Hire terms

Version 3, published 7 November 2026

Hire terms and conditions

These terms apply when you hire equipment from Staht Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (number 12639853), at Unit 10 Hayes Lane Trading Estate, Folkes Road, Stourbridge, DY9 8RG ("Staht", "we", "us"). "You" means the person or business named on the booking.

The agreement. Your hire agreement is made of these terms, your booking confirmation and any extension we confirm. It starts when you accept these terms, online or by signing at hand-over. We won't hand over equipment until you have.
The equipment. You hire the items listed on your booking, with the contents listed for each. A calibration certificate is supplied in the box where the item has one. The equipment stays our property at all times. You must not sell, lend, sub-hire or give it as security.
The hire period. The hire runs from the start date to the return date on your confirmation. The minimum hire is one week unless your booking says otherwise. A hire ends when we receive all the equipment back and check it in.
Price and payment. You pay the hire charge shown at booking, worked out from our rates for the period. Charges include VAT where it applies. You pay when you book, unless you have a business account with us on agreed terms. Hires longer than four weeks are invoiced every four weeks.
Deposit. We may take a deposit for each item. The amount is shown on our website and at booking. How we hold it, and when we keep part or all of it, is set out in the deposit, damage and loss policy below, which forms part of these terms.
Delivery and return. If you choose delivery, we deliver to the address on your booking for the delivery charge shown. You are responsible for returning the equipment to us by the return date, at your own cost and risk, by post, courier or dropping it off at our address during opening hours. Pack it securely in the case or packaging it came in.
Looking after the equipment. You must:

use it only for its intended purpose and within its rated capacity, by competent people, following the instructions supplied
keep it safe, clean and dry, and secure when it's not in use
not open, repair or alter it, or remove any labels or seals
tell us straight away if it's damaged, lost, stolen or develops a fault, and stop using it

Testing and readings. The equipment applies and measures a load. It doesn't certify, approve or pass an anchor, fixing, eyebolt, lifeline or installation, and nor do we. Testing must be planned and carried out by competent people, following the relevant standard or guidance and the instructions for the equipment and for the item being tested. You're responsible for the test plan and loads, for interpreting the readings and for what you decide from them. A calibration certificate records how the equipment performed when it was calibrated; check its date before you use the equipment, and stop using it and tell us if it's been dropped, overloaded or damaged, or its readings look wrong. Our guides and advice are general information, not a substitute for the standard or your own competent judgement.
Faults. If the equipment develops a fault that isn't caused by misuse, tell us and we'll repair or replace it, or end the hire and refund the charge for the unused days. We aren't responsible for delays while a fault is put right where you didn't tell us promptly.
Risk and insurance. The equipment is at your risk from when you receive it until we receive it back. If you're a business, you must have insurance that covers its full replacement value while it's in your care, and show us the policy if we ask. If you're a consumer, you don't need insurance, but you're responsible for loss and damage as set out in the policies below.
Damage, loss and late return. You pay for damage beyond fair wear and tear, for missing or lost items at their replacement value, and for late return, as set out in the policies below.
Extensions and cancellations. You can ask to extend a hire, and you can cancel a booking, as set out in the cancellation, extension and late or non-return policy below.
Saved card. If you agree when booking, we keep your card with our payment provider, Stripe, to take later payments under this agreement. The saved card consent wording below sets this out. We never see or store your full card number.
Our liability. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow us to limit.

If you're a consumer, we're responsible for loss you suffer that's a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms. You have legal rights in relation to equipment that's faulty or not as described. Your statutory rights are not affected.
If you're a business, we aren't liable for loss of profit, revenue, business, contracts or goodwill, loss of data, or for any indirect or consequential loss, nor for loss arising from the design, installation or failure of anything you test or from decisions made on the readings. Our total liability under a hire, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, is limited to the hire charges paid for that hire. All terms implied by law, other than those about our right to hire out the equipment, are excluded as far as the law allows. You remain responsible for how the equipment is used and for the conclusions drawn from its readings.

Ending the agreement. We can end the hire and collect the equipment if you seriously break these terms, for example by not paying, misusing the equipment or not returning it. You must let us collect it, and you pay our reasonable costs of doing so.
Your personal information. We use your details to manage your hire, as set out in our privacy notice at staht.com/policies/privacy.
Changes to these terms. We may update these terms. Each booking is governed by the version you accepted, which we keep with your booking and can send you as a PDF. If we translate these terms, the English version applies if there's any difference.
Law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you're a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your own courts.

Deposit, damage and loss policy

The deposit is £500 for each item hired, unless your booking says otherwise. It isn't a charge for the hire, so no VAT is added to it. Customers we've agreed don't pay deposits, such as some business account holders, pay none.

How we hold it

A hold on your card, only when your hire ends within 4 days of the day the hold is placed. We place it when you book or, if you agreed to us saving your card, the day before the hire starts. No money leaves your account, and the hold is released when the equipment is checked in. A card hold lasts only a few days, so with our minimum hire of a week, deposits paid by card are taken as a payment.
Otherwise, by card: taken as a payment when you book, or from your saved card once your booking is confirmed. Refunded to the card or account you paid from.
Paid by cash or bank transfer: Paid at booking or hand-over. Refunded by bank transfer to an account in your name.

Card issuers usually take 5 to 10 working days to show a released hold or a refund, which is outside our control.

When we check it in. We aim to check the equipment within two working days of receiving it, against the contents list and the photos taken at hand-out. We tell you what we find.

What we may keep or charge

Damage beyond fair wear and tear: the reasonable cost of repair, or the replacement value if it can't be repaired economically.
Missing items: the replacement value of each item or part not returned. That's its current price on our website, before VAT, or, if we no longer sell it, the price of its nearest equivalent.
Recalibration or cleaning needed because of how the equipment was used: our standard calibration price at the time, and for cleaning, our reasonable cost, which we tell you before we charge it.
Late return: the hire charge for the extra time, as in the late or non-return policy below.

We first take these amounts from the deposit, then refund or release the rest. If they come to more than the deposit, we charge the difference to your saved card, if you agreed to one, or send you an invoice to pay within 14 days. Damage and loss charges are not a supply of services, so no VAT is added to them.

If you disagree with a charge, tell us within 14 days at sales@staht.com or on 0121 817 0620. Send us anything that supports your view, such as photos. We'll keep the disputed amount aside while we look at it again, and we aim to reply within 10 working days.

Fair wear and tear means the normal marks and wear from careful use for the job the equipment is designed for. It doesn't include drops, impact damage, water damage, damage from overloading beyond the rated capacity, or a seal, label or casing that's been opened or removed.

Cancellation, extension and late or non-return policy

Cancelling a booking

More than 48 hours before the start date: Nothing. The hire charge is refunded in full.
Within 48 hours of the start date: Half of the first week's hire charge. The delivery charge is refunded if we haven't sent the equipment.
After the equipment has been sent or collected: The hire as booked. Return the equipment as set out in the terms. If it comes back early, we may refund unused weeks after the minimum period, at our discretion.

The deposit is always refunded or released in full when a booking is cancelled before hand-out. Cancel by replying to your confirmation email, by email to sales@staht.com, or on 0121 817 0620.

Your right to cancel if you're a consumer. If you book online or by phone as a consumer, you can cancel within 14 days of booking without giving a reason, and get a full refund, whatever the table above says. If you ask for the hire to start within those 14 days, you agree that if you then cancel, you pay for the days the equipment was hired up to when you told us. To cancel, tell us clearly by email or by phone. You can use the form below, but you don't have to. We refund you within 14 days of your telling us, to the card or account you paid from.

Cancellation form. To Staht Limited, Unit 10 Hayes Lane Trading Estate, Folkes Road, Stourbridge, DY9 8RG, sales@staht.com: I give notice that I cancel my contract for the hire of the following equipment: _____. Booked on: ____. Booking number: ____. Name: ____. Address: ____. Signature (only if sent on paper): ____. Date: _____.

Extending a hire. You can ask to extend a hire before its return date, in your account or from the link in your booking emails. We show you the new return date and the extra charge, worked out from our rates for the whole new period. The extension is confirmed once you've paid, or when we confirm it if the equipment is booked by someone else after you. If we can't extend, we'll tell you straight away and the original return date stands.

If the equipment isn't returned on time

The hire carries on. If we haven't received the equipment by the return date, your hire is extended a week at a time until it comes back. Each extra week is charged at our weekly rate, to your saved card if you agreed to one, otherwise by an invoice or payment link we email you.
We remind you. We email you before the return date, on it, and while the hire is overdue.
When it comes back, we charge only for the time you actually had it, and refund any part of the last week that wasn't used, after the minimum period.
If it isn't returned and we can't reach you for 14 days after the return date, we may treat the equipment as lost. We'll then charge its replacement value, less the deposit, and may report it to the police. You still pay the hire charges up to that date.

If you're delayed returning the equipment, call us. We'd rather extend the hire properly than leave it overdue.