What Is A Hire Agreement?

Hire or Rental Agreements set out the terms and conditions by which customers hire or rent goods or equipment from your business. These documents form a contractual agreement between your business and your customers in relation to the hire or rental of goods or equipment.

When Do You Need A Hire Agreement?

If you’re running a business that involves the hire or rental of goods or equipment, it’s always a good idea to have a contract in place. It will help clarify what the role and responsibilities of you and your customer are and reduce the chance that a dispute will occur. It can also help to limit your liability if something goes wrong, secure your revenue streams and provide other important protections and limitations specific to your business.

How Do You Use It?

Hire Agreements are sometimes written as a formal contract to be signed by both your business and your customers. However, it’s often easier to have your Hire or Rental Agreement written in a way that it can just be attached to the back of an invoice, form or proposal, and are drafted so that your customer can accept the terms without need to sign it.

Rather than having a signing block, the agreement often include a sentence that says something like: “You will be taken to have to have accepted these terms and conditions if you order, accept or pay for any goods or equipment provided by us after receiving or becoming aware of these terms.”

Hire Agreement Example

Joey has a marquee hire company. When a customer arranges to hire a marquee for their event, Joey sends them an invoice with a Hire Agreement attached. Once the customer accepts and pays, Joey comes and sets up the marquee and then takes it down afterwards. The Hire Agreement sets out the terms and conditions of hire, including that the price is calculated on an hourly rate and the customer must pay an additional fee if they want to keep the marquee for longer than the initially agreed time frame.

What’s In It?

Here are the sorts of issues that are typically covered in a Hire Agreement:

  • Description of The Goods – Make sure you are clear about exactly what is being hired out and the condition it is in.
  • Payment –  What is the price and how is payment made? How do refunds work?
  • Dispute Resolution – What happens if there is a dispute? Is there a process that needs to be followed before the dispute is taken to court (eg mediation)?
  • Customer Obligations – What are the customer’s obligations in relation to the hired goods or equipment? What happens if something is damaged or stolen?
  • Liability – To what extent would your business be liable if something goes wrong or someone suffers loss as a result of using the hired goods or equipment?

Need Help With A Hire Agreement For Your Business?

Putting together a Hire or Rental Agreement can seem like a daunting process, as it’s hard to know what you should put in it and how to word it. It’s a good idea to invest in a lawyer to assist you with this process, as this one-off cost can help prevent disputes, misunderstandings and save you from problems and headaches in the long run.

At Sprintlaw, we have a team of experienced lawyers who can assist with your Hire or Rental Agreement and other legals your business may need help with. Get in contact with one of our consultants for a no-obligation chat about how we can help.

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