QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
QUICK GUIDE TO HIRING A LENS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS
We don’t accept telephone orders. So you’ll need to place your order on this web site…
- Find the lens you want to hire. You can use the categories at the top left of the screen or the search box at the lower left to help you find it. Click on the name of the lens or its picture to take you to the specific lens page. This will show you the ‘headline’ price for a 7-day hire including insurance and VAT. All our prices include insurance by default.
- Check date availability. Each lens has a 3-month calendar showing when we have plenty of them available (green), when we have just a few left (yellow), and when it's not available (red).
- Select how many days you want to hire the lens for. You can do this by using the drop-down box at the bottom of the page, just above the blue ‘Hire This Lens’ button. The drop-down will also show you how much the cost will increase/decrease, depending on the number of days you hire the lens for.
- Click the blue ‘Hire This Lens’ button. Repeat steps 1 to 4 if you want more than one lens.
- You’ll now be looking at the 'Shopping Basket' page. Select your delivery method using the drop-down box. This will update the cost of the order depending on the delivery method selected. Then click on the ‘Checkout’ button.
- Register with us. Enter your email address. This is what you’ll use to log in again next time you order.
- A little about you…. The next page is where we ask a few questions about you and where you heard about us. This helps us understand who our customers are and what they need.
- You will now be asked to create a log-in password (which you’ll need next time you order from us). This is also where you will need to provide your billing address and delivery address. Please note that the billing address must be the registered address for your payment card. We can deliver to the billing address, or to a workplace address so long as we are able to verify it.
- Insert your hire start date. Please note that you are not charged for the day that the lens is delivered.
- ‘Order Summary’ page. Please check that the detais you provided are correct. Then click on the ‘Pay at HSBC’ button. This will take you to the secure HSBC web site where you will enter your payment card details.
Once you have submitted your payment details, you will receive an automated acknowledgment of your order. The LFH team will then check and process your order. We will then send you another email (written by a person, not a machine) confirming the details of the hire.
If you have any questions, please see the detailed Q&A below.
HIRING
PAYMENT
DELIVERY
LENSES AND OTHER EQUIPMENT
LOSS, DAMAGE AND INSURANCE
PERSONAL DATA AND SMALL PRINT
HIRING
How do I calculate my hire period?
We believe that if you want to hire a lens for 7 days, then you should enjoy uninterrupted use of it for 7 full 24-hour periods. The clock shouldn't start ticking as soon as you receive the lens at some point during Day 1, and you shouldn't have to cut short Day 7 in order to send it back to us. Your hire period starts at 00:01 on Day 1 and ends at 23:59 on Day 7. We'll aim to get it to you the day before Day 1, and we ask you to post it back to us the day after Day 7.
So if you book a 7-day hire, you end up with the lens in your possession for longer than 7 days. Do you have a problem with that? We don't.
Can I extend my hire period?
Maybe. If you want to extend your hire period before it ends, please contact us ASAP and we'll see what we can do. If there isn't another customer waiting with a reservation for the lens, then we'll quite happily extend your hire. You just pay the difference between the advertised prices for the original and extended hire periods. But if there is another customer with a reservation, then we're afraid you're going to have to return it on the originally scheduled date.
What if I return the lens late?
Unfortunately, you're going to have to pay a late return fee. This is 20% of the advertised weekly hire fee, for every day late, as determined by when you post the lens back to us. (If the post is delayed, that's not your fault.) Note that you can easily avoid late return fees by extending your hire period.
Can I return the lens early?
Yes, of course. However, you’ll appreciate that we might have turned away other customers because you had the lens booked, so we can’t offer a refund or credit for the unused portion of your hire period unless the circumstances are exceptional.
Can I hire a lens for a period not listed on the web site?
Yes, with some restrictions. Firstly we don't hire lenses for periods shorter than 3 days - the cost and hassle of postage means it just isn't worthwhile. (But please tell us if you disagree!) And secondly, consumer credit regulations dictate that the maximum hire period we can offer is 3 months.
If you want to hire a lens for a period that isn’t listed on the web site, please contact us and we'll work out the price and add it onto the web site for you.
What is the availability calendar telling me?
For each type of lens we publish a calendar showing its availability over the next three months. It looks like this:
Green boxes show dates when we have plenty of this type of lens available. Yellow boxes show when we have some available, but not many. Red boxes show when we don't have any available.
The calendar updates automatically every time we accept and confirm an order. BUT it's not quite real-time. This is important. Even if the calendar is showing that we have a lens available when you place your order, it's possible that another customer may have placed an order just before you which hasn't yet been accepted and therefore isn't yet showing in the calendar. If your hire period is all green then it's pretty unlikely that this will affect you. But if your hire period includes any yellow days, then there is a risk that someone else will have snapped up the last lens just before you. We try to keep this risk to a minimum. But we don't work 24/7. So if you're ordering late at night, then there is a whole evening's worth of unprocessed orders in the queue ahead of you ...
Another thing to bear in mind is that you need to allow for transit time. In the calendar above, it's obvious that your hire can't start on Tuesday 1st June, because that day is red. But it can't start on Wednesday 2nd either, because we have to send the lens to you, and we won't have it available to send on Tuesday 1st. In fact, the earliest your hire can start is Friday 4th: we get the lens back from the previous customer on Tuesday 1st, we send it out to you on Wednesday 2nd, you receive it on Thursday 3rd, and your hire period starts on Friday 4th. It's the same at the end of your hire period too - you need to ensure the lens is available, not just up to the last day of your hire period, but for two days beyond that (one day when you send it to usm and the second day when we receive it).
Can I reserve a lens?
Yes you can.
If you want to hire a lens for 7 days or longer, you can reserve it up to 6 months in advance. If you want to hire a lens for less than 7 days, you can reserve it up to 3 weeks in advance. When you get to the checkout, there's a box for you to say when you want your hire to start. (If you leave the box blank, we’ll assume that you want to receive the lens ASAP.) We'll confirm that we have the lens available on the dates you want it (assuming that we do, of course!), and we'll send you an email confirming your reservation. We'll send you a second email telling you when we have posted your lens.
Can I cancel an order?
Yes you can, so long as we haven't already posted the lens out to you.
If you cancel an order within 7 days of placing it, there's no cancellation fee. (This is mandated by distance selling regulations.) If you cancel an order more than 28 days before your hire period is due to start, then again there's no cancellation fee. (That's just us being kind.) But if you want to cancel an order more than 7 days after placing it, and less than 28 days before your hire is due to start, there's a cancellation fee of 25% of the hire charge, rising to 50% of the hire charge if you cancel less than 14 days before your hire is due to start.
Can I hire more than one lens at a time?
Yes.
Do I get a discount if I hire more than one lens at a time?
A customer asked us about this. At the time the answer was no. We think our prices are pretty good to start with, and multiple-lens orders don’t actually save us much work compared to single-lens orders, so we didn’t see much justification for a discount. But he must have caught us at a weak moment, because we thought, what the heck, why not? So we now offer 5% off the listed prices when you hire 3 or more lenses in one order. We tried programming the web site to apply the discount automatically at the checkout, but the web site software seems a bit flaky in this respect. Never mind though – we’ll apply the discount manually when we process the order.
I’m under 18. Can I hire a lens from you?
Yes, but we’re afraid there are a couple of quite serious restrictions.
Firstly, our lawyers advise us that contracts are generally unenforceable if one party is under 18. This means that if you forget to return the lens, there’s not a lot we can do about it. We need to protect ourselves by asking you to leave a deposit equal to the value of the lens.
Secondly, our insurers cannot insure anyone under 18 – probably for the same reasons. So you would need to arrange your own insurance or accept the risk.
We appreciate that all this sounds like a lot of hassle, but we’re afraid there’s really nothing we can do about it. If you’re under 18, it might well be better to persuade a parent to hire the lens on your behalf.
PAYMENT
Do you charge a deposit?
Generally no. We trust you to look after our gear. Please help us to maintain this policy by repaying our trust. If we can't satisfy ourselves that a customer is genuine, or if the transaction looks unusually risky for other reasons, then we may ask for a deposit. (That's why we ask so many questions.)
There are a number of situations in which we will routinely ask for a deposit though:
What methods of payment do you accept?
We accept credit and debit cards – MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, Solo, Visa Debit, and Electron. But NOT American Express or Diners Club.
When is my credit/debit card charged?
When you place the order, we'll validate your credit/debit card and place an authorisation for the total amount of the charge (including a deposit, if applicable). This doesn't actually withdraw funds from your card, but merely holds them for us. We'll usually charge the card on the day we send the lens out to you. And when we confirm that the lens has been returned safely, we'll cancel the hold on the deposit, if you left a deposit, which you probably didn’t.
What currencies do you accept?
Pounds Sterling only. If your credit card account works in a different currency, the amount you pay will be converted from Pounds Sterling into your currency by your card provider. (OK, we know, that seems to be a rather strange question. But we're required by law to tell you.)
Do you charge VAT? Do your prices include VAT?
Yes, and yes. All our prices include VAT, though when you get to the checkout you'll also be shown the VAT component separately. If you're a professional photographer or a business customer, you may be able to claim back the VAT from HMRC.
Do you have a complete price list available?
Yes. Here is the list for Canon lenses and here is the list for for Nikon lenses.
DELIVERY
How does delivery work?
We offer two main delivery options for customers within mainland Britain: Royal Mail Special Delivery (RMSD), or JCA International Couriers who just happen to have their headquarters around the corner from us in Maidenhead. JCA’s standard service is next-day delivery guaranteed before 17:30, but they also offer the option to have delivery by 12:00. The RMSD standard service is next-day delivery guaranteed before 13:00, but there are options for delivery before 09:00 and/or delivery on Saturday, both of which cost extra.
Note that both these services require you to sign for the lens when it’s delivered. If you're not in when delivery is attempted, Royal Mail will take the parcel to the local depot and you have to collect it from there; JCA (or their subcontractors) will do the same, but they’ll also try again to deliver it the next day. Which of these is more convenient depends on your circumstances, which is why we offer both, though for most lenses JCA are cheaper. If you have no strong preference then we'd recommend JCA, because as a local firm in a competitive industry they are much easier to deal with if there are any problems. They really do bend over backwards to try to make sure everything works smoothly.
We’ll send the lens to you so that it arrives in time for the start of your hire period; for example, if your hire period starts on a Thursday, we’ll send it Tuesday to arrive with you on Wednesday. Occasionally we might want to send lenses out early, just to make life easier for us; you’d get it early but you wouldn’t have to return it early and you wouldn’t have to pay any extra for the hire. If that's the case, we'll contact you to check whether or not you’re be prepared to accept an early delivery.
EDIT: Please note that we are currently unable to offer Royal Mail Special Delivery as a weekday delivery option due to an ongoing fault with the RM website which is restricting our ability to purchase postage. Apparently the problem is 'being looked at' but it's been a week so far...
How much does delivery cost?
It depends on the weight of the parcel, which we've indicated on the page for each lens. The one-way prices, which include VAT, are as follows:
| Weight |
JCA |
RMSD |
RMSD Saturday |
RMSD by 9am |
| Up to 1.0 kg |
£9.00 |
Not available |
£11.00 |
Not available |
| 1.0 to 2.0 kg |
£9.00 |
Not available |
£13.00 |
Not available |
| 2.0 to 5.0 kg |
£9.00 |
Not available |
£27.50 |
Not available |
| 5.0 to 10.0 kg |
£11.00 |
Not available |
£27.50 |
Not available |
| 10.0 to 15.0 kg |
£13.50 |
Not available |
Not available |
Not available |
| Over 15.0 kg |
£16.50 |
Not available |
Not available |
Not available |
Plus, if you want our couriers to pick up the lens to bring it back, there's a £10 supplement for reason which we don’t understand. (Why should a van going out empty and coming back full be more expensive than a van going out full and coming back empty? It beats us.) But it’s still pretty cost-effective for lenses or consignments which weigh more than 2kg, compared to the alternatives. So for example a 7 kg parcel out and back by courier would be £11.00 out, £21.00 back, total £32.00.
So what’s the cheapest way of getting a lens delivered and then returning it?
For a small/medium lens weighing up to 2kg when packed (e.g. the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L): get it delivered by JCA, and then take it to the Post Office and return it by RMSD. The total cost will be about £18 – you’ll pay us £9.00 and you’ll pay another £9 or so at the Post Office.
For a large lens weighing over 2kg when packed (e.g. the Canon EF 100-400mm L IS): get it delivered and collected by JCA. The total cost will be £28.00. (For very large lenses such as the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS the cost will be a little bit more, but the principle is the same.)
Why does it say my delivery will cost £999?
It sounds like you’re trying to use Royal Mail Special Delivery for the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS. This lens weighs about 11kg when it’s packed for delivery, but Royal Mail Special Delivery has a weight limit of 10kg. Or maybe you're trying to use the RMSD 9am service for a lens which weighs over 2kg when packed, such as the popular Canon 100-400mm L IS. Unfortunately the web site software doesn’t allow us to completely rule out particular delivery modes for particular products, so the £999 is there to discourage you. You need to select courier delivery instead.
How quickly can I get a lens?
Ordinarily, you need to be planning a couple of days ahead. Say you place an order on Tuesday evening; we'll send the lens Wednesday, you receive it Thursday and your hire period starts Friday. That's three days. If you want a local pickup, we can save a day: if you order on Tuesday evening, you can pick it up on Wednesday for a hire period starting on Thursday. That's two days.
So if you need a lens for the weekend, you need it delivered on Friday, so we need to be dispatching it on Thursday. See how it works?
We can usually dispatch lenses the same day we receive an order, so long as the order comes in by about 3pm; but all our regular delivery services are still overnight operations. If you need a lens more quickly than that, please contact us and we'll see what we can do. We might be able to send lenses by same-day delivery, or guaranteed-9am-next-day delivery, though those services tend to be pretty expensive; same-day is very expensive indeed if you're not within say 100 miles of Maidenhead. But we'll do it if you really need it.
Do you deliver lenses outside the UK?
Yes, we can. However, there are three important considerations.
The first is that international courier rates are an impenetrable mystery, and we will generally need to get a quote for a specific parcel. So if you're thinking of doing this, get in touch and we'll get a quote for you. Needless to say, it would be a good idea not to try to do this at the last minute.
The second issue is that our lawyers have advised us to take a deposit, equal to the replacement value of the lens, for all hires outside the UK.
The third is that customs procedures and duties are a real barrier if we're trying to send something outside the EU. We sent a lens to Norway once (yes, we'd forgotten Norway isn't in the EU!) and we got stung for nearly £300 in customs duties. Never again! So it's EU-only from now on.
If you’re visiting the USA we’d whole-heartedly recommend getting in touch with Mark and Max at BorrowLenses.com, or Roger at LensRentals.com, for your lens hire needs.
Do you deliver to Northern Ireland? To the Isle Of Man?
Yes, and yes. But delivery costs are an issue which need further research, not to mention a pocket calculator at times.
Royal Mail Special Delivery treats both Northern Ireland and the Isle Of Man as part of the UK, which of course is correct for NI but technically not correct for IOM. This means that the RMSD prices in the table above also apply to NI and IOM.
However, our normal couriers have a different – and much more complicated – tariff for NI and IOM. We could try to describe it here, but life’s too short. Instead, we use the services of Fast Lane International, another local firm who just happen to be the largest DHL agents in the south of England. This will cost you £11.75 for most lenses, and £16.50 for the very largest ones. You can use their web site to book the return carriage directly without needing to have an account.
If you find all this a bit confusing, feel free to contact us and we can quote you for delivery of a specific lens.
Do you deliver to British Forces Post Office (BFPO) addresses overseas?
Yes, for BFPO locations within Europe at least, but there are some limitations.
If we send lenses via Royal Mail Special Delivery, there's no problem. They might take a day or two longer to get to BFPO addresses than to the UK mainland, but we can live with that. However, there's a weight limit of 2kg on this service.
For lenses that weigh over 2kg packed (we'll call them 'heavy' lenses), it's more awkward. We have no control over how the parcels are forwarded from the Defence Mail Centre, and it might be unacceptably slow. For deliveries to Cyprus, for example, we understand that parcels over 2kg go by ship, with an approximate transit time of 2-3 weeks each way. Unfortunately, we can't necessarily afford to have a 'heavy' lens out of circulation for the 4-6 week round trip.
If you want to hire a lens that weighs in just above 2kg packed, we can try to trim the weight for you to get it under 2kg. We could try leaving off the tripod collar, substituting a lightweight pouch for a heavier lens case, that sort of thing. Let us know if you're interested. Alternatively, if you want to hire a 'heavy' lens for a long period (a month or more, say) then we're willing to do you some sort of a deal on the postage. The longer you want the lens, the better the deal. Contact us and we can discuss it.
If you're based at a BFPO location other than Cyprus, and you're interested in hiring a lens, then we'd be grateful if you could let us know how the BFPO service works to your location.
Can you deliver to my workplace?
Yes. We generally prefer to deliver to the address at which your credit card is registered. That’s much safer all round. However, bearing in mind that lenses have to be signed for on delivery, we appreciate that this isn’t always the most convenient option for everyone. So we can deliver to a different address – for example a workplace – if you specify it on the order form.
Always bear in mind that you are responsible for the lens from the moment it’s signed for, even if it’s someone else doing the signing. So you need to be confident that you know what will happen to the lens after it’s signed for, and that the process is adequately safe and secure. Please use the ‘Any other information’ box on the order form to confirm this. If we’re not convinced, we reserve the right to charge you a deposit equal to the value of the lens.
What if a lens that I’ve ordered arrives late?
No delivery service is perfect, and late deliveries can happen. If it’s really really important to you to have the lens on a particular date, then we’d suggest hiring it a day earlier than you need it; that way you’ve got a built-in safety margin at little extra cost.
But if a lens does arrive late, you have several options. The first is to go ahead with the hire and return it as scheduled. That means you’ll have had it for a day less than planned, but we’ll make it up to you by refunding two days’ hire charges. (So if you’d hired it for 7 days, but it’s delivered a day late, you end up hiring it for 6 days but paying for 5 days.) Another option is to cancel the hire contract; return the lens directly to us and we’ll refund all your charges. Or, if there isn’t another customer waiting for the lens, you can extend the return date so that you end up with the same period of hire that you’d originally planned.
Basically, if a lens is late in being delivered to you, let us know immediately. The sooner we know about it, the sooner we can try to work out a solution for you.
(Incidentally, none of this applies if the reason a lens is delivered late is that you weren’t there to receive it on the scheduled day. We have to judge late deliveries according to the day the postman or courier first attempted to deliver the lens at the correct address.)
How do I return a lens to you?
You’ll get full instructions in the box with the lens. But, basically, first of all:
- pack up all the bits (lens, hood, case, etc.) in the box, re-using the original packaging materials;
- stick the pre-printed return address label on the box, making sure the label showing your address is covered up;
- tape the box securely closed.
Then, once the box is packed and ready to go, you have several options. If you've pre-arranged to meet with us to hand it back, then all you need to do is show up at the agreed time and place. If you've pre-paid for return delivery, then you need to ring the couriers (we'll give you the number) and arrange a pick-up with them. Otherwise, you need to take it to the Post Office and send it back to us via Special Delivery, making sure that you get a tracking number. Or if you want to save on postage, you could take it to our mailbox drop in Maidenhead High Street - the address is on the contact page - but please note that they're only open from 8.30am-6pm Mon-Fri and 9am-12pm Saturday.
I'm visiting the UK. Can you deliver to my hotel?
Well, we can, but we’re not convinced it’s a good idea. When our lens is delivered it has to be signed for, and once it’s been signed for it becomes your responsibility. The trouble is, at a hotel you don’t necessarily know who’s going to be signing for the parcel when it arrives, and if it goes astray then you’ve got a problem. This feels pretty risky to us, so if you really want us to deliver to your hotel then we’re going to have to take a deposit equal to the value of the lens. Sorry about that.
LENSES AND OTHER EQUIPMENT
What comes with each lens?
It varies, but generally quite a lot. We send each lens out with all the accessories it came with when it was brand new, and some other bits and pieces too.
Every lens will arrive with front and rear caps. Every lens will come in either a suede/leather drawstring pouch or some sort of soft or hard padded case; if they don’t come with either a pouch or a case when they’re new then we always buy one for protection. Most lenses come with lens hoods from the factory, but again we systematically buy hoods for those which don’t. The bigger lenses will come with a tripod collar. And we fit UV/protective filters to all our lenses which accept them.
When you hire a lens, there will be a checklist in the box setting out exactly what is included. Everything you receive must be returned at the end of your hire period.
I've never used a sophisticated lens like this before. Can you help me?
Yes. In the box with the lens you'll receive a copy of the instruction manual for the lens.
Why so many Canon lenses? Why so few Nikon lenses?
It's quite simple. We're Canon users and we understand the Canon range. All that alphabet soup you get in Nikon lens designations is just too confusing for us.
Seriously though, we haven't been operating long and we had to start somewhere. We've built up a reasonable selection of Canon lenses, and we expect to increase that selection as we continue to gather experience of what our customers want. We haven't been stocking Nikon lenses for quite as long, and we’re still learning what’s in the Nikon range. There are surprisingly few common points of reference! Anyway, if you're a Nikon user, please feel free to let us know which additional lenses you'd like to see offered.
Do you have plans to offer lenses for Sony / Olympus / Pentax?
Well, we prefer never to say never, but we don’t have any immediate plans. The trouble is, according to the figures we’ve seen Canon and Nikon have over 80% of the DSLR market between them (and virtually 100% of the pro market), and that remaining 20% is split between Pentax, Olympus, Sony and others. For the foreseeable future we’re likely to get far better returns from the Canon and Nikon ranges, and we have to worry about that because this business has a phenomenal appetite for cash. But we’re keeping the DSLR sales trends under review, and we would hope to be able to diversify further at some point in the future.
What if I want to hire a lens that you don't currently offer?
Let us know which lens you want and we'll see if we can justify getting hold of one. If other people have asked for the same lens then that's a good sign there will be demand for it, and we'll find it easier to justify. But we won't know if you don't tell us!
If you're really serious about it, we'll buy a lens specifically for you to hire.
What if the lens I want to hire is always out of stock?
First of all, please let us know. We aim to have the lenses you want, when you want them. If there's more demand for a particular lens than we're meeting, we'll get more copies. But we won't know about it if you don't tell us!
If you're really serious about it, we'll buy a lens specifically for you to hire.
Do you hire things other than lenses?
Not at present. We're thinking about it. Please feel free to make suggestions.
Will you buy a lens specifically for me to hire?
Yes, if you're serious. If the lens you want to hire is one that we don't carry or is out of stock, and if you're willing to commit to hiring it for 2 weeks or more, and if you give us at least 2 weeks notice, then we'll buy a lens specifically for you to hire.
However, we don't have a bottomless wallet, so unfortunately for the time being we have to restrict this offer to lenses which cost less than £2,000. In practice that means we're excluding the following Canon lenses:
and the following Nikon lenses:
AF-S 200mm f/2 G IF-ED VR
AF-S 200-400mm f/4 G IF-ED VR
AF-S 300mm f/2.8 G IF-ED VR, AF-S II 300mm f/2.8 IF-ED
AF-S 400mm f/2.8 G IF-ED VR, AF-S II 400mm f/2.8 IF-ED
AF-S 500mm f/4 G IF-ED VR, AF-S II 500mm f/4 IF-ED
AF-S 600mm f/4 G IF-ED VR, AF-S II 600mm f/4 IF-ED
200-500mm EX DG
300-800mm f/5.6 EX DG HSM
500mm f/4.5 EX DG HSM
800mm f/5.6 EX DG HSM
OK, that looks like a long list, but it isn’t really when you consider how many lenses these companies make! Hopefully soon we will have a bottomless wallet and we can relax this restriction. (Well, we can dream.)
LOSS, DAMAGE AND INSURANCE
What happens if I damage a lens?
Ooh, bad news.
The first thing to do is to let us know immediately. If we have another lens of the same type in stock, and if you want it, and if you're willing to pay the postage, then we can send you a replacement for the remainder of your hire period.
The next thing to do is to send the damaged lens back to us. We'll take it or send it off to an authorised service centre for repair. When we get it back, we'll charge your credit card exactly what it cost us to get it repaired (including postage, if any), plus we reserve the right to charge a penalty to reflect the fact that we haven't been able to hire out the lens whilst it's been damaged. The penalty charge is up to 2/3rds of the hire charge that would have applied for the period whilst the lens is out of commission. So if it takes us 6 days to get it repaired, we may charge you for up to an additional 4 days hire. If we have spare copies of the particular lens or if demand for it is slack, we would not expect the penalty charge to apply.
If you’ve chosen to take advantage of the insurance we offer, and you satisfy the insurers that you had complied with the terms and conditions of the insurance, then your liability is of course capped at the value of the insurance excess.
If the lens is not repairable, we will treat it as if you had lost it.
What happens if I lose a lens, or if it's stolen, whilst I've got it on hire?
Ooh, even worse news.
Again, the first thing to do is to let us know immediately. If we have another lens of the same type in stock, and if you want it, and if you're willing to pay the postage, then we can send you a replacement for the remainder of your hire period.
We'll then buy a lens to replace the one you've lost, and we'll charge your credit card for it, plus we reserve the right to charge a penalty to reflect the fact that we haven't been able to hire out the lens which you lost. The penalty charge is up to 2/3rds of the hire charge that would have applied for the period until we can replace the lens. So if it takes us 6 days to get a new lens, we may charge you for up to an additional 4 days hire. If we have spare copies of the particular lens or if demand for it is slack, we would not expect the penalty charge to apply.
If you’ve chosen to take advantage of the insurance we offer, and you satisfy the insurers that you had complied with the terms and conditions of the insurance, then your liability is of course capped at the value of the insurance excess.
What do you consider to count as damage, as opposed to normal wear and tear?
Whilst we expect you to look after our gear as if it were your own, we expect you to actually use it rather than just keep it wrapped in cotton wool the whole time. So we will treat minor scratches or marks on the lens barrel and/or hood as the results of ordinary wear and tear. However scratches on the glass, or damage to the mounting or any other part that affects the lens's performance, will be considered damage.
Do you offer insurance with the lenses you hire out?
Yes! We’ve teamed up with a specialist insurer – Imaging Insurance – to allow you to insure the lenses you hire, directly from the LensesForHire web site. This covers you for all the major risks which you might run whilst a lens is on hire - accidental damage, loss or theft.
Obviously there are the usual terms and conditions that apply. There's the usual stuff about not being negligent, having good physical security in your house, being very careful about leaving gear in cars, etc., etc. And negligence isn’t covered – so if you say you left it on the bus, that’s going to be your problem rather than ours or the insurers.
An extract of the detailed terms and conditions of the insurance, edited to include just those elements which are relevant to our customers, is available to download here.
Please note that this arrangement does NOT form a contract of insurance between you and Imaging Insurance. What’s happening is that we are extending our insurance to cover the lens while it is in your possession, and we’re paying an extra premium to enable that. So if there is an incident, we have to submit a claim, not you (though obviously we’'ll need your help).
How much does insurance cost?
The cost of the insurance is built into all our prices by default, so it doesn’t cost anything over and above the prices you can see on the web site.
Do I have to insure a lens I hire from you?
Not if you don't want to. But you need to bear in mind that you are liable for the cost of repairing any damage that a lens suffers whilst it's out on hire, and the cost of replacing a lens if it's lost, stolen or damaged beyond repair whilst out on hire. You might feel more comfortable if you had some insurance.
If you don’t need our insurance, please enter the discount code NO-INS at the checkout. This will reduce the price of all your equipment by 10%.
Is there an excess on the insurance?
Yes. You will have to meet the first £150 of any claim.
Can I use a different insurer?
Yes, of course, but you’ll have to make the arrangements yourself. The recommended insurance value of each lens is on its particular page on the web site. And we can let you know the serial number of the lens you’ll be hiring, if your insurer needs it.
Note that you might already have cover for hired equipment under your home contents insurance, or travel insurance, or under your business insurance if you're a professional. But then again you might not. It's probably a good idea to check the small print, and especially (for home or travel insurance) the maximum value of any one insured item. If you’re not already covered, it might be quite straightforward to get hired equipment added to your policy.
PERSONAL DATA AND SMALL PRINT
Why do you ask so many questions at the checkout stage?
Three reasons.
Firstly, it gives us an opportunity to help you avoid choosing an inappropriate lens. Have you heard the one about the man who hired a Canon lens for his Nikon camera? (It didn’t fit.) Have you heard the one about the guy who hired a fisheye lens to take some photos at a family reunion? (They all came out ... distorted.) We want you to be happy with the lens you hire from us.
Secondly, it helps us learn a bit about who our customers are and what they want. We want to grow the business – and that’s good for you too, because a growing business means a wider selection of lenses, more lenses in stock, and lower prices. Understanding our customers is clearly part of that.
And finally, the way we can manage to offer lenses for hire without a deposit is by being quite careful about who we hire them to. We want to know a bit about you because we want to hire out our lenses to photographers who’ll look after them.
What will you do with all the personal data you collect from me?
We’ll use it to decide whether or not we’re happy to hire a lens out to you. We’ll use it for the administration of the hire contract. And we’ll use it (aggregated with other customers’ data) to help build up a profile of our customer base.
We won’t sell or give your data to any third party, except in situations where we are legally obliged to or where it’s necessary for the operation of our business (e.g. if you don’t return a lens and we have to set our solicitors onto you).
We won’t use your personal data to send you newsletters, birthday cards, special offers or anything like that. Unless you really really want us to, in which case please do let us know.
Can I get a printed copy of your complete Terms and Conditions?
Yes, of course. Here is a PDF version which you can download and print. If you hire a lens from us there will always be a printed copy of the Ts & Cs in the box.
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