horsebox hire

Looks tempting - but I hired pretty much the same two horseboxes all of last season and it was amazing to see just how much damage accrued to the rental boxes over a few months in between my hirings - I see that insurance is included but I would certainly think twice.
 
I rent my box out independently, with full insurance and breakdown cover. I saw this article and was interested to see the website. I think in theory its a good idea, but the breakdown cover seemed a bit woolie... you have to pay extra for that if i remember correctly. I would never let my box go out without it.

It is full of pitfalls however. They never get returned on time - and if you dont have your box at home, you will be hanging around at the yard waiting for the customer. They never get returned in the clean state you send it out, so account for an extra hours work cleaning it yourself. People dont fill it up with as much fuel as it went out with etc. It goes on.

I charge more than the boxes i`ve seen on the website, and dont pay any comission, but there still isnt a huge amount of money in it. You have to keep the box in tip top condition - beyond reproach, pay for maintainance from the extra use, and include the depreciation from wear and tear - extra mileage etc. Theres a lot to think about.

Also do the maths - Its very seasonal so really only works feb to end sept - 7 months.
Once per week at £85 for 28 weeks per year = £2380 - and then you have to pay the commission and registration fee. Aslo tax implications. Is it worth it?

From a customer point of veiw - the company dont check on the roadworthyness of the boxes - so is safety an issue?

Good idea - not sure in practice.
 
We have a 5 horse HGV and there is no way I would rent it out. What happens if they get a speeding ticket ? Scratch the paint work - it's your word against theirs as to if the scratch is new of not.

Also the amount of stuff we keep in the lorry, imagine the hassle of having to empty it all out and re pack it every time it goes out for hire.

Looks like too much hassle for little reward.
 
sprite1978 said:
I rent my box out independently, with full insurance and breakdown cover. I saw this article and was interested to see the website. I think in theory its a good idea, but the breakdown cover seemed a bit woolie... you have to pay extra for that if i remember correctly. I would never let my box go out without it.

It is full of pitfalls however. They never get returned on time - and if you dont have your box at home, you will be hanging around at the yard waiting for the customer. They never get returned in the clean state you send it out, so account for an extra hours work cleaning it yourself. People dont fill it up with as much fuel as it went out with etc. It goes on.

I charge more than the boxes i`ve seen on the website, and dont pay any comission, but there still isnt a huge amount of money in it. You have to keep the box in tip top condition - beyond reproach, pay for maintainance from the extra use, and include the depreciation from wear and tear - extra mileage etc. Theres a lot to think about.

Also do the maths - Its very seasonal so really only works feb to end sept - 7 months.
Once per week at £85 for 28 weeks per year = £2380 - and then you have to pay the commission and registration fee. Aslo tax implications. Is it worth it?

From a customer point of veiw - the company dont check on the roadworthyness of the boxes - so is safety an issue?

Good idea - not sure in practice.
Click to expand...


whats the min age you rent too??

id happily rent a box but im 22 and people wont touch me till im 23+ which is a pain as i have 5 years no claims etc.
 
Last edited:
Hi!

It's my company!! One of our members mentioned we were being discussed!
I set this company up because I wanted to upgrade my lorry to something nicer and couldn't justify the cost just for myself....seemed so silly to have a £50k lorry sitting doing nothing half the time, but agree that the cost of going it alone as a self drive hire business was too high for one lorry. Not just the insurance, but the marketing was the real killer!
So this company basically provides all the infrastructure to allow private owners to do this.
Its really just like someone buying a holiday home and renting it out for holiday lets to justify having it. We act as the agency which lets you do it by creating a group which shares marketing and insurance costs.
It takes all the risk out of starting up a self drive hire business by limiting your expenses to the joining fee rather than the year's insurance, the legals, building a website, all the marketing etc. If fact, we have some established self drive hire businesses join us to benefit from our marketing etc.
You do need to think about it as a business venture however and approach it unemotionally, which I know is tough (my brand new lorry went on hire before I had ever used it...so I know its not easy, but the £1000 rental fee eased the pain!). However, for people who want to reduce the risk, we are now organising local share schemes to put a few regulars in touch with local owners so they all get to know each other and the lorries.
Of course there is a chance things get damaged, but that's what insurance and the deposit is for, and at least I can now afford to have my lorry fixed when my own horses trash it!
Give it a go....joining is free til April. We are getting loads of enquires for the coming season!

(PS will rewrite the roadside recovery bit if not clear...do have lots of options, but basically you can require hirers to buy roadside recovery cover from us...we strongly recommend you insist on this)
 
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