TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE FOR SILVERBIRCH SAMEDAY COURIERS
A. Definitions
"Booking" means the arrangement for the carriage of a Consignment placed by the Customer with the Carrier by telephone, facsimile, on line via the Internet or email, text message or post.
"Consignment" means any goods or items of tangible property whether or not contained in separate parcels, packages, containers or envelopes including any packaging consigned by the Customer to the Carrier for delivery to the Consignee.
"Consignee" means the individual, firm, body corporate, unincorporated association or any other body who receives goods or items from the carrier.
"Carrier" means Silverbirch Sameday Couriers.
"Customer" means the individual, firm, body corporate; unincorporated association or any other body who books the services of the carrier.
"Dangerous Goods" means any goods covered by statutory regulations or any other substance likely to cause or encourage disease, vermin, pests or other hazard.
"Excluded Goods" means Consignments comprising or including livestock, weapons, arms or ammunition, oxidising or radio-active materials, pyrotechnics, controlled drugs, industrial chemicals, unlawful, noxious, dangerous, corrosive, toxic, hazardous, flammable, perishable, glass, gases or explosive items. All goods that may not be possessed, delivered, collected, stored, carried, imported or exported from country, region or place without declaration, licence or permission from any statutory or regulatory body.
"Security Goods" means Consignments comprising bullion, money in any form, bankers drafts, postal orders, premium bonds, gift vouchers, scratch cards, any redeemable vouchers, competition and lottery cards, pre paid mobile phone cards, cheques, bank cards, credit cards, jewellery and goods of a similar type.
"Restricted Goods" means spirits, cigars, cigarettes, tobacco, furs, ready made garments, precious stones or metals, non ferrous metals, audio/visual/computer equipment and accessories, mobile phones, domestic electrical equipment, cameras and the like.
"Special Goods" means liquids (other than those detailed in A6/7/9), fragile items, pictures (excluding commercial artwork), paintings, plants, and antiques. Household and industrial removals.
"Web Site" means the Carriers website at www.sscouriers.co.uk.
"Authorised Company Agent" means owner, director or partner of Silverbirch Sameday Couriers.
"Same Day" means within 24 hours of collection time or within timescales stipulated and agreed at time of booking.
B. General
These conditions shall apply to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions (including those of the customer), unless agreed in writing by the carriers owner.
The carrier is not a common carrier and will accept goods for carriage at its discretion and only under these conditions.
No agent or person employed by or under contract with the carrier (except the Carriers Authorised Company Agent) has any authority to alter or vary in any way these conditions or to give any written or oral warranties or promises regarding the carriers business or services.
If any conflict occurs between these conditions and any of the carriers brochures or promotional material then these conditions will prevail.
Any business undertaken including advice or information given or service provided, whether gratuitously or not is subject to these conditions.
The carrier may subcontract all or part of its business but all subcontracted work is subject to these conditions
Subject to written instructions given by the Customer the Carrier reserves the right to use its discretion as to the means, route and procedure to be followed in the carriage, handling, storage and transportation of goods. The carrier shall be at liberty to depart from written instructions if it is deemed in the Customers’ interest or the Carrier is instructed to do so by regulatory bodies.
The Customer warrants that they are the owner or authorised agent of the owner of the consignment and is authorised to accept these conditions not only for itself but as agent for and on behalf of other persons. The Carrier reserves the right not to carry any consignment where there is doubt about ownership or authority.
The Customer undertakes not to cause or require the Carrier to convey any Excluded Goods. If such goods are carried unknowingly, the Customer will be liable for all loss, damage, costs incurred (including legal and fines) and any other losses caused to the Carrier by whatever means. The customer will be responsible for all statutory, regulatory or legal breaches and will indemnify the Carrier against all actions. The customer accepts that no liability will fall on the company where excluded goods have to be destroyed, abandoned, released or otherwise dealt with by any other person in whose custody they may be.
Restricted Goods are carried on the understanding that the maximum value does not exceed £10,000. No claim will be entertained for goods in excess of this value unless written agreement is obtained from the Carriers Authorised Company Agent before carriage.
Security Goods are not insured by the Carrier and are carried at the customer’s own risk and must be declared to the Carrier at the time of booking.
Special Goods are not insured by the Carrier and are carried at the owner’s own risk.
All quotations for carriage are valid for 5 days or other such period agreed by an Authorised Company Agent. All quotations are calculated in accordance with distance in miles and gross weight. Written quotations will only be supplied upon request. All bookings are accepted subject to these terms and conditions.
The customer shall not engage the services of, solicit or offer employment or any other form of contract to any driver, employee or sub contractor of the Carrier either directly or indirectly for a period of 6 months immediately following the date of the last booking without the written consent of the Carriers Authorised Agent.
C. Consignment
If the Consignment contains Security Goods then the Customer shall notify the Carrier, at the time of booking, the content and value of such consignment. The carrier is not liable for such consignments and reserves the right to charge an additional sum for the carriage of security items. The Customer will be informed of this sum at time of booking.
The Customer is responsible for ensuring the consignment is sufficiently secure, properly packaged, labelled, will be fit and safe to carry and store and complies with any statutory or regulatory conditions that apply to it.
The Customer shall be responsible for arranging that the Consignee checks the good condition of the consignment upon receipt. Any comments made on the delivery note (POD), are not accepted as written confirmation of a claim.
The Carrier has the highest internal standards but in the unlikely event that the customer has any cause for complaint regarding performance or wishes to make a claim for damage to goods, this should be done verbally within 3 days and confirmed in writing within 7 days of receipt of goods.
The Carrier will present the consignment, at the delivery address supplied by the Customer, to any person who appears to the Carrier to be authorised or competent to accept them on behalf of the Consignee.
The Carrier may, (but is not obliged to), obtain a signature as proof of delivery (POD) from any person who appears to the Carrier to be authorised or competent to do so on behalf of the Consignee. As soon as possible after delivery, but only on request from the Customer, the Carrier will acknowledge delivery of the Consignment by text or phone. A copy of the POD will be returned to the Customer by post unless otherwise requested. A copy of the POD will be supplied with the invoice.
The Carrier is not responsible or liable for any delay, non performance, loss, damage or destruction due to acts of God, power failures, fire, adverse weather conditions, accident, malicious damage, fuel shortages, mechanical breakdown, traffic congestion, obstruction of a public or private highway, war, invasion, acts of terrorism, foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, military intervention, confiscation, requisition, destruction of or damage to property, riots, civil commotion, strikes, lockouts, partial or restraint of labour from whatever cause, pressure waves, ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity from nuclear fuel, the combustion of nuclear fuel or nuclear waste, legal seizure, natural deterioration, depreciation, mechanical/electrical/electronic derangement, latent defect, inadequate or improper packaging or insulation, insufficient or incorrect labelling, shortage in weight, evaporation, ordinary leakage, deliberate abandonment, vermin, wear and tear or gradual deterioration, contamination, loss of market resulting from late delivery, the Consignees none acceptance, any marine risk or any cause whatever beyond the Carriers control.
The Carrier may retain the consignment in circumstances that appear to be inappropriate or impossible to effect delivery or where the driver feels threatened or intimidated. Under these circumstances the Carrier retains the right to payment and any additional costs incurred.
Where delivery of the Consignment was attempted within the Customers agreed timescales, but no one was available to receive the consignment, or delivery information supplied by the Customer was incorrect, then the Carrier retains the right to payment and any additional costs involved in redelivery or return to the customer.
The liability of the Carrier shall be limited to the lower of the cost value of the goods to the Customer or in the case of damaged goods the cost of repair of such goods.
The Customer must provide written proof of the value of goods that are subject to a loss or damage claim. The Carrier shall be entitled to inspect damaged goods.
If the Consignment value exceeds £10,000 the Customer must notify the Carrier, at the time of booking, of the content and value of the Consignment and have the Carriers agreement to carry the consignment.
The maximum amount payable per Consignment, under any circumstances and for whatever reason, by the Carrier is £20,000 unless the Carrier agrees otherwise.
The Carrier will not provide any labour or special equipment required to load the consignment. It is the Customers responsibility to ensure that if special equipment is used to load the vehicle then the same equipment is available at the delivery address. The Customer will be liable for any additional costs incurred by the Carrier as a result of failure to provide special equipment. The Customer will indemnify and hold harmless the Carrier for any damage caused to the Consignment or Carrier, by whatever means, where the Carrier is instructed to load or unload any consignment requiring special equipment where such equipment is not provided.
The transit of goods commences when the Carrier accepts receipt of the Consignment and ends when the consignment is tendered at the Consignee’s address.
The carrier will only be liable for loss or damage to Consignments where it can be proved that the Consignment was in the custody of the Carrier, or under its control and the loss or damage was a direct result of the Carriers negligence.
The Carrier is not liable, under any circumstances, for indirect or consequential damage, or loss of profit or a particular opportunity or market or goodwill suffered or incurred by the Customer whether resulting from breach of contract, Carrier negligence or otherwise
Where the Carrier is found to have liability to the Customer the Carrier shall not be liable for any claims, costs, damages, losses and expenses by whomsoever made or incurred in excess of the limitations stated in these conditions whether or not resulting from the negligence of the Carrier.
The Carrier will only be liable for loss or damage occurring within Great Britain. For journeys outside Great Britain an additional insurance premium will be charged (and shall be paid by the Customer). The Carrier, prior to collection will notify any additional conditions and/or exclusions to the Customer
The Customer shall indemnify the Carrier against all loses and third party claims, including those of H M Customs & Revenue, as a result of any breach by the customer of these conditions, fraud, error, omission or misrepresentation by the Customer or Consignee whether or not transit has ended or been suspended.
D. Payment & Charges
The payment terms and charges paid to the Carrier are confidential and the Customer will take all reasonable steps to ensure they remain confidential. The Customer must not disclose the terms or make any public statement about the Carriers and Customers relationship without the prior consent of the Carrier. The only exception being disclosures required by law or statutory regulation.
Payment terms are 28 days from invoice date. Any variation from these terms must be agreed in writing with the Carriers Authorised Agent.
If invoices are not paid within the payment terms all offers of discount are automatically withdrawn and the Carrier reserves the right to impose a surcharge on outstanding balances at the rate of 4% a month both before and after judgement.
The Carriers quoted charges do not include road or bridge tolls or congestion charges. These will be added to the final invoice.
The Carriers quoted rates include 30 minutes of waiting time. Each additional 30 minutes, or part thereof will be charged at the rate of £6.
All charges are subject to VAT at the rate prevailing at collection time.
Any credit facilities granted to the Customer can be withdrawn at the Carriers discretion at any time and any balance outstanding shall become due immediately on demand.
All queries on an invoice must be made in writing or by email within 7 days of the invoice date otherwise it will be deemed to be accepted and is payable in full by the Customer.
In the event that the Customer cancels a booking, then the Customer will be liable, and shall pay, all reasonable costs incurred by the Carrier.
E. Miscellaneous
An up to date copy of these Terms and Conditions can be found on the Carriers Website at www.sscouriers.co.uk.
The Carrier is not responsible for any discrepancies or viruses on the Website. Website facilities and offers may be withdrawn at any time.
The Customer and Consignee accepts, and is bound by these Terms and Conditions upon signing the collection/ delivery note (POD).
These Terms and Conditions are subject to English jurisdiction.
