hiring out equipment?

upferret

Hi, I plan on hiring out a small battery powered device ( red light torch) to horse owners (im an equine massage therapist) to use on there horses or themselves. I have business insurance and things I sell are covered in this insurance. There are no known dangers from this device. do I need extra insurance or precautions for this? Also whats the best way of making sure my item doesnt go missing and is returned? some sort of deposit I was thinking...any ideas? thanks!

Savvy_Sue

I'd phone your insurer and get their advice: you need to know if it's covered for loss or accidental damage while with you, and then when not with you?

how much do these things cost to replace, and are they likely to be damaged if dropped / stood on by a horse?

Deposit and signed agreement every time ... maybe a weekly / monthly rental fee?

paddyrg

No known harm isn't the same as proven harmless, so you might want some kind of indemnity policy or at least some darn good terms and conditions if hire!

You have the choice of taking a deposit of the item cost, or doing background and credit checks. I'd say deposit is easier plus it gives you the chance to offer 'try before you buy' - if you take a deposit of the retail value and decrement that weekly by the hire amount, you can return the balance if they return the goods, or you can encourage them to surrender the balance of the deposit to keep the gizmo. Every sale is a sale, and it's a nice way to offer both services to your clients, making it easy to upsell.

Mistral001

There are several large equipment hire companies. When they hire out an item like a garden mower you will get an invoice and on the back of that invoice you will get a printed terms and conditions. They are quite detailed but perhaps you can get some pointers there. So why not hire out some small item of equipment that you might need and then take a look at those conditions. I am not suggesting copying them, but you could use them as a guide for your own terms and conditions.

Savvy_Sue

This is the kind of thing where it could well be worth paying a solicitor to check over the t&c ...

upferret

thanks everyone. Ive emailled my insurer and asked them about if Im covered regarding indemitiy insurance. these things cost around £250 to replace, they are water proof and crush proof to a good extent, but very small and easy to lose! however, lots of people keep asking me to try it. Im quite happy to hire it out but, I want to make sure I do it leagally and not risk having it stolen/lost without some sort of deposit to make up for it.

Mistral001

The important thing I should have thought is that you do not accept cash as payment or even deposit as you need to have a verified name and address through something like a credit card payment.

You will not be able to insure the item against loss or damage when it is in the possession of the customer I should have thought as most hire agreements point out that the customer is responsible for insurance against loss or damage.

upferret

I was thinking credit card, is there a way of taking the credit card details but not charging them unless the item is lost/damaged?

paddyrg

upferret wrote: »

I was thinking credit card, is there a way of taking the credit card details but not charging them unless the item is lost/damaged?

Pen and paper?

Savvy_Sue

upferret wrote: »

I was thinking credit card, is there a way of taking the credit card details but not charging them unless the item is lost/damaged?

paddyrg wrote: »

Pen and paper?

When we hire a car, the car hire company still has an old-fashioned swipe machine on which they take an impression for the deposit.

patman99

It's common to take a refundable deposit. You can easily take full payment (hire + deposit) and when the item is returned undamaged, you simply ask for their payment card & do a refund of the deposit back to it.