Am I liable for any damage I have caused to a piece of hired equipment?

• Generally yes. You will be liable for any damage that is caused to the equipment from the time you take possession of it to the time it is returned to the owner.
• You will be liable to the owner even if the damage was not caused by you. For example if a friend was using the equipment and damaged it you will still be personally responsible to the owner for the damage caused. There are some general exceptions to this rule. For example:
  • you will not be liable for damage that was already there at the time you hired the equipment; and
  • you will not be liable for damage that was caused by natural wear and tear.

• When hiring new equipment it is important that you undertake a thorough inspection of the item before you take it from the owners’ premises. You should identify any damage or faults and note these as pre-existing in the condition report. If there is no condition report you should identify and discuss any pre-existing damage with the hirer before taking the equipment from their premises. By doing this you are protected if the owner then tries to blame you for causing the damage.
• It is normal for items to suffer damage after long term and regular use. The owner should be conducting regular service checks on all equipment to ensure they are not affected by wear and tear to the extent that they become unsafe. This is particularly the case with mechanical and electronic equipment. You should never use unsafe equipment.
• If the equipment is older than one year and has not been serviced in the last 12 months it is unlikely that the owner can blame you for wear and tear damage to the item.