Compensatory payment Section 45: Requiring compensatory payment
186.To claim a compensatory payment, the former landlord must serve on the former tenant a notice in the prescribed form within 2 years of the appointed day, accompanied by a copy of a prescribed explanatory note (subsection (4)).
187.The sum due by the tenant is calculated in accordance with section 47 and is an ordinary unsecured debt. The claim is against the immediate former tenant of the person making the claim.
188.If the sum being claimed is £50 or more, an instalment document has to be served along with the notice (subsection (5)). This gives the former tenant the option of paying by instalments in accordance with the scheme set out in section 57. If an instalment document is not served, the notice has no effect.
189.Subsection (6) provides that the section is subject to section 56, the effect of which is to restrict the amount of compensatory payment to no more than £500 unless a preliminary notice has been served.