Are there any laws on photography by strangers gong into private homes? Perhaps I should google!

Yes there are laws on taking photography on private property.

Lodge a formal complaint with the outfit delivering the mattress, and demand to know under what legislation they believe they are permitted to instruct their employees to photograph inside a customers private property, also demand to know who their data controller is, and how long this ''data'' will be kept for and for what purposes...

Yes there are laws on taking photography on private property.

The law in question is that of trespass. If permission is refused in allowing photographs to be taken on private property, then the perpetrator can be asked to leave should he/she take an unauthorised photograph. If this individual is engaged in activities on behalf of an employer, then there is also the Data Protection Act to consider. i.e. What will this data be used for, and will it be processed in a lawful manner.

Conceivably, unauthorised photography by an employee could also fall foul of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.

The law in question is that of trespass. If permission is refused in allowing photographs to be taken on private property, then the perpetrator can be asked to leave should he/she take an unauthorised photograph. If this individual is engaged in activities on behalf of an employer, then there is also the Data Protection Act to consider. i.e. What will this data be used for, and will it be processed in a lawful manner.

 

Conceivably, unauthorised photography by an employee could also fall foul of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.

The OP was told that if the delivery person was not able to take a photo they would take the mattress back to the depot. In essence they used blackmail to get permission to take the photos.

Needs to be noted that delivery is subcontracted.

Maybe the subcontractor has had claims of ripped mattresses and had to pay up before starting to take pictures.

These pictures would possibly deter someone who has moved the mattress and ripped it (or simply stained it) to make a claim because they would think: "they took a picture, I can't claim".

This deterrent may work even if pictures are rubbish.

Unfortunately we live in a world where a lot of people don't want to take responsibility for their mistakes/accidents.

How many buyers send back goods that they have accidentally damaged upon delivery pretending that they were already broken?

Still doesn't mean that you can take photographs on private property without the owners permission.

Nothing wrong with the recipient inspecting the mattress and signing to say they're happy with it, no damage etc.

Still doesn't mean that you can take photographs on private property without the owners permission.

 

Nothing wrong with the recipient inspecting the mattress and signing to say they're happy with it, no damage etc.

And arguably better for the item to be inspected and signed confirmation of no noticeable defects found to be obtained. Taking a photo of an item just delivered might not reveal a problem. For example the first time a buyer slept on a matress they might find a spring is broken. The photo can't possibly show this and even if the buyer signed something about no defects found on delivery, it would not prevent them claiming against the retailer.

Exactly!

Sounds like some officious individual has got a bee in their bonnet and everyone else has to suffer.

take a photo in a store and see what happens - fact! no one can take photos in a private property without permission! ask the BBC etc