Terms and Conditions
1 INTERPRETATION
1.1 In these conditions the following words have the following meanings:
"Company" shall have the meaning as set out in Section 1159 of the Companies
Act 2006;
"Charges" means our current hire charges from time to time including any charges
for the Services during the Hire Period and/or any charges for the sale of the
Products or supply of Services (as appropriate);
"Contract" means a contract created by the acceptance of the Order and which
incorporates these conditions and any special conditions detailed in the Order
made between you and us for the hire of the Equipment, the provision of the
Services and/or the sale of Products;
"Deposit" means any advance payment required by us in relation to cash hires
for the Equipment which is to be held as security by us;
"Equipment" means the equipment detailed in the Order together as a whole and
any accessories hired by you as specified in a Contract;
"Force Majeure" means any event outside a party's reasonable control including
but not limited to acts of God, war, flood, fire, labour disputes, strikes,
lock-outs, riots, civil commotion, malicious damage, explosion, terrorism,
governmental actions and any other similar events;
"Hire Period" means the period commencing when you hold the Equipment on hire
(including Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays) and ending upon the happening
of any of the following events (i) you return the Equipment to our possession;
or (ii) we repossess or collect the Equipment;
"Liability" means liability for any and all damages, claims, proceedings,
actions, awards, expenses, costs (including but without limitation all legal
costs and disbursements) and any other losses and/or liabilities;
"Order" means the purchase order containing the details of the Contract;
"Products" means the products sold by us to you;
"Services" means the services and/or work (if any) to be performed by us for
you whether in conjunction with the hire of Equipment (including any delivery
and/or collection service for the Equipment) or otherwise;
"you" means the person, firm, company or other organisation hiring the
Equipment and/or purchasing the Products.
2. BASIS OF CONTRACT
2.1 The conditions do not affect any of your statutory rights where you are a
person dealing as consumer, not for business purposes. Any section which would
otherwise exclude or restrict your rights as a consumer will, to that extent
have no force or effect. PLEASE ALSO SEE SECTION 14.
2.2 These conditions shall be incorporated in all Contracts and shall be the
sole conditions under which the hire of Equipment, provision of the Services
and sale of the Products takes place. All other terms, conditions and other
representations are excluded from the Contracts between you and us including
any terms and conditions which you may purport to apply under any Contract and
these terms and conditions shall prevail.
2.3 Our employees or agents are not authorised to make any representations
concerning the Equipment and/or Products unless confirmed in writing and any
advice or recommendation given by us to you as to the storage, application or
use of the Equipment and/or Products which is not confirmed in writing is
followed or acted upon entirely at your own risk.
2.4 We reserve the right to provide Equipment and/or Products similar or comparable
to that ordered by you.
2.5 The Contract shall become binding when we have acknowledged the order to
you either verbally or in writing as appropriate. These conditions shall be
applicable to all repeat orders made by you unless we notify you otherwise.
2.6 The Equipment is hired subject to it being available for hire at the time
you request it. We will not be liable for any loss suffered by you as a result
of the Equipment being unavailable for hire.
2.7 You shall obtain and comply with all permissions, consents and licences
required for the Equipment under any statute, regulation or by-law.
3. PAYMENT
3.1 The amount of any Deposit and Charges are detailed in the Order and are
based on our current price list from time to time.
3.2 Where a Deposit is required for the Equipment it must be paid before you
hire the Equipment.
3.3 You shall pay the Charges from the date specified in the Order and will
continue paying the Charges during the Hire Period until (i) we have given you
a collection or off-hire number; and (ii) you have returned the Equipment to us
or we have collected the Equipment within a reasonable period after the issue
of the off-hire number, being not more than 3 working days, and the Equipment
is in a clean and serviceable condition and we have given you a receipt. All
time during the Hire Period is chargeable and the Charges may be payable on
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays (as appropriate).
3.4 If we are unable to collect the Equipment for any reason whatsoever after
an off-hire number has been issued, we will provide an amendment form to be
signed by you to extend the Contract and the Charges shall continue to be
payable in accordance with the Contract. Any signature provided by your
employees, agents, or representatives shall be deemed to be an authorised
signature for and on your behalf for the purpose of the Contract.
3.5 Where a credit account has not been granted, payment of the Charges shall
be made with your order for the Equipment or purchase of the Products.
Otherwise, payment of any Charges or any other sums due under this Contract
shall be made in full and cleared funds by the end of the following month from
the month in the date of the invoice.
3.6 All Charges are, unless otherwise stated, exclusive of any applicable VAT.
3.7 Prompt payment under a Contract shall be of the essence. Payment shall not
be deemed to be made until we have received either cash or cleared funds in
respect of the full amount outstanding.
3.8 Without prejudice to any of our other rights, if you fail to make any
payment in full on the due date we may charge you interest (both before and
after judgment) on the amount unpaid in accordance with the Late Payment of
Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late
Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 and/or to suspend further Services
to you or any of your Associated Companies.
3.9 You shall pay all sums due to us under this Contract without any set-off,
deduction, counterclaim and/or any other withholding of monies.
3.10 We may set a reasonable credit limit for you. We reserve the right to
terminate or suspend the Contract for hire of the Equipment and/or the
provision of Services if allowing it to continue would result in you exceeding
your credit limit or you have already exceeded the credit limit.
4. RISK, OWNERSHIP AND INSURANCE
4.1 Risk in the Equipment and/or Products will pass to you immediately when the
Equipment leaves our physical possession or control.
4.2 Risk in the Equipment will not pass back to us from you until the Equipment
is returned to our physical possession.
4.3 Ownership of the Equipment remains with us at all times. You have no
right, title or interest in the Equipment except that it is hired to you.
4.4 Ownership of any Products remains with us until all monies payable by you
(or any of your Associated Companies) under the Contract or any other contract
between us (or any of our Associated Companies) and you (or any of your
Associated Companies) have been paid in full and cleared funds.
4.5 You must not deal with the ownership or any interest in the Equipment. This
includes but is not limited to selling, assigning, mortgaging, pledging,
charging, securing, hiring, withholding, exerting any right to withhold,
disposing of and/or lending.
5. DELIVERY, COLLECTION AND SERVICES
5.1 You shall collect the Equipment from us and return it to us at the end of
the Hire Period. If we agree to deliver or collect the Equipment to and/or from
you, we will charge our standard delivery cost from time to time.
5.2 Where we provide the Services relating to the hire of Equipment the persons
performing the Services are your responsibility. You shall be solely
responsible for any damage which occurs as a result of such persons following
your instructions during the Hire Period, except to the extent that the persons
performing the Services are negligent.
5.3 You will allow and/or procure sufficient access to and from the relevant
site and procure sufficient loading space, facilities, equipment and access to
power supplies and utilities for our employees, sub-contractors and/or agents
to allow them to carry out the Services. You will ensure that the site where
the Services are to be performed is cleared and prepared before the Services
are due to commence.
5.4 You shall provide suitable access route for delivery and collection of the
Equipment with unrestricted entry and approach and supply and lay timbers or
appropriate temporary foundations in a suitable position for loading and
unloading and for the Equipment to rest on.
5.5 You shall pay for any lifting or special apparatus required for the siting
of the Equipment.
5.6 If any Services are delayed, postponed and/or cancelled due to your failure
to comply with your obligations under the Contract, you will be liable to pay
additional standard charges from time to time for such delay, postponement
and/or cancellation except where the delay is due to Force Majeure.
6. CARE OF EQUIPMENT
6.1 You shall:
6.1.1 not deface or remove any labels from and/or interfere with the Equipment,
their working mechanisms or any other parts of them;
6.1.2 take reasonable care of the Equipment and keep them properly maintained
and only use them for their proper purpose in a safe and correct manner in
accordance with any operating and/or safety instructions provided to or
supplied to you and any applicable law or regulations (including any
Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE regulations);
6.1.3 notify us immediately and in any event within 24 hours after any
breakdown, loss and/or damage to the Equipment or of any accident resulting in
death, personal injury or damage to property;
6.1.4 take adequate and proper measures to protect the Equipment from theft,
damage and/or other risks;
6.1.5 notify us of any change of your address and upon our request provide
details of the location of the Equipment;
6.1.6 permit us at all reasonable times to inspect the Equipment including
procuring access to any property where the Equipment is situated;
6.1.7 keep the Equipment at all times in your possession and control and not to
remove the Equipment from the United Kingdom without our prior written consent;
6.1.8 be responsible for the conduct and cost of any testing, examinations
and/or checks in relation to the Equipment required by any legislation, best
practice and/or operating instructions, except to the extent that we have
agreed to provide them as part of any Services;
6.1.9 not do or omit to do anything which will or may be deemed to invalidate
any policy of insurance related to the Equipment;
6.1.10 not continue to use Equipment where it has been damaged;
6.1.11 where the Equipment requires fuel, oil and/or electricity ensure that
the proper type and/or voltage is used and that, where appropriate, the
Equipment is properly installed by a qualified and competent person.
6.2 You must return the Equipment in good working order and condition (fair
wear and tear excepted) in a clean condition together with all licences,
registration and other documents relating to the Equipment.
6.3 It is your responsibility to check the calibration of the Equipment on each
occasion before use. Final determination of the suitability of the Equipment
for your specific use is your responsibility and you must assume all risk and
liability in this regard.
7. BREAKDOWN
7.1 Allowance will be made in relation to the Charges for any non-use of the
Equipment due to breakdown caused by the development of an inherent fault
and/or fair wear and tear provided that you inform us as soon as practicable of
the breakdown.
7.2 You shall be responsible for all expenses, loss (including loss of Charges)
and/or damage suffered by us arising from any breakdown of the Equipment due to
your negligence, misdirection and/or misuse of the Equipment.
7.3 We will, at our own cost, carry out all routine maintenance and repairs to
the Equipment during the Hire Period (but you agree that you are responsible
for applying all lubricating oils and other maintenance detailed in the
operating instructions) and all repairs which are required due to fair wear and
tear and/or an inherent fault in the Equipment.
7.4 You will be responsible for the cost of all repairs necessary to Equipment
during the Hire Period which arise otherwise than under Section 7.3 above.
7.5 It is your responsibility to return Equipment to us or arrange for us to
collect Equipment for re-testing 3 months after the date on which the Hire
Period commenced.
7.6 You must not repair or attempt to repair the Equipment without our prior
written consent.
7.7 If specifically agreed in advance between us, we will provide an out of
hours emergency service to you in respect of breakdowns under this clause
7. Where this has been agreed with you, you can call us on 07710 428642
outside of usual working hours in relation to any of the Equipment or Services
for which you have signed a Contract during the Hire Period. Additional
charges for this service will apply and shall be as set out in your Contract,
or in the absence of such agreement, as listed on our website.
8. LOSS OR DAMAGE TO THE HIRED GOODS
8.1 If the Equipment is returned in damaged, unclean and/or defective state
(except where due to fair wear and tear and/ or an inherent fault in the
Equipment) you shall be liable to pay us for the cost of any repair and/or
cleaning required to return the Equipment to a condition fit for re-hire. Your
liability to us may be reduced if you have purchased Protection Plus as
outlined in Section 4.6.
8.2 You will pay to us the replacement cost of any Equipment (on a new for old
basis) which is lost, stolen and/or damaged beyond economic repair during the
Hire Period.
8.3 You will pay to us our costs which we may
incur in tracking or recovering any lost or stolen Equipment.
8.4 You shall pay the Charges for the Equipment up to and including the date
you notify us that the Equipment has been lost, stolen and/or damaged beyond
economic repair. From that date until we have replaced such Equipment (or
retrieved any lost or stolen Equipment), you shall pay, as a genuine
pre-estimate of lost Charges profit, a sum as liquidated damages being equal to
two thirds of the Charges that would have applied for such Equipment for that
period. We shall use our reasonable commercial endeavours to purchase
replacements for such Equipment as quickly as possible using the monies paid
under Section 8.2.
8.5 You agree that where you are in breach of Section 6.1.5 or Section 6.1.7,
we shall be entitled to treat the Equipment as lost and the provisions of this
Section 8 shall apply.
9. TERMINATION BY NOTICE
9.1 If the Hire Period has a fixed duration, subject to the provisions of
Section 10 neither party shall be entitled to terminate the Contract before the
expiry of that fixed period unless by agreement.
9.2 If the Hire Period does not have a fixed duration either party may terminate
the Contract upon giving to the other party any agreed period of notice.
10. DEFAULT
10.1 If you:
10.1.1 fail to make any payment to us when due; or
10.1.2 breach the terms of the Contract and, where the breach is capable of
remedy, have not remedied the breach within 14 days of receiving notice
requiring the breach to be remedied;
10.1.3 persistently breach the terms of the Contract;
10.1.4 provide incomplete, materially inaccurate or misleading facts and/or
information in connection with the Contract;
10.1.5 attempt to pledge, charge or create any form of security over any
Equipment;
10.1.6 cease or threaten to cease to carry on business;
10.1.7 being an individual or partnership, have a bankruptcy petition presented
against you or compound with or come to an arrangement with your creditors,
enter into an individual voluntary arrangement or suffer any similar action in
any jurisdiction;
10.1.8 being a company, enter into voluntary or compulsory liquidation, have an
administrator or administrative receiver appointed over all or any of your
assets, or compound with or come to an arrangement with your creditors or enter
into a company voluntary arrangement, any attachment order is made against you,
any distress, execution or other legal process is levied on any of your
property or you suffer any similar action in any jurisdiction;
10.1.9 have circumstances in which we reasonably believe that any of the events
mentioned in Sections 10.1.7 or 10.1.8 above is about to occur and we notify
you of this belief;
10.1.10 appear reasonably to us due to your credit rating to be financially
inadequate to meet your obligations under the Contract;
10.1.11 appear reasonably to us to be about to suffer any of the above events;
then we shall have the right, without prejudice to any other remedies, to
exercise any or all of the rights set out in Section 10.2 below.
10.2 If any of the events set out in Section 10.1 above occurs in relation to
you then:-
10.2.1 we may enter, without prior notice, any of your premises (or premises of
third parties with their consent) where the Equipment and/or Products may be
and repossess any Equipment and/or Products;
10.2.2 we may withhold the performance of any Services and cease any Services
in progress under this and/or and other Contract between you (or any of your
Associated Companies) and us (or any of our Associated Companies);
10.2.3 we may immediately cancel, terminate and/or suspend without Liability to
you the Contract and/or any other contract between you (or any of your Associated
Companies) and us (or any of our Associated Companies);
10.2.4 any credit period in relation to payment of the Charges shall be
accelerated and all sums, all monies owed by you (or any of your Associated
Companies) to us (or any of our Associated Companies) under this Contract or
any other Contract between you (or any of your Associated Companies) and us (or
any of our Associated Companies) shall immediately become due and payable.
10.3 Any repossession of the Equipment and/or Products shall not affect our
right to recover from you (or any of your Associated Companies) any monies due
under the Contract or any other contract between you (or any of your Associated
Companies) and us (or any of our Associated Companies) and/or any damages in
respect of any breach which occurred prior to repossession of the Equipment
and/or Products.
10.4 Upon termination of the Contract you shall immediately:
10.4.1 at your expense, return the Equipment to us or make the Equipment
available for us to collect; and
10.4.2 pay to us (or any of our Associated Companies), in full and cleared
funds, all outstanding Charges and/or any other sums payable under the Contract
or any other contract between us (or any of our Associated Companies) and you
(or any of your Associated Companies).
11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
11.1 All warranties, representations, terms, conditions and duties implied by
law relating to fitness, quality and/or adequacy are excluded to the fullest
extent permitted by law.
11.2 If we are found to be liable in respect of any loss or damage to your
property the extent of our Liability will be limited to the retail cost of
replacement of the damaged property.
11.3 Any defective Equipment and/or Products must be returned to us at your
expense for inspection before we have any Liability for defective Equipment
and/or Products.
11.4 We shall have no Liability to you if any Charges or monies due in respect
of the Equipment, the Services and/or the Products have not been paid in full
and cleared funds by the due date for payment.
11.5 We shall have no Liability resulting from or contributed to by your
continued use of defective Equipment and/or Products after a defect has become
apparent or suspected or should reasonably have become apparent to you.
11.6 We shall have no Liability to you to the extent that you are covered by
any policy of insurance and you shall ensure that your insurers waive any and
all rights of subrogation they may have against us.
11.7 We shall have no Liability to you for any:-
11.7.1 losses whether arising from breach of contract,delict (including but not
limited to negligence), or otherwise, and whether flowing naturally and
directly from such breach, negligence or other cause, or not, for:
(a) loss of revenue,
(b) loss of profit,
(c) loss of anticipated saving,
(d) loss of goodwill; or
(e) loss of reputation;
11.7.2 economic and/or other similar losses;
11.7.3 special damages, indirect losses and/or consequential losses; and/or
11.7.4 business interruption, loss of business, contracts and/or opportunity.
11.8 Our total Liability to you under and/or arising in relation to any
Contract shall not exceed 5 times the amount of the Charges or the sum of
£1,000, whichever is the higher, under that Contract. To the extent that any of
our Liability to you would be met by our insurance then our Liability shall be
extended to the extent that such Liability is met by such insurance.
11.9 Each of the limitations and/or exclusions in this Contract shall be deemed
to be repeated and apply as a separate provision for each of:
11.9.1 Liability for breach of contract;
11.9.2 Liability in delict (including negligence); and
11.9.3 Liability for breach of statutory and/or civil law duty; except Section
11.8 above which shall apply only once in respect of all the types of Liability
under this Section 11.9.
11.10 Nothing in this Contract shall exclude or limit our Liability for death
or personal injury due to our negligence nor exclude or limit any other type of
Liability which it is not permitted to exclude or limit as a matter of law.
12. GENERAL
12.1 Upon termination of the Contract the provisions of Sections 3.3, 3.8, 3.9,
8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and Section 6 shall continue in full force and effect.
12.2 The hiring of each piece of Equipment in the relevant Hire Period shall form
a distinct Contract which shall be separate to any other Contract relating to
other Equipment.
12.3 You shall be liable for the acts and/or omissions of your employees,
agents, servants and/or subcontractors as though they were your own acts and/or
omissions under this Contract.
12.4 You shall be responsible for compliance with all relevant legislation and
regulations issued by Government or local authorities, including (but not
limited to) regulations under the Factories Acts, Health and Safety at Work
Act.
12.5 You agree to indemnify and keep indemnified us against any Liability
suffered by us and arising from or due to your breach of contract, delict
(including negligence) and/or any breach of statutory duty and/or any claim
from a third party for injury to person or property arising from your use or
storage of the Equipment.
12.6 No waiver by us of any breach of this Contract shall be considered as a
waiver of any subsequent breach of the same provision or any other provision.
12.7 If any provision of the Contract is held by any competent authority to be
unenforceable, in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of
this Contract and the remainder of the affected provision shall be unaffected
and shall remain in full force and effect.
12.8 We shall have no Liability to you for any delay and/or non-performance of
a Contract to the extent that such delay is due to Force Majeure. If we are
affected by Force Majeure then time for performance of our obligations under
the Contract shall be extended for a period equal to the period of the delayed
performance.
12.9 These terms and conditions supersede and replace all prior terms and
conditions, communications, representations, warranties, stipulations,
undertakings, and agreements whether oral or written between the parties.
12.10 All third party rights are excluded and no third parties shall have any
rights to enforce the Contract.
12.11 This Contract is governed by and interpreted in accordance with Scots law
and the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts
in relation to any matter or dispute arising out of or in connection with it a
contractual nature or otherwise.
12.12 We have the right to vary the Contract, by giving you 7 days written
notice of such variation.
12.13 You shall not, and shall procure that
your directors, employees, agents, representatives, contractors or
subcontractors shall not engage in any activity, practice or conduct which
would constitute an offence under the Bribery Act 2010. You shall have in place
adequate procedures designed to prevent any person working for or engaged by
you or any other third party in any way connected to the Contract, from
committing offences of corruption or bribery. Breach of this Section 12.13
shall entitle us to terminate with immediate effect.
13. CONSUMER CREDIT ACT
13.1 Hires to individuals or partnerships of 3 individuals or less (or other
unincorporated body of individuals) shall not be for a period in excess of 3
months. You shall return the Equipment to us on or before the last day of such
three month period.
13.2 If you are an individual or a partnership of 3 individuals or less (or
other unincorporated body of individuals) and we (in exceptional circumstances)
agree to a contract in excess of 3 months then the Contract will be subject to
The Consumer Credit Act 1974. Sections 13.3, 13.4, 13.5 and 13.6 will only
apply in the circumstances listed in this section 13.2.
13.3 IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD READ THIS CAREFULLY TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS.
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 lays down certain requirements for your protection
which should have been complied with when this agreement was made. If they were
not, we cannot enforce this agreement against you without getting a court
order.
13.4 For further information about your statutory rights under the Consumer
Credit Act 1974 and other legislation, contact your local authority Trading
Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau.
13.5 MISSING PAYMENTS - Missing payments could have severe consequences and may
make obtaining credit more difficult.
13.6 If you have a complaint please contact us and we will supply you with a
copy of our complaints handling procedure. Once you have issued a formal
complaint in line with the procedure, we will respond as soon as possible and
in any event within eight weeks of receiving your complaint. If you are
dissatisfied with our response you may refer your complaint to the Financial
Ombudsman Service within six months of the date of our final response.
14. TERMS APPLYING TO CONSUMERS ONLY
14.1 PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SECTION ONLY APPLIES WHEN YOU ARE ENTERING THE
CONTRACT AS A CONSUMER.
14.2 Where you are acting as a consumer under the Unfair Contract Terms Act
1977 (you enter into the Contract not in the course of business), the following
provisions in the Contract may, subject to determination by the Courts, have no
force or effect:
14.2.1 Section 2.3 (employees' representatives);
14.2.2 Section 3.8 (payment of interest on late payment);
14.2.3 Section 3.9 (no right of set-off);
14.2.4 Section 5.6 (payment for delayed performance as a result of your
non-compliance with the Contract);
14.2.5 Section 6.3 (suitability of Equipment);
14.2.6 Section 10.2.1 (right of entry and seizure of Equipment). This Section
13.4.6 will also apply to consumers under the Consumer Credit Act 1974;
14.2.7 Section 11 (Limitations of Liability) subject to Section 11.10
continuing to apply;
14.2.8 Section 12.5 (indemnity); and
14.2.9 Section 12.11 (jurisdiction).
14.3 Should any defect occur in the Equipment and/or Products, other than one
for which you were responsible, we will at our option either, replace or repair
the Equipment and/or Products (at no charge to you) as soon as is reasonably
practicable. We shall not replace, repair or service any Equipment and/or
Products until any outstanding Charges have been paid in full and cleared
funds.