Do any of you rent out your lorry?

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LizzieRC1313

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Just wondered if any of you could give me any advice on this?

After much debating, we have decided we should probably get a lorry. However, we haven't got a huge budget and are looking for one for 3 horses.

While scouring the internet I have come across a website where the people rent out your box for you. Although we will use ours fairly regularly, there will be plenty of time where it could be being used by someone else.

So was wondering, have any of you done this?
Did you do it privately (for example let others on your yard use it for a fee?) or use a company?
If you do it privately, how was it insured?
How much interest did you have in it/how often is it rented out?
Have you had any problems?

I would love to know, as it seems a good way for it to earn a bit of a money when not being used by us and to keep it ticking over etc?

Thanks!
 
I don't have a lorry but my main concern would be any possibly damage caused to your lorry renting it out to strangers, plus the implications of any road fines could be a faff to sort if doing it privately.

There is always the risk something could happen to your lorry a few days before you need it. plus think of all the extra wear and tear which will increase running costs, although this would be covered by the sum you charge, it probably won't amount to as much profit as you think.

I'm generally quite cautious, and if I did have a box would only loan to trusted friends, the same way I wouldn't loan my car to any joe bloggs on the street.

Just because you respect your box, doesn't mean others will. A lot of people tend to be slightly more careless with things that aren't theirs...
 
I personally would not rent my lorry out, as not entirely sure it would not invalidate insurance which states not to be used for hire or reward. I believe reward is money. However, have two very good friends who use it when it is not being used by me. i believe 7.5t boxes are better to be run,than sat about not being used.
Friends put in the diesel they have used,so no money changes hands. If I need a favour,like turning my horses out when I can't easily get to them, they will do that for me and not charge.
Suits us all!
Wouldn't work for everyone,and none of keep count which way the favours or use of box go,so it is very much good will. And,good friendship.
 
I saw somebody advertising that for £50 a month you could share their box- not sure Id do it to be honest, more trouble than it's worth, I'd either save up for longer, or hire one if I had to rent it out to be able to fund it (I can't afford one, btw, but would rather do without than risk trying to rent one I bought out and all the potential issues!)
 
This was discussed on another forum a year or so ago. The consensus was that you would have to charge such a big deposit and your insurance premiums would be so high that it would hardly be worth doing it.
 
I not do this but I know someone who does and the last time I spoke to her she was very happy with the service the company who runs the site, I think they sort or give advice on where to get rental insurance.
I would go on the website http://myrentalhorsebox.com/ and ring a couple of the box owners and see if they are happy
 
If you did it properly you would have to arrange insurance, breakdown and recovery cover as well as getting it serviced every 6 weeks to comply with hire legislation.
I think it depends on how often you envisage it going out ; in one way those that do it as a business obviously manage it successfully but if you see it as more of a hobby to make a bit of 'pin money' it may not be economically very viable.
I have to say I wish more folk would do it though as if you only go out half a dozen times a year its much cheaper than running your own :D
 
I'm the same as Spottyappy - i don't rent my box out as it's not insured for hire and reward, however it is insured for any driver with a clean licence between the ages of 25 and 70. So I have a friend who borrows it and just puts in the fuel that she uses. It works out fine as it's a van conversion and I would prefer it to be used than standing around doing nothing. However I am contemplating changing to a 4x4 and trailer as I think it might work out cheaper for me.
I wouldn't want to rent my box out to strangers - you don't know their standard of driving, and despite the fact that it would be insured, it would still be inconvenient having the box off the road while any repairs were done, which have been caused by somebody else.
 
As my friend hasn't replied yet I will on her behalf. She rents out her box through the rental website to ensure that it is fully insured. She has also specified that people call her directly and through a lengthy conversation can decide if she is happy for them to use it or not. Often it's clear they don't have enough experience or even common sense so she just declines. So far all the rentals have worked out well with paperwork being completed at the beginning and often the same people use it more than once. She's had a very positive experience and her box has been earning it's keep whilst her horse was out of action. She may comment later but as far as I can see it seems a good secure way of renting out your box whilst maintaining control over who rents it.
 
Thanks all for replying! I agree I'm sure doing it privately must have a lot of risks and I also agree that some numptys could end up taking it out and doing all sorts of untold damage.

When I've been investigating buying one, (found a perfect one and it has just been sold Grrr!) everything seemed to be saying they are better if they are being used than if they are just parked up. Also I'm not sure we would use ours a huge amount from October to March so people going hunting etc might like to use it.

As my friend hasn't replied yet I will on her behalf. She rents out her box through the rental website to ensure that it is fully insured. She has also specified that people call her directly and through a lengthy conversation can decide if she is happy for them to use it or not. Often it's clear they don't have enough experience or even common sense so she just declines. So far all the rentals have worked out well with paperwork being completed at the beginning and often the same people use it more than once. She's had a very positive experience and her box has been earning it's keep whilst her horse was out of action. She may comment later but as far as I can see it seems a good secure way of renting out your box whilst maintaining control over who rents it.
Click to expand...

I agree, realistically the only way to do it would be to use a company that rent it out so it is fully insured. Do you know how often your friend rents hers out?

Also some of these websites were sugesting it costs £4000/yr to run a horsebox :confused: Surely its not that much? Any offers on how much an average a relatively old (~1996 leyland Daf - this is what we have been looking for) costs to run a year?? Thanks again for all your replies, it was just something I was pondering when I found that website and thought it would be a good way to make sure its getting used enough to merit buying it. I think it would be good if horsebox rental was more widely done, would save some people a lot of money investing in buying one.
 
Thanks all for replying! I agree I'm sure doing it privately must have a lot of risks and I also agree that some numptys could end up taking it out and doing all sorts of untold damage.

When I've been investigating buying one, (found a perfect one and it has just been sold Grrr!) everything seemed to be saying they are better if they are being used than if they are just parked up. Also I'm not sure we would use ours a huge amount from October to March so people going hunting etc might like to use it.

LynH said:
As my friend hasn't replied yet I will on her behalf. She rents out her box through the rental website to ensure that it is fully insured. She has also specified that people call her directly and through a lengthy conversation can decide if she is happy for them to use it or not. Often it's clear they don't have enough experience or even common sense so she just declines. So far all the rentals have worked out well with paperwork being completed at the beginning and often the same people use it more than once. She's had a very positive experience and her box has been earning it's keep whilst her horse was out of action. She may comment later but as far as I can see it seems a good secure way of renting out your box whilst maintaining control over who rents it.
Click to expand...

I agree, realistically the only way to do it would be to use a company that rent it out so it is fully insured. Do you know how often your friend rents hers out?

Also some of these websites were sugesting it costs £4000/yr to run a horsebox Surely its not that much? Any offers on how much an average a relatively old (~1996 leyland Daf - this is what we have been looking for) costs to run a year?? Thanks again for all your replies, it was just something I was pondering when I found that website and thought it would be a good way to make sure its getting used enough to merit buying it. I think it would be good if horsebox rental was more widely done, would save some people a lot of money investing in buying one.
 
I would think that £4000pa includes depreciation, in which case its probably about right. But if you're buying an old one, I'd budget a pretty big contingency fund for repairs. I got fed up owning a little 3.5t and hardly using it (I swear it was cursed) so I'm now hiring one from a company. Its pricey at 100quid a day but its only occasional and for that I get to use a spanking new box with no responsibility for it!
 
My friend rents hers out most weekends and sometimes during the week too. As her horse has been out of work for a few months she's been able to rent it out most weeks as she hasn't needed it. It has paid for it's keep/annual costs as well as some work done on it. The other benefit is that is has been used whilst her horse is out of work rather than seizing up through lack of use.
 
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