Ri$k Happens: Those tricky customers

The employees of one rental store have a routine they follow with every rental. They always ask their customers a series of questions including:

• What job will this equipment be used on?
• Is the ground solid?
• Is there water nearby?

One particular customer answered they were going to clear brush on their property and the ground was solid and not wet or muddy. Imagine the rental store owner’s surprise when their customer called to say the skid steer was submerged in a pond on their property and someone needed to come to get it out.

The customer wasn’t truthful when they were renting the machine and they were actually clearing brush from around their pond. The machine was towed to a repair facility and steps are being taken to mitigate the damage and determine the cost to repair.

Because customers are not always truthful, you might consider taking steps to update the wording in your contracts to protect you when rentals go awry.

Mary Ann Gormly, CERP, is a loss analyst for ARA Insurance, Overland Park, Kan. This article first appeared in Rental Pulse, Rental Management’s weekly e-newsletter, and is provided by ARA Insurance to help readers better understand and manage risk. For more information, call 800-821-6580 or visit ARAinsure.com.