Trailer do you charge to borrow?

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PercyBrown

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I have an old but sound trailer that i have let others on my yard borrow free of charge. I took it out yesterday and a tyre blew and it cost me £140. Therefore I start to think of the costs of loaning it out .Should I charge people to borrow my trailer. They have volunteered to replace my spare tyre for me in the past -its a bit worn- but its not happened.:confused:
 
I dont think your allowed to charge unless you have some kind of insurance cant remember what exactly it is but im sure its more expensive, as we were going to do this but decided it wasnt worth it
 
I don't think you can charge to borrow it unless you are a business who rents out trailers.
I would also be quite sceptical about lending your trailer out because unless it is attached to your car and you are driving it, your trailer insurance will be void. So if something happens to the horse in the trailer or the trailer gets damaged by a vehicle/horse you are not covered.
Obviously check your policy but I remember going through this with my friend who was going to let me borrow her trailer and in the end because of these terms she didn't lend it to me.
I think she was insured with NFU
 
Hi, if you lend your trailer out and take money for doing so it is classed as 'hire or reward' and will be excluded under your insurance. As the borrower will not have an insurable interest in the trailer(as they don't own it) when they are towing it, they will not be able to claim under their insurance either for damage to the trailer.

You can get insurance - a type of transit insurance if you intend to hire your trailer, but it is very costly. KBIS, Stoneways should be able to advise.

The moment money changes hands it makes a difference, you are better of doing as you have been and have some sort of agreement that they will pay for any damages - how this would stand up in court if they denied the agreement I am not sure.
 
Surely there is a difference between hire out, and a contribution or reimbursement of expenses (private or domestic arrangement). That would be the case in Australia.

I am not sure about the situation in UK, you could ask your insurer, if you wanted to clarify this.

When I did not have a float, the next door neighbour lent me (and others) her float. She charged $10-20 a time, a very small amount, but she used that money to go towards registration/repairs.
 
jeeve said:
Surely there is a difference between hire out, and a contribution or reimbursement of expenses (private or domestic arrangement). That would be the case in Australia.

Insurers would still class as 'hire or reward' in the UK if any monies change hands unfortuantely. It is best to have a gentlemans agreement or not to lend out!
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Dont lend it out. A situation arose a few years ago with a friend who lent hers out to others on the yard. Service time came and about £200 needed doing. The agreement was they contributed to these costs as they were using the trailer once a week - ish. They refused, everbody fell out, owner had to pay and had hardly used it.
If something goes wrong on my trailer its only had my horses in it therefore I pay. Simplez:)
 
If i have to borrow a trailer like i did recently, i will always pay diesel if i use their truck and when i return i always give a gift be it money or an actual object. This prevents it being classed as money exchanging hands as a gift is very different to paying to hire something. What about putting a Thank you box in the trailer so they can put money in without you asking?
 
you cannot technically as it will make your insurance invalid and will be classed as hiring for reward, and you are not a trailer company that hires out. I borrow a friends every now an again and buy chocolate :-) i did offer money as i would have like it to have gone toward servicing cost etc. if i damaged it while using it i would pay for the repairs.
 
Thankyou for replies good points about the insurance! i think maybe I am too late to do anything now they have used it for free and can only hope the offer to contribute to any repairs:(
 
It is not worth the hassle.I have lent my old trailer in the past and they curbed both tyres and smashed two light lenses.

Then there is the hire and reward issues,

So my friend inquired about her insuring the trailer for the day and that cant happen either as the trailer vin number is on the data base as being insured by me.
 
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