Off hire: how to call equipment off hire and stop the charges
Off hire means telling the hire company the hire has ended, so the charges stop. Under most hire terms the charges run until you call the equipment off hire, not until the job finishes or the truck collects it, so a day's delay in calling it off is usually a day's hire on the invoice.
In short
- Under most hire terms the charges run until you call the equipment off hire, not until the job ends or the truck collects it.
- Call it off the way the terms say, before the day's cut-off, and get an off-hire number every time.
- Check the last day billed on each item against the date you called.
How to call equipment off hire
Call it off the way the hire company's terms say: usually by phone or email to the branch that supplied it, before its cut-off time for the day. A call after the cut-off is often counted as the next day's. Have ready:
- the hire contract or docket number, and your account name
- the site address, and where the equipment is on site
- each item going off hire, with its fleet or asset number where it has one
- when it's ready to collect, and who the driver should call on site
Get an off-hire number
Before you hang up, ask for an off-hire number or a written confirmation. It's the hire company's reference for your call and records that you ended the hire, and when. If an invoice later bills days after that, it's what you point to. Write it on the docket or in your off-hire register, with the date and time you called and who you spoke to.
If the hire company doesn't issue numbers, send an email as well as calling, and keep the reply. The guidance on business.gov.au suggests keeping records of your communication with suppliers: you might need them if a disagreement goes further.(business.gov.au: Suppliers)
Off hire isn't collection
Calling off hire and collection are separate steps. The charges usually stop when you call; the pick-up may be a day or a week later. Until it's collected, the equipment is often still in your care, so leave it secure, clean and where the driver can reach it. Some terms run the hire until the item is back at the yard, especially when you return it yourself, so check yours.
A pick-up charge is fair when your agreement has one. It's billed once per collection, and not at all for equipment you took back yourself.
Weekends, minimum hire and part periods
If the job finishes on a Friday, call off hire on the Friday. Hire companies treat weekends differently: some charge a weekend as one day, some as two, some not at all. Your terms say which.
Calling off early doesn't get around a minimum hire. If the minimum is a week and you call it off on the third day, expect to pay the week.
On a weekly or monthly rate, check how the part period before the off-hire date is charged: pro rata by the day, or as a whole week or month. The invoice should follow the terms.
Calling off part of a hire
On a large hire, such as scaffold, props or a run of temporary fencing, you'll often send some of it back while the rest stays. Call off by item and quantity, get an off-hire number for that part, and check the next invoice drops those items from the date you called, with the remaining quantity at the same rate.
Keep an off-hire register
Sites with a lot of hired gear keep an off-hire register: a spreadsheet with a row per item, and columns for the hire company, the contract or docket number, the item and its fleet number, the on-hire date, the date and time you called it off, the off-hire number, who called, and the collection date. It's what you check each hire invoice against.
Keep the register, the dockets and the off-hire confirmations with the job's records. The ATO generally asks businesses to keep their records for five years, and some records for longer.(ATO: Overview of record-keeping rules for business)
Check the last billed day on the invoice
With the off-hire number and the date you called beside the invoice, check:
- the last day billed on each item is on or before the off-hire date, allowing for how your terms count the day you called
- a part period before that date is charged the way the terms say: pro rata, or a whole period
- the minimum hire isn't applied again on the final invoice
- the pick-up is billed once, at the agreed rate
- cleaning, damage and lost-item charges come with evidence, such as photos or a damage report
When the charges kept running
If the invoice bills past your off-hire date, send the hire company the off-hire number, the date and time you called, and the lines in question, and ask for a credit note for the extra days. An off-hire number the hire company issued itself is hard to argue with.
What CostCode checks, and what it doesn't
CostCode doesn't check off-hire dates. It doesn't know when you called equipment off hire and doesn't read off-hire numbers or dockets, so a hire that kept running after you called it off is yours to spot, with your register beside the invoice.
What it does check on a hire invoice: each hire line read as items × period × rate when exactly one reading of the period comes to the line's total, and the rate per period against the hire rate you agreed for that item. Days billed against a rate agreed per week show as unverified with the question, and a hire line with no agreed hire rate is never passed: it shows as unverified with the reason, or is held for your team when it's over a price your schedule gives per item rather than per period. Delivery lines and fuel levies are checked against the charges you agreed with that hire company.
Questions
What is an off-hire number?
A reference the hire company gives when you call equipment off hire. It records that the hire ended and when, so ask for one every time and keep it with the job's records.
Do I pay for the day I call equipment off hire?
That depends on the hire company's terms and the time you call. Many count the day you call as a hire day, and a call after their cut-off as the next day's. Your terms say which.
Does the hire stop when the truck picks it up?
Usually it stops earlier, when you call it off, and collection follows. Some terms run the hire until the item is back at the yard, particularly when you return it yourself, so check yours.
What if the hire company keeps charging after I called it off hire?
Send them the off-hire number or your confirmation email, the date you called and the invoice lines that run past it, and ask for a credit note for the extra days. Keep that correspondence with the invoice.(business.gov.au: Suppliers)
Does CostCode check off-hire dates?
No. It checks each hire line's rate per period against your agreed hire rates. The days billed after your off-hire date are yours to check against your off-hire numbers.