Hiring out a horsebox??

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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There are a few people near me who hire out their 3.5tons for the day. They charge between £85 and £120 a day and they all allow anyone over 21 who has had a licence for 2yrs to drive them. We hired one the other day and its got my OH thinking! They arent brand new swanky boxes, they are the sort of thing you could pick up for 10k, and if it was rented a fair bit would more than cover its own cost, but I cant find any sort of insurance that covers hiring it out? I can find insurance for people driving as a business, but not anything else.

Does anyone do this? And are there any other pitfalls to think about?
 
Vaguely watching as toying with idea of getting box in a few yrs (need to pay me car off first) and may be open to idea of hiring it out on occasion to help with some of running costs. I'm also intrigued about insurance and how it all works. I would imagine that some of the specialist insurers likely do offer a policy to cover this but would be interested to have that confirmed or denied
 
Hmm, I'm pretty sure having read that that at least one of the boxes I hire isnt correctly insured! What are the implications for me if we pay to hire it, sign a contract and then something happens accident wise? Hopefully wont ever happen! But I'm a bit worried now!
 
Wouldn't be good.
As I would imagine you would be driving an uninsured vehicle and all the implications legally and financially that would entail!!! Even if you didn't have an accident.
 
I looked into it a couple of years ago and insurance alone without breakdown was around £1400 a month! It would mean you would need to hire it out at least once a month just to cover the insurance. You would also need breakdown cover on top of that plus service and mot and general running costs

Were you thinking of using it as your own too? If so that would either restrict when you could hire it or mean you wouldn't be able to use it much yourself
 
FrankieCob said:
Hmm, I'm pretty sure having read that that at least one of the boxes I hire isnt correctly insured! What are the implications for me if we pay to hire it, sign a contract and then something happens accident wise? Hopefully wont ever happen! But I'm a bit worried now!
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Please don't hire a improperly insured horsebox .
The implications are appalling if you where to have an accident .
You could in a worse case scenario lose everything as could the owner of the truck .
I looked into my rental horsebox when my new truck came the insurance issues really put me off and the fact that I hated the thought of the living of my truck getting trashed by people who did not really understand the mechanics of how it all worked.
 
There is a place near Brickhill that hire out boxes, nice lady and good boxes too, properly insured etc

Regarding the insurance situation its one of those situations where everyone involved kind of know its not above board and are happy to go with it. UNTIL something goes wrong
 
Do you have details for the Brickhill one?

I dont know for certain regarding the insurance, but it does sound like it is insured for business not for hiring out. Not sure how I'd tell though?!

I think I'll just stick to using proper businesses just in case!
 
I will dig it out for you FrankieCob but may take a day or so while I dig my old phone out and charge it up! I've never seen them advertise, I think its because most hiring is done to liveries.
 
My friend used to hire out her 3.5t a few years ago. Not sure who she used insurance wise, but she gave up doing it because the box was getting wrecked. Sadly there are many people out there who simply don't take good care of something that's not theirs (nor own up when something gets broken).
 
If you're unsure ask for a copy of their insurance certificate.

I own a horse transport and self drive hire company and if a customer asked I wouldn't mind showing the documentation
 
There is one new one I have seen advertised in the area. Advertised as "carries 2 x 16.2hhh horses". A lot of people have asked about price but none of the comments has asked about payload. I would be surprised if it can genuinely take 2 x 16.2, driver, passenger, diesel and tack. The 3.5t I hire has a 1.1t payload.

I realise that if you are hiring out it is the hirer's responsibility to be loading within limits but I bet you would get people overloading it.. especially if they share with a friend to split the cost.
 
I just wanted to bump this up as I was shocked and amazed to see the person who owns the box I have previously hired offering a driver for a £1 a mile. I haven't used it since I made this post, although my friend has and she said she was happy with the insurance documents as they cover any driver over 21. I let it go as I wasn't using it, but I have it booked for me to use in the next few weeks, and I am now pretty sure it cant be legit? Arent there lots of rules about transporting horses for money if your driving? I've also asked about pay load and not had an answer and the date I have it booked for is for me and a friend, and the combined weight of the horses alone is about 1100kgs. I'm just going to cancel because its not worth the risk to me, but I'd like reasons to get my deposit back and I am wondering about the legalities again as people I know use this box on a regular basis!
 
I think if I were you I would be ringing VOSA (or whatever they are now known as) and trading standards, as it sounds as if there are a fair few rules being broken here!
 
What has it got to do with VOSA as long as the box is in test they will have no problem . The insurance is really the people hiring it outs risk . You as the user will still be covered normally it is just the owner who will lose out if the box is damaged and they have not insured it correctly you as the hirer would have no responsibility for those repairs. As for the driver ,thats just a way of getting around the tacho and operators licencing laws that is perfectly legal as it does not make the transport of your horse a commercial operation.
 
popsdosh said:
What has it got to do with VOSA as long as the box is in test they will have no problem . The insurance is really the people hiring it outs risk . You as the user will still be covered normally it is just the owner who will lose out if the box is damaged and they have not insured it correctly you as the hirer would have no responsibility for those repairs. As for the driver ,thats just a way of getting around the tacho and operators licencing laws that is perfectly legal as it does not make the transport of your horse a commercial operation.
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My concern is that we would be uninsured if there was an accident though? How can we be covered if the insurance is invalid? Not rally an issue as I wont be using it again, but there are a lot of people using it!

As for the driver, how are they getting round the tacho and licensing laws? They are now hiring the box out with a driver for an extra £1 a mile which is surely a commercial enterprise?
 
FrankieCob said:
My concern is that we would be uninsured if there was an accident though? How can we be covered if the insurance is invalid? Not rally an issue as I wont be using it again, but there are a lot of people using it!

As for the driver, how are they getting round the tacho and licensing laws? They are now hiring the box out with a driver for an extra £1 a mile which is surely a commercial enterprise?
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Last first if the driver is hired seperately the contract is between you and the driver! However they are treading a very fine line. How is it done? Having said that if it is a 3.5T box neither apply as they are below the weight limit which is 3.5 MAM
On the first point if they have insurance for anybody over 21 you are fine as the driver ,however they will have issues repairing their own vehicle if the insurance company becomes aware it was on hire but they will not be able to remove cover for your legal requirement ie 3rd party . I would say if the worst came to the worse the person who owns the box will find it an expensive exercise as I as the hirer would feel no moral responsibility to put right damage to their box and they would not have a leg to stand on in court.
 
Hi FrankieCob,
I am fairly local to you (LU7), I have a 3.5t box with a payload of 1280kg.
I am properly insured and have national breakdown cover which covers self drive hire, rates include unlimited mileage. If you would like more info, PM me. £85 per day
 
Hi. we have a 3.5 ton hire business based in the south west midlands so nowhere near you but I can give you a few pitfalls. Insurance 1500 inc 22 - 25 yo cover, breakdown 300, short refuelling 500, damage repair 1000, service / maintenance / tyres etc 1000 avg. Unsociable and variable hours, website and advertising 300 as a rough guide.
If it's your pride and joy then dont do it, the wear and tear and damage would be heartbreaking.
 
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