Steaze Car Rentals

Vehicle Hire Agreement

The terms you agree to when you hire a vehicle from us. This is the document you sign at handover — read it before you book.

Version 1.0 · Last updated [DATE] · Steaze Car Rentals · ABN [ABN]

This Agreement is between Steaze Car Rentals (ABN [ABN]) of Trinity Park, Queensland 4879 (we, us, our) and the person named as the hirer on the Rental Schedule (you, your). By signing the Rental Schedule or taking possession of the Vehicle, you agree to these terms.

The short version

You must be a licensed driver of the required age, drive only on the roads listed in clause 11, return the Vehicle in the condition you got it, and pay for fuel, tolls and fines. If the Vehicle is damaged, the most you pay is the excess in Schedule 2 — unless you broke one of the rules in clause 12, in which case you pay the full cost. Nothing here takes away your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

1. Definitions

In this Agreement: Vehicle means the vehicle described on the Rental Schedule, including its keys, tyres, tools, accessories and any equipment we supply with it. Hire Period means the period from the delivery time to the collection time shown on the Rental Schedule, as extended under clause 19. Authorised Driver means a person listed as a driver on the Rental Schedule who meets clause 4. Excess means the amount in Schedule 2 for the Vehicle's class. Bond means the security amount in Schedule 2. Rental Schedule means the document setting out the Vehicle, dates, drivers, charges and delivery details for your hire. ACL means the Australian Consumer Law in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

2. The hire

2.1 We agree to hire the Vehicle to you for the Hire Period on these terms.

2.2 We deliver the Vehicle to you and collect it from you. We do not operate a depot or counter.

2.3 A booking made through our website is a request. No hire exists until we confirm it in writing and you have paid any amount due.

2.4 We will supply the Vehicle described on the Rental Schedule or, if it is unavailable through no fault of ours, a vehicle of a similar or better class at no extra charge. If we cannot supply a suitable vehicle, we will refund everything you have paid.

3. Hire charges

3.1 You must pay the charges set out in Schedule 1 and on the Rental Schedule. Charges include GST.

3.2 A hire day is a 24-hour period from the delivery time. Part days are charged as set out in clause 19.

3.3 The delivery and collection fee is a single fee covering both the drop-off and the pick-up for your zone.

3.4 We do not add a surcharge for card payments.

3.5 You authorise us to charge the card you provide for any amount properly owing under this Agreement, after we have told you what the charge is for and given you a reasonable opportunity to query it.

4. Who may drive

4.1 Only an Authorised Driver may drive the Vehicle. Letting anyone else drive is a breach of clause 12.

4.2 Each Authorised Driver must:

4.3 An Authorised Driver aged under 25 pays a young driver surcharge of $25 per day and carries a higher Excess as shown in Schedule 2.

4.4 You must tell us immediately if an Authorised Driver's licence is suspended, cancelled or otherwise affected during the Hire Period.

5. Delivery and collection

5.1 We deliver the Vehicle to the address or location you nominate within a delivery zone in Schedule 1, at the agreed time.

5.2 At handover we will inspect the Vehicle with you and photograph its condition. Those photographs form the agreed record of the Vehicle's condition at the start of the Hire Period. If you disagree with anything recorded, say so at handover.

5.3 You must be present at handover with your licence and the card used for the Bond.

5.4 If you are not available at the agreed delivery or collection time and have not given us reasonable notice, we may charge a further delivery or collection fee for the return trip.

5.5 If a road or property is unsafe or inaccessible for delivery or collection, we will agree an alternative nearby location with you.

6. Bond

6.1 A refundable Bond of the amount in Schedule 2 applies to every hire. The Bond is security for your obligations under this Agreement.

6.2 For a hire of 6 days or fewer, we place a hold (pre-authorisation) on your card. The funds are not taken, but your bank may make them unavailable to you until the hold is released.

6.3 For a hire of 7 days or more, we charge the Bond as a deposit and refund it, because card holds expire after approximately 7 days and would lapse before your return. This is a difference in mechanism only — the amount and the circumstances in which we may keep it are the same.

6.4 We release or refund the Bond within 7 business days after the Vehicle is returned and inspected, less any amount you owe us under this Agreement. Your bank may take further time to show the funds.

6.5 If we deduct from the Bond, we will give you an itemised written explanation of what was deducted and why.

6.6 The Bond is not a cap on your liability, and it is not a pre-payment of the Excess. It comes off any amount you owe.

6.7 We do not accept cash bonds. The card must be in the hirer's own name.

7. Damage, loss and your Excess

7.1 If the Vehicle is damaged, lost or stolen during the Hire Period, you are liable for the cost of repair, recovery or replacement, but only up to the Excess for that vehicle class in Schedule 2 — provided you have complied with this Agreement.

7.2 You are liable for the full cost of repair, recovery or replacement, with no Excess cap, if the damage, loss or theft happens while you are in breach of clause 11 or clause 12.

7.3 The Excess applies per incident, not per hire.

7.4 Where a third party is at fault and we recover our loss from them or their insurer, we will refund the Excess you paid.

7.5 You are also liable for our reasonable loss of hire income while the Vehicle is off the road being repaired, calculated at the daily rate for that vehicle for the period reasonably required for repair. We will give you written evidence of the repair period.

7.6 We will not charge you for damage that was present at handover and recorded in the handover photographs, or for fair wear and tear as described in our Fair Wear & Tear Guide.

7A. Reducing your Excess

7A.1 We offer optional paid cover that lowers the Excess in clause 7.1. Standard cover is included at no charge and you may hire on it — the paid options are entirely optional.

7A.2 Paid cover is a contractual reduction in the amount we will recover from you. It is not a contract of insurance, it is not underwritten by an insurer, and it is not sold on an insurer's behalf. It gives you no rights against any insurer.

7A.3 The daily charge is shown before you book, applies for every day of the Hire Period, and is not refundable if the Vehicle is returned undamaged. It is a charge for carrying risk over that period, not a deposit.

7A.4 Paid cover does not apply where clause 7.2 applies. If damage, loss or theft happens while you are in breach of clause 11 or clause 12, you are liable for the full cost regardless of which option you chose and regardless of what you paid.

7A.5 Paid cover does not reduce your liability for fuel, cleaning, tolls, fines, lost keys, recovery, or loss of hire income under clause 7.5.

8. Cover and what is not covered

8.1 The Vehicle is registered and carries Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance as required in Queensland, and is covered by our motor vehicle insurance policy, subject to that policy's terms.

8.2 Our insurance does not respond, and you will be liable for the full cost of any damage, loss or recovery, where the loss arises from anything in clause 12.

8.3 Our insurance does not cover your personal property, or the property of your passengers.

8.4 We will give you a copy of the relevant policy terms on request.

9. Kilometre allowance

9.1 Each hire includes 200 kilometres per hire day, pooled across the Hire Period.

9.2 Kilometres beyond the allowance are charged at $0.33 per kilometre, calculated on the odometer reading at collection.

9.3 If you expect to travel further, tell us before the hire and we will quote a higher allowance.

10. Fuel, tolls and consumables

10.1 The Vehicle is delivered with a full tank and must be returned with a full tank of the correct fuel type.

10.2 If the Vehicle is returned short of fuel, we charge the cost of the fuel plus a refuelling service fee of $30.

10.3 Putting the wrong fuel in the Vehicle is a breach of clause 12. You are liable for the full cost of draining, flushing and any resulting engine damage, plus lost hire income under clause 7.5.

10.4 You are responsible for tolls, parking fees and any charges incurred during the Hire Period. Where a toll or charge is billed to us, we will pass it on at cost plus the administration fee in Schedule 3.

10.5 You are responsible for checking and maintaining oil, coolant and tyre pressures on hires longer than 7 days, and for telling us immediately if a warning light appears.

11. Where you may drive

11.1 The Vehicle may be driven on sealed public roads in Queensland, and on sealed access roads and formed car parks serving national parks, lookouts and beaches.

11.2 The Vehicle must not be driven:

11.3 We may give written approval for travel outside these limits, on conditions. Approval given for one trip does not apply to another.

11.4 If you are unsure whether a road is permitted, contact us on [07 0000 0000] before you drive it. We would rather answer the question than process the claim.

11.5 Driving outside clause 11 is a breach of clause 12 and removes the Excess cap in clause 7.1.

12. Prohibited use

12.1 You must not, and must not allow anyone else to:

12.2 A breach of clause 12.1 removes the Excess cap in clause 7.1 for any loss connected with the breach, and entitles us to end the hire under clause 21.

13. Care of the Vehicle

13.1 You must keep the Vehicle secure, locked when unattended, and take reasonable care of it.

13.2 You must not carry out or authorise repairs without our approval, except where reasonably necessary to make the Vehicle safe. We will reimburse reasonable authorised repair costs on production of a receipt.

13.3 You must not fit accessories, roof racks, tow equipment, stickers or signage to the Vehicle.

13.4 Pets are not permitted in the Vehicle unless we agree in writing. Assistance animals are always permitted at no charge.

14. Breakdown and roadside assistance

14.1 24-hour roadside assistance is included. The contact details are on the Rental Schedule and in the Vehicle.

14.2 If the Vehicle breaks down through mechanical failure not caused by you, we will arrange repair or a replacement vehicle as soon as reasonably possible, and you will not be charged for the time the Vehicle was unusable.

14.3 If assistance is needed because of something you did — a flat battery from lights left on, a lost key, running out of fuel, or a tyre damaged outside clause 11 — the callout and recovery are at your cost.

14.4 Recovery of the Vehicle from a location outside clause 11 is at your cost, at the actual cost charged to us.

15. Accident, theft and damage

15.1 If the Vehicle is involved in an accident, damaged, stolen or vandalised, you must:

15.2 You must complete our incident report and give us any document or information we reasonably need to make or defend a claim.

15.3 Failing to report an incident as required may make you liable for loss that could reasonably have been avoided by prompt reporting.

16. Traffic infringements, tolls and fines

16.1 You are responsible for every parking fine, traffic infringement, toll and camera offence incurred during the Hire Period.

16.2 Where an infringement notice is issued to us, we will nominate the driver to the issuing authority as we are entitled and, in some cases, required to do. We will charge an administration fee of $35 per notice, which reflects the reasonable cost of processing it.

16.3 We will send you a copy of the notice and the nomination at the same time.

16.4 We do not pay your fines and we do not add a margin to them.

17. Cleaning and condition on return

17.1 The Vehicle must be returned in the condition it was delivered, allowing for fair wear and tear.

17.2 We do not charge for ordinary road dust or a normal amount of use. We do charge for cleaning beyond that, as set out in Schedule 3 and explained in our Fair Wear & Tear Guide.

17.3 Where a cleaning charge applies, we will photograph the condition and send you the photographs with the charge.

18. Return, extension and late return

18.1 You must make the Vehicle available for collection at the time and place on the Rental Schedule.

18.2 If you want to extend the hire, contact us before the collection time. Extensions depend on availability and are charged at the daily rate.

18.3 A grace period of 59 minutes applies. After that, late return is charged at one quarter of the daily rate per hour or part hour, capped at one full daily rate per day.

18.4 Keeping the Vehicle beyond the Hire Period without our agreement means you are not covered by our insurance, and we may report the Vehicle as stolen and recover it.

18.5 If you return the Vehicle early, we will refund unused whole hire days, less the delivery and collection fee.

19. Personal property

19.1 Check the Vehicle before we collect it. We are not responsible for property left in the Vehicle, except where the loss is caused by our negligence.

19.2 If we find property, we will hold it for 30 days and contact you. After 30 days we may dispose of it lawfully.

20. Cancellation and changes

20.1 Cancellation and change terms are set out in our Cancellation Policy, which forms part of this Agreement.

20.2 If we cancel a confirmed hire for any reason other than your breach, we will refund everything you have paid and, where the cancellation is at short notice, help you find an alternative vehicle.

21. Ending the hire early

21.1 We may end the hire immediately and take back the Vehicle if you seriously breach this Agreement — in particular clause 4, 11 or 12 — or if the Vehicle is being used in a way that puts a person or the Vehicle at real risk.

21.2 Before ending the hire we will, where it is reasonable and safe to do so, tell you what the problem is and give you a reasonable chance to fix it.

21.3 If we end the hire under this clause, we will refund unused whole hire days, less any amount you owe.

21.4 You may end the hire at any time by making the Vehicle available for collection. Clause 18.5 applies.

22. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law

22.1 Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the ACL. Nothing in this Agreement excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the ACL or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded.

22.2 For a major failure with the service, you are entitled to cancel your service contract with us and to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value. You are also entitled to be compensated for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. If the failure does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have the problem fixed in a reasonable time and, if this is not done, to cancel and obtain a refund for the unused portion.

22.3 If any term of this Agreement is found to be unfair within the meaning of the ACL, that term does not apply and the rest of the Agreement continues.

23. Our liability

23.1 Subject to clause 22, and to the extent permitted by law, our liability to you is limited to resupplying the service or paying the cost of resupply.

23.2 Nothing in this clause limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for anything else that cannot be limited at law.

24. Privacy

24.1 We collect and handle your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy at [domain].com.au/privacy.

24.2 We will disclose your details to a police service, transport authority, toll operator or insurer where we are required or entitled to do so, including under clause 16.

24.3 Where a vehicle is fitted with a GPS or telematics unit, we will tell you at handover. We use that data only to locate the Vehicle if it is overdue, stolen or involved in an incident, and to verify an odometer reading. We do not use it to monitor your movements.

25. Notices and variation

25.1 Notices may be given by email to the address on the Rental Schedule, or by SMS to the mobile on it.

25.2 This Agreement, the Rental Schedule and the documents it refers to are the whole agreement between us. We cannot change the terms of a confirmed hire after it starts unless you agree in writing.

25.3 We may update these terms for future hires. The version that applies to your hire is the version you were given at booking.

26. Complaints and governing law

26.1 If something goes wrong, contact us first on [07 0000 0000] or hello@[domain].com.au. We will acknowledge a complaint within 2 business days and aim to resolve it within 10.

26.2 If we cannot resolve it, you may contact the Queensland Office of Fair Trading or the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

26.3 This Agreement is governed by the law of Queensland, and the courts of Queensland have jurisdiction.

Schedule 1 — Hire charges

ItemCharge
Daily hire rateAs shown on the Rental Schedule, per vehicle, including GST
Delivery & collection — Northern Beaches, Trinity Park, Smithfield$49 (covers both trips)
Delivery & collection — Cairns City, CBD$119 (covers both trips)
Kilometre allowance200 km per hire day, pooled
Additional kilometres$0.33 per km
Young driver surcharge (under 25)$25 per day
Card surchargeNil

Schedule 2 — Damage cover options

OptionEverydayTouring & 4WDOccasion
Standard (included)Excess $2,500Excess $3,500Excess $5,000
Reduced excess+$19/day, excess $1,000+$29/day, excess $1,000+$39/day, excess $1,000
Peace of mind+$29/day, excess $500+$45/day, excess $500+$65/day, excess $500

Bond is not held on everyday vehicles. On touring and occasion vehicles the bond reduces with paid cover and is not held at all on Peace of mind. See clause 7A.

Schedule 2A — Bond by vehicle class

ClassVehiclesBondExcessMin. age
EverydayHaval JolionNone held$2,50021
Touring & 4WDToyota Prado, LDV D90, GWM Cannon$500$3,50025
Occasion & prestigeRange Rover Evoque, Ford Mustang$1,000$5,00025

A driver aged under 25 on an everyday vehicle carries an Excess of double the figure above, in addition to the daily surcharge. Excess figures are the maximum you pay toward damage or loss where you have complied with this Agreement — see clause 7.

Schedule 3 — Other charges

ChargeWhen it appliesAmount
RefuellingReturned below a full tankFuel at cost + $30
Standard cleaningInterior soiled beyond normal use$150
Heavy cleaningSand, mud, pet hair, spills, odour through the cabin$400
Smoking or vapingAny evidence of smoking or vaping in the Vehicle$500
Lost or damaged keyKey not returned or unusable$600 + delivery
Infringement administrationPer notice received and nominated$35
Late returnAfter the 59-minute grace period¼ daily rate per hour, capped at 1 day
Missed delivery or collectionNot available at the agreed time without noticeZone fee for the repeat trip
Wrong fuelIncorrect fuel addedAt cost + lost hire income
Recovery outside permitted roadsVehicle recovered from a location outside clause 11At cost

Every charge in this Schedule is a genuine estimate of the cost we incur. Where actual cost is lower, we charge the lower amount.

Acknowledgement

By signing the Rental Schedule you confirm that you have read this Agreement, that the drivers listed meet clause 4, that you understand the road restrictions in clause 11 and the conduct that removes your Excess cap in clause 12, and that you accept the Bond and Excess for your vehicle class.