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Legal

Rental terms

Status: draft, pending legal review. The agreement you sign is the operative document.

This page sets out how a hire with us works: who the agreement is with, what the deposit and the excess are for, how mileage is counted, what happens at delivery and collection, and where the car may be taken. It is written so that nothing on the day is a surprise. The document you actually sign is the hire agreement, and we send it to you before delivery rather than handing it over at the kerb.

These terms are still being finalised

A solicitor is reviewing the wording before launch, so nothing on this page forms part of a hire agreement yet. Where a term is genuinely not settled, this page says so rather than filling the gap with something plausible. If you are hiring before it is published, we confirm every term in writing with your quote, and you can ask for any of it in advance.

The terms of the hire are a separate document from the terms of using this website.

Who is my hire agreement with?

That depends on whose car it is, and it is a material fact you are entitled to know before you agree to anything rather than after.

A car badged “in our fleet”
Ours. We own it, prepare it, insure it and deliver it, and the hire agreement is with us. We are the rental company, not an introducer, and there is nobody else to chase. The registered entity that contracts with you is being confirmed before launch and will be named here. Owner to confirm
A car badged “we can source” (101 of the 112)
Not ours. We arrange it through a vetted partner, so the rate shown on the site is a guide, availability is subject to confirmation with that partner, and their driver criteria and excess apply rather than ours. We tell you who is supplying the car, and on what terms, before anything is agreed. Owner to confirm whether the hire agreement on a sourced car is with the partner directly or with us as principal on a sub-hire.

Either way, nothing is agreed on a sourced car until it is confirmed with the partner. We do not hold a date we cannot supply. How the fleet and sourced split works.

About the figures on this page

Every deposit, excess, driver age, licence period, points tolerance and mileage allowance quoted below is read from our catalogue data, and that data is provisional while the fleet and the insurance arrangement are being finalised. Treat them as an indication of the shape of the cost, not as a quotation.

The figures that bind are the ones on the written quote and the hire agreement for your specific car and dates. We would rather tell you that here than have you plan around a number that moves.

Who is allowed to drive the car?

Only a driver named on the hire before it starts, who meets the criteria for that specific vehicle. An unnamed driver is not insured, so this is not paperwork we can be relaxed about.

Across the current catalogue that means a minimum age of 25–32, 2–10 years of full licence held continuously, and a tolerance of 0–6 penalty points, all varying by car. Every figure is on the individual car’s page and explained in full on driver requirements. They are insurance conditions rather than preferences of ours, which is why we cannot waive one.

What you must show us

Your full physical driving licence, a DVLA check code so we can see the endorsements on it, proof of your address, and the payment card in your own name. The same for every additional driver. We send the exact list in writing when the hire is confirmed, and the checks happen before the car is booked out rather than on your doorstep.

We may end the hire, or refuse to hand the car over, if the documents do not match what was declared or if the DVLA check shows something that was not disclosed. What we do with those documents is set out in the privacy policy.

What do I pay, and what is held?

Three separate numbers doing three separate jobs. Conflating them is how people end up feeling misled, so they are kept apart here and on every car’s page.

The hire rate
Quoted per day, and inclusive of VAT. Weekend, week and month rates where the car offers them. Delivery and collection are quoted with it, based on your address, and appear on the quote rather than afterwards. Nothing is taken through this website.
The security deposit — £1,500–£50,000
Refundable, held against a card in the hirer’s own name, and not a payment towards the hire. A third party’s card cannot be used. Four things can be deducted from it and nothing else: miles above the included allowance, fuel or charge not replaced, damage up to the excess, and any penalty, toll or congestion charge incurred during your hire. Owner to confirm whether it is taken as a pre-authorisation or a charge, and the release window in working days.
The insurance excess — £1,500–£35,000
Not the deposit, and not a fee. It is the most you would pay towards a claim the policy covers, and you never meet it unless something happens. Insurance and excess works it through against a real repair bill.

How many miles do I get?

Each car carries its own daily allowance, currently on request miles a day across the catalogue, and the figure for the car you are looking at is on its page. Miles beyond the allowance are charged at 95p–£10.00 a mile depending on the vehicle.

The allowance is worked out over the whole hire rather than day by day, so a long Saturday and a quiet Sunday balance out. Mileage is read and recorded at handover and again at collection, with you present both times.

If you already know the trip is a long one, say so when you enquire. Agreeing a bigger allowance up front is almost always cheaper than paying for the overage afterwards, and it stops the bill being a surprise.

What is the fuel and charging policy?

Like for like. The car arrives full, or charged, and comes back the same way. There is no fuel package to buy and nothing is pre-paid.

The level is recorded at handover and at collection. If the car comes back short we replace what is missing and deduct the cost from the deposit. Owner to confirm the basis of that charge and whether a handling fee applies on top of the cost of the fuel or the charge.

Putting the wrong fuel in is not covered by the insurance and the cost falls to the hirer. Most of these cars take super unleaded, and the correct grade is on the handover sheet as well as inside the filler flap.

How do delivery and collection work?

We bring the car to you and collect it afterwards. There are no depots and no counters, so the handover is the start of the hire and the collection is the end of it.

  • The named driver has to be there, in person. Handover includes the licence and identity checks and a joint walk round the car, so it cannot be left with a neighbour, a concierge or a colleague.
  • The car is photographed at both ends, with you present. Condition, mileage, and fuel or charge, recorded the same way on delivery and on collection. Both sides see the same record, which is what makes a dispute about a mark answerable rather than a matter of memory.
  • Collection can be from a different address. Delivered to a house on the Friday and collected from an office on the Monday is an ordinary booking. Tell us both addresses when you enquire.
  • Tell us early if your timing changes. Where the car is not committed to somebody else we move the slot. Where it is due elsewhere immediately afterwards it genuinely cannot be held, which is why early notice is worth more than an apology.

Owner to confirm the charging basis where a car is returned late, and the minimum hire period. Until those are set we agree them with you in writing on the quote. How delivery works covers the practical detail.

What happens if the car is damaged?

Tell us straight away and arrange nothing yourself. A repair you organise privately is not an insured repair and it usually costs more than the excess would have.

Where the policy covers the event, your liability is capped at the excess for that vehicle. Where it does not cover the event at all, the excess stops being a ceiling and the liability is the whole cost, which is why an unnamed driver at the wheel is the one thing we are inflexible about. The exclusions are set out on insurance and excess, and the ones that apply to your hire are on your agreement.

Report anything that happens during the hire, including damage you think is trivial and anything you did not cause. A mark recorded when it happened is a claim; the same mark found at collection is an argument.

Where can I take the car, and what can I use it for?

Normal road use in Mainland Britain. That is our stated coverage, and anything involving a sea crossing, including Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Scottish islands, is answered case by case before you plan around it rather than assumed.

Taking any hire vehicle out of the United Kingdom needs the owner’s written authority and cover that extends to where you are going, and neither can be arranged at the port. Owner to confirm whether the policy extends outside the UK at all and whether a vehicle-on-hire certificate can be issued. Ask before you book, not after.

What no vehicle may be used for

  • Circuit, competitive or timed driving of any kind, however the day is described. A track day is arranged as a separate hire, with cover written for circuit use.
  • Driving by anyone not named on the hire, including for a moment, in a car park, to move it.
  • Driving under the influence of drink or drugs, or while otherwise unfit.
  • Carrying passengers or goods for hire or reward, including private-hire and courier work.
  • Towing, pushing, off-road use, or driving on a surface the car was not built for.
  • Anything unlawful, and any use that would invalidate the insurance.
  • Smoking or vaping in the car, and carrying an animal other than an assistance dog.

These are not house rules. Each one is either a condition of the policy the car is insured under or a term the vehicle’s own condition depends on, and a hire outside them is an uninsured car on a public road.

What if the car breaks down?

Call the number on your hire agreement before you call anyone else. Recovery of a low or wide car is not a job for a standard flatbed and a strap, and the wrong recovery causes more damage than the fault did.

Every car goes out prepared and with that number on the paperwork. What we can do next depends on where you are and what has happened. Owner to confirm the recovery arrangement and whether a replacement vehicle is ever offered. We would rather state the arrangement for your specific hire in writing at confirmation than imply a guarantee we cannot always keep.

Where a car becomes unavailable through no fault of yours before the hire starts, we offer the nearest equivalent we can supply or refund what you have paid. We do not substitute a different car for an “or similar” on the morning of delivery.

Who pays a fine or a congestion charge?

You do, for anything incurred during your hire. That covers speeding, parking, bus lanes, the congestion charge, ULEZ and clean-air zones, tolls and crossings.

A notice comes to us as the registered keeper, and we are legally required to tell the issuing authority who was driving. We will let you know when we do. Owner to confirm the administration fee, if any, charged for handling one. Charges are deducted from the deposit or invoiced.

Can I cancel or change a hire?

You can ask at any time, and the earlier the better. What you cannot do is rely on the 14-day cooling-off period that applies to most things bought at a distance: contracts for vehicle hire on a specified date or for a specified period are exempt from it under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. That exemption is the law rather than our policy, and it applies to car hire generally, not just to us.

We would rather not lean on that quietly, so the cancellation and refund policy we do apply will be set out here in full: the notice periods, what is refunded at each one, and how an amendment differs from a cancellation. Owner to confirm

Until it is published we state it in writing with your quote, before you agree to anything. Ask for it if it is not there. Changing a hire, moving dates or swapping to a different car is a conversation rather than a penalty, and where we can accommodate it we do.

Your rights if something is wrong with the hire

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a hire like this must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time where no time was agreed, and the vehicle supplied must match how it was described to you. If it is not, you are entitled to have it put right, and to a price reduction where it cannot be. Those rights cannot be excluded, and no term of ours tries to.

What about a hire of a month or more?

Longer hires are arranged individually rather than booked from the site, and they carry additional checks. Talk to us about what you need and we will tell you what is possible.

Longer hire to a limited company is straightforward and is what our monthly rates are built around. A long hire to an individual sits in different territory: a consumer hire agreement capable of lasting more than three months is a regulated agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, so we are not offering one to consumers until that has been through legal review. We would rather say that plainly than take a booking we should not have taken.

Business hire covers the company side.

A note on the insurance arrangement

The self-drive-hire policy for our own fleet is being finalised. Until it is in force we are not stating who underwrites it, precisely what it permits, or any term we have not been shown, and insurance and excess is written the same way. Every term that applies to your hire is confirmed to you in writing before the car moves.

If something goes wrong

Tell us. How to raise a complaint sets out the route in, what we do with it, and the independent options open to you if we cannot put it right. Raise it with us even where the car was one we sourced: the introduction was ours.

Liability

We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We do not exclude or limit liability where the law does not allow it, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence and for fraud. Where you are hiring for business purposes we are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business or business interruption.

Governing law

The governing law is being confirmed with the registration of the contracting entity and will be stated here. Owner to confirm As a consumer you keep the protection of the consumer law of the part of the United Kingdom where you live, and you can bring proceedings in the courts there, whatever this clause ends up saying.

Need a term confirmed before you hire?

Ask, and we will put it in writing. Email [email protected] with the car and the dates you have in mind, or send your dates and raise it in the notes. We would far rather answer it now than have it come up at handover.

The other documents

Tell us the dates. We’ll confirm the car.

Send us the dates and a delivery postcode — that is all we need to start. Someone here will come back to you with what is genuinely available and the full cost, deposit, excess and mileage included.

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