Starting a Van Hire company

[RRnewb]

Hi,
As the title saying, I am planning to start up my Van Hire company.
Already have 2 vehicles and are rented for friends, but I would like to take this to a different level by creating a company and get 2 additional vehicles.
Already received several requests from different individuals who are looking to rent a vehicle from me so finding clients is not an issue right now.


However, I do have a few questions. If you can, please drop an answer. I would really appreciate it!

1.) Do I need to provide the insurace (even if the individual would like to rent the vehicle for long term like 6-12 months) ? If not, how could i be insured if the vehicle is going to be stolen? I saw some company do require the renter to send a proof of valid insurace before renting.

2.) Do I need to provide the road-tax even for long-term rent?

3.) How much deposit should I ask for?

4. Where can I find a great rental-aggreement online? I saw some searching through google but none of them was detailed what i think would be necessary in this case?

Thank you in advance!

 

[WaveJumper]

Welcome to the UKBF how do you currently insure the vehicles that you have on hire

 

[Mark T Jones]

The answers to questions 1 - 3 is what you negotiate with the customer

If you are relying on them to ensure, you need hard evidence that they have done so

 

[wayzgoose]

Whenever I have hired a van it has always been insured by the hire company.

 

[WaveJumper]

The answers to questions 1 - 3 is what you negotiate with the customer

If you are relying on them to ensure, you need hard evidence that they have done so

This thread is going to be interesting

 

[RRnewb]

Welcome to the UKBF how do you currently insure the vehicles that you have on hire

Thank you, good to be here.
Right now the 2 vehicles are insured by the drivers (comprehensive).

 

[WaveJumper]

Sounds rather strange I have to say, so are they fully comp covered, have they informed their insurance company they are not the actual owners of the vehicles and they are on hire, most well known insurance companies I believe will not insure you under these circumstances. @Frank the Insurance guy our forum member will be able to throw more light on this I am sure, but I think in the meantime you need to check the cover they have very carefully.

As a rule all the van / car hire companies I know of always insure their own vehicles and generally if you are hiring the vehicle you pay more to cover the excess cost in case you write the vehicle off completely as the general insurance they offer would not cover the full cost of this.

 

[AllUpHere]

I used to insure hire vans as some employees were under 25 and the van hire place insisted I arranged my own cover for them.

 

[WaveJumper]

It's interesting when you do a quick Google on the topic you get this from insurance companies:

"You may find that non-owner insurance is only available in specific circumstances, such as when the registered keeper or owner is a partner, parent, employer or leasing company. Some car insurance companies may only insure you as the main driver if you’re also the registered keeper".

 

[RRnewb]

It's interesting when you do a quick Google on the topic you get this from insurance companies:

"You may find that non-owner insurance is only available in specific circumstances, such as when the registered keeper or owner is a partner, parent, employer or leasing company. Some car insurance companies may only insure you as the main driver if you’re also the registered keeper".

Exactly my thoughts. So if i insure myself as main driver and make the customers as named drivers, i shouldnt have any issues, right?

 

[WaveJumper]

Wrong.
Can I make a suggestion call your insurance company in the morning explain you are hiring out your vans and you need insurance cover for your customers (its a legal requirement) let the forum know the outcome as it will be useful to others thinking of doing the same

 

[RRnewb]

Sure, i will get back!

 

[Mark T Jones]

Exactly my thoughts. So if i insure myself as main driver and make the customers as named drivers, i shouldnt have any issues, right?

A standard vehicle insurance policy specifically excludes hire and reward- so no, you need proper cover

You are treading ground between spot hire and contract hire - and really need some good, solid financial and legal advice before you proceed

 

[Mitch3473]

Going back to the OP and slightly off at a tangent....finding clients may not be an issue right now but within a week or so it will, once your friends have used your service and secondly when you do find your clients most will only want the vans at weekends at most thus reducing your utilisation figures down to 20 - 25% you need 60 - 65% at least, 80% is good. The last thing you really want are most of your vans parked up mon - friday.

 

[hirefleet]

As you are starting out you may be better looking at a pay as you go self drive insurance plan. Google it there are plenty of providers out there now & you can just pass the cost onto the hirers (make sure you insure it though or you could set yourself up for a disaster).

Hope it helps

Hirefleet - Self Drive Car & Van Hire