Ten days after your tenancy ends, the deposit should be back or a reasoned deductions proposal should have arrived. Neither happened? You are not stuck - the scheme system gives you three escalation routes, and most deposits move at the first formal step.
If your deposit is with the Deposit Protection Service (custodial), you don't need the landlord's cooperation: log in, request repayment; after 10 days unobjected, the scheme pays you directly. A landlord objection moves it to their free ADR - still no lawyer needed. Most 'unresponsive landlord' cases end here.
1) The tenancy agreement and end date. 2) Deposit protection confirmation (scheme, date). 3) Check-in and check-out condition evidence. 4) The written request with timestamps. 5) Any landlord replies - or the absence of them. Scan everything once into a single dated folder; each escalation step reuses the same pack.
Day 11-14: one written request (email) citing the tenancy end date and the 10-day rule. Day 15-21: formal escalation - custodial scheme single-claim release (DPS) or scheme dispute; insurance schemes: letter before action. Day 22+: Money Claim Online. Each step has a cost of minutes; delays cost months.
Nothing automatic - the clock matters because it starts your claim. Interests accrue (s.69 County Courts Act 1984, 8% base optional), and courts view post-deadline silence unfavourably. If the deposit sits custodial, single-claim release shifts the burden to the landlord to object.
Same ladder. Add: check whether deductions were proposed - an itemised proposal with the balance paid is compliant; silence is not. Keep every email - the timeline is your strongest exhibit in any later claim.
You can claim the deposit back AND, separately, compensation if protection was late or missing (1-3x). Two distinct rights, two distinct claims, one combined Money Claim Online filing if needed.
The tenancy-reform transition is changing notice and possession mechanics - but the deposit-return duty is stable: 10 days, full return or itemised proposal. Verify current GOV.UK guidance before issuing proceedings.
The full ladder in writing: request -> scheme route -> LBA -> MCOL. Bring: tenancy agreement, check-in/out reports, the scheme's protection confirmation, and the email trail. Judges decide on documents, not recollections.