Can You Claim Against a Hotel for Bed Bugs in the UK?

You may be able to. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a hotel must provide its service with reasonable care and skill. If bed bugs in your room mean it didn’t, you can ask for the problem to be put right or for a price reduction. Report it straight away, keep photos and give the hotel a chance to respond.

Reviewed by James Rhoades, Owner, ThermoPest · Last reviewed 15 October 2026

Waking up with bites in a hotel bed is upsetting. This guide covers what to do while you’re still there, your consumer rights, complaining, card payments, small claims and package holidays, and how to keep bed bugs out of your home. We’re pest specialists, not lawyers, so we point you to the official guidance. Most Citizens Advice pages linked here are written for England, with separate versions for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What to Do If Your Hotel Has Bed Bugs

What you do in the first hour matters most, both for your stay and for any complaint later.

1. Collect Evidence Before Anything Is Moved

• Take clear, dated photos or video of any live bugs, shed skins, small dark spots on the mattress seams and blood spots on the sheets.
• Photograph your bites.
• If you can catch a bug, seal it in a clear bag or under a piece of tape so it can be identified.
• Note your room number, the date and time, and who you spoke to.

2. Report It to the Hotel Straight Away

Tell reception or the duty manager in person, then follow up in writing (an email, or a message through the booking app) so there’s a dated record. Ask for a complaint reference. Citizens Advice says that if you’re still on holiday you should tell the company about the problem as soon as possible, and that waiting until you’re home may reduce or remove any compensation (Citizens Advice, claim compensation for a holiday).

3. Ask to Move, or to Leave

Ask for a different room, ideally not next to, above or below the affected one. If none is available, ask what the hotel will do instead. Be careful what you say: Citizens Advice notes that if you tell a trader at the time that a service was good enough, you can lose the legal right to a redo or discount (Citizens Advice, complain about a service).

4. Protect Your Belongings and Keep Records

Keep your suitcase closed, on a hard luggage rack or in the bath, away from the bed. Bag worn clothes in sealed plastic bags. Keep your booking confirmation, emails, photos and receipts for any extra costs, such as a taxi to another hotel.

Can You Sue a Hotel for Bed Bugs? Your Consumer Rights

A hotel stay is a contract for a service. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; its official explanatory notes say Parts 1 to 3 “largely extend to the whole of the UK”.

Reasonable Care and Skill

Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says every contract to supply a service includes a term that “the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill”. Bed bugs can arrive in any hotel on a guest’s luggage, so finding one doesn’t automatically mean the hotel was at fault. What usually matters is how the hotel looked after the room and how it responded once it knew.

What You Can Ask For

If a service doesn’t meet the contract, section 54 gives you the right to ask for “repeat performance” (for a hotel, that might mean a clean, unaffected room) or a price reduction. It also says you may seek other remedies, such as damages, but can’t recover twice for the same loss. Citizens Advice explains thatyou normally need to give the trader the chance to put things right first, unless that isn’t possible or would be very inconvenient, and that you agree a price reduction by suggesting a reasonable figure and explaining why.

Whether a claim succeeds, and for how much, depends on the facts. For a serious case, such as a significant reaction or a costly infestation at home, speak to a solicitor.

How to Report and Complain to a Hotel About Bed Bugs

If it wasn’t sorted at the hotel, write to the manager or head office once you’re home. Citizens Advice suggests saying that you don’t think the trader used reasonable care and skill under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and saying clearly what you want: the problem put right, or a price reduction.

• Include your booking reference, dates, room number and what you found.
• Attach your photos and receipts, and list the costs you’re asking for.
• Give a reasonable date for a reply and keep a copy.

Keep the tone factual; many hotels respond well to a calm, well-evidenced complaint. If you booked through a website or app, check your confirmation to see who your contract is with and use their complaints process too.

If you’re getting nowhere, the Citizens Advice consumer service can help and, in England, passes reports to Trading Standards (Citizens Advice, report to Trading Standards). In Scotland, Citizens Advice points people to Advice Direct Scotland, and it publishes separate guidance for Wales and Northern Ireland.

Can you get your money back through your card provider?

If the hotel won’t help, how you paid may give you another route. Citizens Advice explains (getting your money back if you paid by card or PayPal):

• Credit card: you can ask for your money back using Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, as long as you paid more than £100 and no more than £30,000 for a single item.
• Debit card or charge card: you can ask your card provider for a chargeback, which it may call a “disputed transaction”.

Your card provider might say no, so send it the same evidence you sent the hotel. It’s also worth checking whether your travel or home insurance covers any of your losses.

Making a Small Claim Against a Hotel

Court is a last resort. Citizens Advice warns that it might not be worth claiming if it would cost you almost as much as you’re claiming, and GOV.UK says mediation is usually quicker and cheaper than going to court.

• England and Wales: see make a court claim for money on GOV.UK.
• Scotland: mygov.scot describes “simple procedure” as the route if your case is worth less than £5,000 and isn’t complicated (mygov.scot, court claim for money).
• Northern Ireland: there’s a separate process; GOV.UK points to nidirect.

Our guide to bed bug compensation claims and the small claims process goes through the steps in more detail.

Booked Through a Travel Company? Package Holiday Rules

If your hotel was part of a package, your claim is usually against the organiser. Citizens Advice says it’s likely to be a package if you booked 2 or more types of travel service at the same time from a travel organiser. Under regulation 15 of the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, the organiser is liable for the travel services in the contract, even if someone else provides them. You “must inform the organiser without undue delay” of a problem, and the organiser must put it right within a reasonable period you set, unless that’s impossible or disproportionately costly.

So tell the holiday rep or tour operator as well as reception. If the company is an ABTA member, the same Citizens Advice page says you can register a complaint with ABTA. If you booked the hotel yourself, complain to the hotel directly.

Protecting Your Home After a Hotel With Bed Bugs

Whatever happens with your complaint, the priority is not bringing bed bugs home.

• Unpack on a hard floor away from the bedroom, ideally straight into the washing machine.
• The NHS advises washing affected bedding and clothing at 60°C, then tumble drying on a high heat for at least half an hour; items you can’t wash can go in a sealed bag in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks (NHS, bedbugs).
• Check suitcase seams, zips and pockets with a torch. Our guide on how to check and treat bed bugs in luggage explains what to look for.

Avoid foggers, bug bombs and smoke bombs; they tend to scatter bed bugs into new hiding places. If you notice bites or signs at home after your trip, a professional inspection will confirm what you’re dealing with, and a dated report with photos is useful evidence for a complaint. For next time, see our tips on how to avoid bed bugs in hotels.

The NHS says bedbug bites can be itchy but do not usually cause other health problems, and a pharmacist can help with bites. It says to see a GP if bites are still very painful, swollen or itchy after trying treatments from a pharmacist, or if the pain or swelling is spreading.

If You Run a Hotel

Bed bugs can reach any hotel on guests’ luggage, and a quick, discreet response protects your guests and your reputation. ThermoPest provides bed bug treatment for hotels: heat-led, with targeted spray where it’s needed, carried out by technicians in unmarked vans. Our guide to bed bugs and UK law covers hotels, landlords, tenants and employers.

This is general information, not legal advice. Checked: October 2026.

FAQs

If a hotel has bed bugs, can you get a refund?

You may be able to. Under section 54 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if a service doesn’t meet the contract you can ask for it to be put right or for a price reduction. If the hotel can’t offer a clean room and you have to leave, asking for a refund for the unused nights is reasonable. Put it in writing with your evidence.

What is a typical hotel bed bug settlement in the UK?

There isn’t a typical figure, and we can’t predict one. It depends on what happened, how the hotel responded and the losses you can show, such as unused nights, extra travel, or cleaning and replacing belongings. Keep every receipt, and speak to a solicitor for a serious case.

How do I report a hotel for bed bugs?

Report it to the hotel first, in person and then in writing, with photos and your room number. If you booked through a travel company, tell them too. If the hotel won’t respond, the Citizens Advice consumer service (or Advice Direct Scotland) can advise on next steps.

Can you claim for bed bug bites from a hotel?

You can include the bites in a complaint or claim, along with costs such as pharmacy products. Dated photos of the bites and the room, and a note of any pharmacist or GP visit, are the most useful evidence. Whether compensation is paid depends on the facts.