Optional Accidental Damage Waiver Terms — v1.0 (13 November 2026)
Version 1.0 — issued 13 November 2026. Applies where supplied with an accepted order recording the waiver purchase.
1. Optional choice and fee
The waiver is optional and applies only to eligible hired equipment identified on your accepted hire agreement for which the waiver has been purchased. This is one optional upfront payment at the original booking, not a weekly recurring charge. The fee is 15% of eligible initial hire charges excluding VAT, rounded once to the nearest penny across the eligible basket. Equipment purchases, excluded hire equipment, delivery, collection, deposits and other non-hire charges do not form part of this calculation. Your order identifies the eligible equipment and waiver charge.
The optional waiver fee is VAT-exempt: no VAT is added to it. This does not change VAT on equipment hire or other taxable charges. The fee is calculated from eligible hire charges before their VAT is added.
2. Qualifying damage and exclusions
The waiver covers accidental physical damage to eligible hired equipment during normal, permitted use, subject to these terms. It does not cover loss, theft, deliberate damage, or damage arising from misuse or use outside permitted conditions. Transport, recovery, failed-collection and other ancillary charges are not covered and do not form part of the qualifying damage total.
Normal wear and tear is not chargeable damage. The waiver does not create liability that would not otherwise arise under the Hire Terms or applicable law.
3. One £200 aggregate threshold
The threshold is £200 of qualifying damage charges across the entire hire agreement and all eligible hired equipment, without adding a separate VAT amount. It does not reset per item, incident or extension.
Combined qualifying damage of £200 or less is waived. If combined qualifying damage exceeds £200, the waiver provides NO reduction and you remain liable for the full qualifying damage charge, subject to the Hire Terms and applicable law. This is not first-£200 protection or an excess-style arrangement. Excluded charges remain subject to the Hire Terms and applicable law.
| Combined qualifying damage | SAB waives | Qualifying charge remaining |
|---|---|---|
| £100 | £100 | £0 |
| £200 | £200 | £0 |
| £201 | £0 | £201 |
| £350 | £0 | £350 |
Multiple incidents are assessed cumulatively under the same agreement. For example, £100 of qualifying damage followed by £101 totals £201, exceeding the threshold. Splitting equipment, incidents or invoices does not create separate thresholds. SAB will explain the cumulative assessment and distinguish provisional assessments from final settlements. These terms do not authorise retrospective recovery of a previously finalised settlement without an expressly agreed, lawful basis. Existing final settlements and applicable legal rights remain effective.
4. Protection period and collection
Protection begins when eligible equipment has actually been delivered or handed over under an accepted hire agreement with the waiver purchased. A requested delivery date alone does not start protection. Protection ends when the equipment is physically returned to the supplier or collected.
Where you have validly off-hired the equipment and are awaiting normal collection, protection remains in effect during that waiting period. You must still secure and safeguard the equipment and make it accessible for collection under the Hire Terms. A failed collection caused by you does not create additional protection beyond these waiver terms or remove existing responsibilities or charges. No automatic forfeiture solely because a collection failed is introduced here.
5. Extensions of the same continuous hire agreement
If you extend the same continuous hire agreement, the original purchased waiver continues automatically for the originally covered equipment, without further election or payment. Protection remains applicable until that equipment is physically returned or collected, subject to the Hire Terms and these waiver exclusions. It does not expire at the original booked hire-end date merely because the hire continues.
The £200 aggregate threshold applies across the entire continuous hire agreement and does not reset on extension. Waiting for normal collection after valid off-hire also remains covered. No additional waiver fee is payable on extension invoices or through Shopify or Cortex. A separate new hire agreement requires its own optional waiver election; the earlier agreement's election does not transfer automatically.
6. Reporting damage
Notify SAB at info@sab-supply.co.uk as soon as reasonably possible after discovering damage. Provide your agreement/order reference, relevant equipment details, an explanation of what happened and photographs where reasonably available. There is no arbitrary fixed reporting deadline or automatic refusal solely because photographs are unavailable. Follow the existing safety and damaged-equipment procedures in the Hire Terms.
7. Cancellations and refunds
If the hire is cancelled before protection begins, SAB will refund the applicable waiver fee. For a partial cancellation before the affected equipment's protection begins, SAB will adjust/refund the corresponding waiver charge appropriately.
Once protection has begun, early off-hire does not automatically entitle you to a refund for protection already provided. Applicable consumer rights and the existing approved Hire Terms remain effective. The applicable VAT-exempt waiver amount is refunded without a VAT component. Equipment and other taxable refunds retain their own tax treatment; preserve statutory rights.
8. Hire Terms and legal rights
This waiver modifies damage liability only to the extent stated here. Existing Hire Terms remain applicable, including equipment care, safety, custody and collection responsibilities and liability outside the waiver. Nothing here restricts statutory rights or protections that cannot lawfully be excluded. The supplier's rights against SAB are not amended by this customer waiver.
Read with the Hire Terms waiver amendment and Hire Terms v1.1. Previous contractual versions remain unchanged.