Hire charges unpaid? Damage disputed?
For plant hire, tool hire, access equipment, scaffold hire, site cabins, welfare units, generators, skips and haulage serving construction businesses.
How can a plant hire company recover unpaid hire or damage charges?
If the customer agrees, or your hire terms include our clause, Dispute Neutral decides the dispute on the hire agreement, delivery and collection notes and photos, with a binding decision within 10 business days of the matter being ready and a fixed fee from £650 + VAT.
Disputes we decide
Common reasons payment stops in your sector.
Off-hire dates
The customer says the equipment was off-hired earlier than you charged for.
Damage and loss charges
Repair or replacement costs the customer refuses to pay.
Cleaning, fuel and transport charges
Extras added to the hire invoice and disputed.
Long-running hire accounts
Accounts that have built up over a project and stopped being paid.
Why use Dispute Neutral
- Hiring out plant without an operator is generally not a "construction operation", so there is usually no statutory right to adjudication. Dispute Neutral fills that gap.
- Hire agreements, delivery and collection notes and photos usually decide the case.
- Fixed fee from £650 + VAT, so smaller disputes are worth pursuing.
- A binding decision within 10 business days of the matter being ready.
Both businesses must agree to use Dispute Neutral, either through a clause in your terms or once the dispute has arisen. How to ask them.
- Example
- A plant hire firm is owed £6,200 in hire and damage charges. The Dispute Neutral fee is £900 + VAT, fixed.
- Amount in dispute
- £6,200
- Dispute Neutral fee
- £900 + VATfixed; can be split 50:50
- Decision
- 10 business daysfrom when both sides’ documents are in
Settle future disputes before they start
Add our clause to your hire terms, so off-hire, damage and charges disputes have an agreed route from day one.
Questions
What if we supplied an operator with the plant?
Hire with an operator is more likely to count as a construction operation, which brings a statutory right to adjudication. Both parties can still agree to use Dispute Neutral.
Can photos and telematics data be used?
Yes. Any documents and records that support your case can be included in your evidence file.
How much does it cost?
One fixed fee set by the amount in dispute: £650 + VAT up to £4,000, £900 up to £10,000, £1,200 up to £25,000 and £1,500 up to £150,000. For example, a £6,200 dispute costs £900 + VAT. The fee can be split 50:50.
Does the other business have to agree?
Yes. Both businesses must agree, either through a Dispute Neutral clause in your terms or once the dispute has arisen. We provide a ready-made invitation you can send, and free clauses you can add to your terms so future disputes come to us automatically.
Is the decision binding?
Yes. Both businesses sign an agreement to accept the decision before the case starts. It is final and binding except for fraud or manifest error. If it is not followed, it can be enforced; depending on the matter, by applying straight for summary judgment or serving a statutory demand.
How long does it take?
The decision is issued within 10 business days of the matter being ready, meaning both businesses have signed and uploaded their documents. There is no hearing.
Useful guides
- Recover unpaid trade invoicesFor trades and suppliers, including quality disputes and work with no written contract.Article
- Letter before action for unpaid invoicesWhat to include, how to send it and what to do if it is ignored.Guide
- Add Dispute Neutral to your contractsFree clauses for your business terms, so any dispute comes straight to an independent decision.Clauses
Get a binding decision in 10 business days
Fixed fees from £650 + VAT. Both businesses agree, send their documents, and an independent lawyer decides.
Prevent the next one: add our free clause to your terms of business.