How to document damage in a holiday rental (and protect your deposit)

A photo of a cracked tile proves the tile is cracked. It does not prove you did not crack it. What makes a record useful is when it was made: on arrival, before you used the room, and shared with the host soon after.

That is why a note made in the first hour, with its time attached, is worth more than twenty photos found in your camera roll a week later.

• Where: the room and the thing ("Bathroom: shower door").
• What: plainly, in your own words ("hinge is loose, door drops when opened").
• When: the date and time you noticed it, and whether it was on arrival, during the stay or at checkout.
• A photo when it helps: one wide shot so the room is recognisable, one close-up of the issue.
• Who noticed it, if you are travelling as a group.

Keep the wording neutral. "Stain on the sofa cushion" is better than "the sofa is filthy". A calm record reads as fair, and fair records are the ones people accept.

Send a short message through the booking platform on the day you arrive listing what you found. You are not asking for a refund; you are making sure both sides know. Hosts generally appreciate it, because it tells them what needs fixing before the next guests.

Use the platform’s own messaging rather than text or email, so the conversation stays attached to the booking if anyone needs to look at it later.

Walk through again and add anything new, including things that broke during your stay. Owning an accident straight away, with a clear note of what happened, is the best way to keep a small cost small.

After you leave, keep the record for a few weeks. Damage requests can arrive days after checkout.

• Waiting until the end of the stay to mention something you saw on day one.
• Relying on photos with no note of where or when they were taken.
• Only telling the host in person or by phone, with nothing written down.
• In a group, each person keeping their own photos and nobody having the full picture.