Hire-Purchase Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part 4
14. Power of hirer to terminate hiring
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
The hirer of any goods comprised in a hire-purchase agreement may terminate the hiring by returning the goods to the owner during ordinary business hours at the place at which the owner ordinarily carries on business or to the place specified for that purpose in the agreement.
hirer
“hirer” means the person who takes or has taken goods from an owner under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the rights or liabilities of the hirer under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law;
Where the nature of the goods comprised in a hire-purchase agreement or the facilities available at the place or places of business of the owner or the place specified in the agreement is or are such that it would be impracticable to return the goods to such a place, the hirer may terminate the hiring by returning the goods to any place agreed to by the parties to the agreement.
goods
“goods” includes any replacement or renewal by the hirer of any part or parts thereof and any accessories added or additions made thereto by the hirer during the period of the hiring;
Where the parties fail to agree, the hirer who proposes to return the goods to the owner under this section may, subject to subsection (5), apply to a court for an order fixing the place to which the goods may be returned, and the court —
owner
“owner” means a person who lets or has let goods to a hirer under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the rights or liabilities of the owner under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law;
shall fix the place that is in its opinion reasonable having regard to all the circumstances surrounding the transaction; and
may order that, subject to the goods being returned to the owner, the hiring shall be terminated on such date as is specified in the order.
Notice of an application under subsection (3) shall be given to the owner by the hirer.
Hire-Purchase 20
When a hire-purchase agreement is terminated pursuant to this section, the owner is entitled to recover from the hirer —
hire-purchase agreement
“hire-purchase agreement” includes a letting of goods with an option to purchase and an agreement for the purchase of goods by instalments (whether the agreement describes the instalments as rent, hire or otherwise), but does not include any agreement — (a) whereby the property in the goods comprised therein passes at the time of the agreement or upon or at any time before delivery of the goods; or (b) under which the person by whom the goods are being hired or purchased is a person who is engaged in the trade or business of selling goods of the same nature or description as the goods comprised in the agreement;
the amount, if any, required to be paid in those circumstances under the agreement; or
the amount, if any, that the owner would have been entitled to recover if he had taken possession of the goods at the date of termination of the hiring, whichever is the less.
Repossession
Terms defined in s 2
goods
Defined · s 2“goods” includes any replacement or renewal by the hirer of any part or parts thereof and any accessories added or additions made thereto by the hirer during the period of the hiring;
hire-purchase agreement
Defined · s 2“hire-purchase agreement” includes a letting of goods with an option to purchase and an agreement for the purchase of goods by instalments (whether the agreement describes the instalments as rent, hire or otherwise), but does not include any agreement — (a) whereby the property in the goods comprised therein passes at the time of the agreement or upon or at any time before delivery of the goods; or (b) under which the person by whom the goods are being hired or purchased is a person who is engaged in the trade or business of selling goods of the same nature or description as the goods comprised in the agreement;
hirer
Defined · s 2“hirer” means the person who takes or has taken goods from an owner under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the rights or liabilities of the hirer under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law;
owner
Defined · s 2“owner” means a person who lets or has let goods to a hirer under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the rights or liabilities of the owner under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law;