I rented an apartment in India for a week. On the second day, I realised I was being secretly filmed: Here’s why EVERY holidaymaker needs to know about this chilling ‘hidden camera’ loophole

I rented an apartment in India for a week. On the second day, I noticed there was a small camera filming the living room. 

It was trained on the front door, so they probably had it for security, but it made me feel very uncomfortable.

I contacted the owner, but they did not respond. What are my rights? Am I entitled to compensation?

R.S., By email.

The undisclosed camera is a serious breach of your privacy and should have been revealed before you booked.

Most booking platforms have strict policies banning hidden cameras in private spaces, so you should definitely report this to whichever platform you used.

The platform will likely take your complaint seriously and may suspend or remove the property owner, but they probably won’t compensate you directly. 

This is because booking platforms typically act as agents who simply facilitate the booking between you and the property owner.

Your real claim is against the property owner. If the booking platform has a strict undisclosed camera policy, and the owner violated it, that’s a clear breach of your contract with them.

Additionally, if the booking was made under UK law, the owner has also breached the Consumer Rights Act 2015. 

Under the Act, accommodation providers must give accurate descriptions of their property, and failing to disclose a recording camera clearly falls short of this standard. The booking platform can confirm whether the booking was made under UK law.

I would recommend requesting a partial refund of your rental cost rather than explicitly calling it compensation, as property owners often respond better to this approach. 

Start by contacting the owner directly. If the owner refuses or ignores you and you paid by credit or debit card, you have strong grounds for a chargeback (if you paid within the past 120 days) or Section 75 claim (if it was a credit card).

When you contact your card provider, make it clear that there has been a breach of contract because the property was not as described and your privacy was violated by an undisclosed surveillance camera. This should strengthen your claim.

Will card company cover decorating job? 

I’m having some rooms painted at home, but my decorator doesn’t accept credit cards.

If I use my card to buy some of the paint for him, will I have credit card protection for the complete job?

J.S., address supplied

When you pay for goods or services costing at least £100 on a credit card, you normally get protection if something goes wrong through either chargeback or Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

However, in your situation, neither protection would work. Section 75 claims only work when you have made a direct payment to a trader. 

The problem is that your card payment goes to the paint supplier, not the decorator. 

This breaks the required direct link between you, your card company, and the decorator. Without that, Section 75 doesn’t apply.

Chargeback rules only allow you to dispute the specific transaction that appears on your card statement. 

In your case, that’s the paint purchase. You’ve essentially created two separate contracts, one with the decorator for labour, and another with the paint supplier for materials.

Your card only covers the paint purchase, which means you can only raise a chargeback if there’s a problem with the paint.

I would strongly recommend taking a more cautious approach. First, try to find a decorator who will accept credit card payments. Many accept cards through PayPal, SumUp or other payment services.

If the decorator genuinely will not accept cards, my second recommendation is to withhold a substantial portion of the payment – I would suggest at least 50 pc of the total fee – and agree in writing that this final payment is only due upon satisfactory completion of the work.

This gives you significant leverage, because if the work is poor, you can refuse the final payment until it’s corrected to your satisfaction. 

Just make sure you get this retention agreement in writing, even if it’s just an email confirmation. This makes your position clear from the outset.