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1. INTERPRETATION
1.1 In these conditions the following words have the following meanings: "Associated Company" means any group company or company that is a subsidiary
company of either party from
time to time and 'subsidiary' shall have the meaning set out in Section 736 of
the Companies Act 1985 as
amended by Section 144 of the Companies Act 1989;
"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 (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
in conjunction with the hire of Equipment, including any delivery and/or collection service for the
Equipment;
"we/us/our" means the Chertsey Tool Hire company detailed in the Order and will
include its employees, servants, agents and/or duly authorised representatives; "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 13.
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 byelaw.
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; (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 less 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
with your order for the
Equipment or purchase of the Products. Otherwise, payment of any Charges 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.
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.
4.6
We may provide reasonably priced insurance in respect of the Equipment in
addition to the Charges.
Alternatively, we may require you to insure the Equipment with a reputable
insurance company on such
reasonable terms and for such reasonable risks as we may specify. You shall hold
the proceeds of
any such insurance on trust for us in a separate bank account and you shall pay
such proceeds to us on
demand.
4.7
We may provide different levels of damage waiver in relation to the Equipment at
an additional cost to
the Charges. For further details on the different levels of damage waiver
available please refer to our
current catalogue. Damage waiver will automatically apply to all cash hires. If
you accept our offer
of damage waiver, we shall waive accidental damage to the Equipment caused by
you subject to the
following:
4.7.1
If you have a credit account with us, the account must not be in arrears at the
time you make the claim
and the charge for the damage waiver must have been paid on the due date.
4.7.2
The Equipment must have been operated in accordance with its instructions and
all reasonable steps must
have been taken to prevent accidental damage to the Equipment.
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 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;
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 insurance policies, 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 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 You must not repair or attempt to repair the Equipment
without our prior written consent.
8. LOSS OR DAMAGE TO THE HIRED GOODS
8.1 If the Equipment is returned in damaged, unclean and/or
detective 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.
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 less the amount paid to us under any policy or insurance taken out under the Contract.
8.3 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, 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.
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 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 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,
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 any 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 arranged as a result of the Contract 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, tort
(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 tort (including negligence); and
11.9.3 Liability for breach of statutory and/or common 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 sub- contractors as though they were your own acts and/or omissions
under this Contract.
12.4 You agree to indemnify and keep indemnified us against any
Liability suffered by us and arising from or due to your breach of contract, tort (including negligence)
and/or any breach of statutory duty.
12.5 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.
12.6 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.
12.7 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.
12.8 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.
12.9 All third party rights
are excluded and no third parties shall have any rights to enforce the Contract.
12.10 This Contract is governed by and interpreted in accordance
with English law and the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
12.11 We have the right to vary the Contract, by giving you 7
days written notice of such variation.
13. TERMS APPLYING TO CONSUMERS ONLY
13.1 IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD READ THIS CAREFULLY. PLEASE NOTE THAT
THIS SECTION ONLY APPLIES WHEN YOU ARE ENTERING THE CONTRACT AS A CONSUMER.
13.2 The Contract is subject to The Consumer Credit Act 1974
which lays down certain requirements for your protection which must be satisfied when the Contract is
made. If they are not, the owner cannot enforce the Contract against you without a court order. If
you cancel the Contract, any money you have paid must be returned to you. You will not have to
make any further payment. If you already have any Equipment, you should not use them and
should keep them safe (legal action may be taken against you if you do not take proper care of them).
You can wait for them to be collected from you and you need not hand them over unless you
receive a written request. If you wish, however, you may return the Equipment yourself.
13.3 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:
13.3.1 Section 2.3 (employees' representatives);
13.3.2 Section 3.8 (payment of interest on late payment);
13.3.3 Section 3.9 (no right of set-off);
13.3.4 Section 5.6 (payment for delayed performance as a result
of your non-compliance with the Contract);
13.3.5 Section 6.3 (suitability of Equipment);
13.3.6 Section 10.2.1 (right of entry and seizure of Equipment).
This Section 13.3.6 will also apply to consumers under the Consumer Credit Act 1974;
13.3.7 Section 11 (Limitations of Liability) subject to Section
11.10 continuing to apply; and
13.3.8 Section 12.4 (indemnity).
13.4 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.
13.5 For further information about your statutory rights and the
protection and remedies provided under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and other legislation, contact your
local authority Trading Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau.
These Conditions are based on the Standard Conditions for Hire
and Sale of Products produced by the Hire Association Europe
(1 November 2001). All other copyrights reserved to the Chertsey Tool Hire
Limited 2005
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