Car hire contracts include two participants, one who is hiring a vehicle from the other. In order to legally ensure that both participants are covered from liability, car hire contracts are typically drawn up and then signed by both parties.
Common car hire contracts will include terms of time periods, the amount of payments, who is responsible for things such as insurance, and other determinants.
The Essentials
Essential data is always covered in car rental contracts.
- This will include the names of the parties involved: the lessee, (who is the one/company hiring the vehicle) and the lessor, or vehicle’s owner.
- Both party’s full name and address is usually included in the contract for even more protection.
Vehicle Types
The kind of vehicle to be rented is also included in car rental contracts. This also includes the likes of trucks, motorbikes as well as a PCO car in London.
Further, many car hire services have a number of vehicle classes to choose from, from small to mid-sized saloons to luxury cars and SUV’s.
Costs
The price of the hire contract is naturally an important factor.
- This will depend on all of the different features involved in what type of car the customer wishes to hire and also for how long.
- Commonly, things like insurance, taxes and fuel can be added on to the quoted price in addition to other items.
- Things such as these will depend very much on the operating practices of different services and will ultimately differ between companies.
One of the most important areas of some car hire contracts is the issue of which party is deemed responsible for the insurance if the hired vehicle is damaged or damages someone else’s vehicle or property. A car hire service will indeed offer insurance for an additional charge and if the lessee already has comprehensive vehicle insurance, he or she is normally still covered when using a hired car.
- It is imperative for the lessee to find out and check with their own insurance company and know if they are properly covered when hiring out a car, or whether they must get insurance sorted out with the car hire service.
Surcharges
There are various other ways for revenue for car hire services, so the lessee will have to be careful when signing his or her name on a car hire contract. For instance, where a car is being hired by the day, and provided with a full tank of petrol, you will have to return it in the same state or charged for petrol at a rate that is usually somewhat higher than the going rate.
Also, watch out for surcharges for excessive mileage, GPS units, etc. And there may be with some vehicle hire services where there are restrictions on where the vehicle can be driven to and who is allowed to drive it, so it is definitely of importance to go fully through the contract prior to signing anything.
