Further to my previous post here about the increases in TDS fees due next year, I have just seen this post here on This is Money, which claims that TDS “has slashed its team of adjudicators from 70 to 12“. This does seem to be a very great reduction and one hopes that it does not indicate a corresponding drop in quality of service.
It may be that TDS are hoping that the effect of their price hike next year will be to reduce the number of arbitrations. It does seem, from what they say, that some of the arbitration referrals are inappropriate to say the least – for example the dispute over £4.20 which apparently is not unusual.
It would be interesting to know if the other two schemes have had similar inappropriate referrals, and if so how they intend to deal with the problem. One would have thought that the DPS would have been particuarly vulnerable as they do not make a charge so cannot increase their fees to deter these cases.
Comments from the three scheme administrators welcome, as are comments from landlords or tenants on the quality of the arbitration service that they have experienced.