-by-side: orientation vs a finished pack
- 1Citizens Advice / Shelter
Answers: "Can they charge me for this?" "Is my deposit protected?" — general rights and signposting. You still write and upload the dispute yourself.
- 2DepositPack
Answers: "Here is what I entered — build my letter, index and responses." — a PDF pack from your case details, usually in under an hour.
- 3Solicitor or law centre
Court claims, unprotected deposit penalties, or multiple serious legal issues at once — not a typical £200 cleaning dispute.
Why tenants pay for DepositPack
- Scheme deadlines are hard — a finished pack beats reading guides all week and missing the portal date
- £29 one-time is far less than a solicitor for a standard dispute, and faster than doing it alone from scratch
- Emotional emails and unexplained photo folders lose cases that strong evidence could win
- Preview before payment — you see the structure before committing
- Designed specifically for UK deposit disputes, not generic letter templates
When free advice should come first (not DepositPack)
- You do not know if your deposit was ever protected — find that out before anything else
- Eviction, harassment, or serious disrepair dominate the case, not deposit deductions
- You need a solicitor or court action, not a self-service letter
- You cannot afford £29 — CAB or Shelter is the right call
What about the deposit scheme's free dispute service?
DPS, TDS and MyDeposits adjudicate for free — but they do not write your case. You upload your own letter, photos and responses. Tenants who only use free advice often arrive at the portal with good legal knowledge and a weak file. DepositPack closes that gap before you click submit.
Common questions
Is DepositPack the same as Citizens Advice?
No — and it is not trying to be. Citizens Advice gives free general guidance. DepositPack is a specialist tool that outputs a structured dispute pack from your evidence. If you need rights explained, use CAB. If you need the pack written, use DepositPack.
Should I use Shelter instead of DepositPack?
Use Shelter when you need free advice on rights or a housing crisis. Use DepositPack when you are ready to dispute specific deductions and need the letter, timeline and evidence index built properly. Most tenants who already know they are disputing get more practical value from DepositPack for the actual submission.
Why pay for DepositPack when advice is free?
Because free advice does not produce your submission. Advisers are not going to organise 30 photos, draft five deduction responses, and format a PDF by your deadline. DepositPack does that work — which is usually what decides whether an adjudicator can follow your case.
Does DepositPack replace a solicitor?
For a typical deposit dispute with clear evidence, a well-built DepositPack is what most tenants need — not a solicitor at hundreds of pounds an hour. For court claims, unprotected deposit penalties, or complex multi-issue cases, still speak to a solicitor or law centre.
Can I mention DepositPack in my scheme submission?
You submit the letter and evidence as your own case. DepositPack drafts it; you review, edit if needed, and send. The scheme sees your dispute pack, not the tool name.
Ready to build your dispute pack?
Answer a few questions, upload evidence, and generate a structured response for £29 before you send it.