AAA Couriers (the "Company") accepts goods for carriage and other services subject to the Standard Terms and Conditions set out below (these "Conditions").
The company reserves the right to unilaterally modify or supplement the services and these conditions.
- Definitions and interpretation
- General conditions
- Parties and subcontracting
- Goods not accepted for carriage or storage
- Customer warranty
- Loading and unloading
- Transit and unclaimed goods and undelivered goods
- Payment and charges
- Account services
- Liability for loss damage and delay
- Claims for compensation
- Customers indemnity
- Our right to keep and dispose of your goods
- Proof of delivery
- Performance
- Waiver
- Severability
- Governing law and jurisdiction
1.1 DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
In these conditions the following expressions shall have the following meaning except where the context otherwise requires:
(a)"The Carrier" means AAA Couriers.
(b) "You/your" means you the customer with whom we contract to provide services for collecting, storing, transporting and delivering your goods under these conditions.
(c) "Your goods" means any documents or items of any tangible property, including containers and packaging, consigned by the Customer from one address to another.
(d) "Post" means any letter, printed matter, parcel, packet goods or other articles transmittable by post.
(e) "Customer" means any individual, firm, body corporate, unincorporated association, or any other body who consigns Goods as aforesaid and includes the Customer's servants or agents.
(f) "Services" means services for consolidation, collecting, storing, transporting and delivering your goods under these conditions
(g) "Contract" means the contract of carriage or other services between the Customer and the Company into which these Conditions shall be deemed to be incorporated.
(h) "Consignee" means the person to whom the Consignment is addressed.
(i) "Consignment" means goods contained in one parcel or any number of separate parcels or goods on a pallet or any number of pallets sent at one time in one load by and for the same Customer from one address or to one address.
(j) "Dangerous Goods" means goods included in the list of Dangerous Goods as defined in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 as amended by the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2011, the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2009, including any other relevant legislation or regulations together with any amendments thereto, or means goods which present a comparable hazard.
(k) "Territorial Limits" means anywhere including the sea crossings between England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Eire.
(l) Unless we state in writing, when we refer to "domestic" services we mean our services within the United Kingdom and when we refer to "International" services we mean our services outside the United Kingdom.
(m) When we use words "writing" or "written" in these conditions, this will include e-mail unless we say otherwise.
1.2 INTERPRETATION
(a) A person includes a natural person, corporate or unincorporated body (whether or not having separate legal personality);
(b) A reference to a party includes its personal representatives, successors or permitted assigns;
(c) A reference to a statute or statutory provision is a reference to such statute or statutory provision as amended or re-enacted. A reference to a statute or statutory provision includes any subordinate legislation made under that statute or statutory provision, as amended or re-enacted;
(d) Any phrase introduced by the terms including, include, in particular or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding those terms;
(e) A reference to writing or written includes faxes but does not include e-mails, unless expressly stated otherwise.
2. GENERAL CONDITIONS
(a) The Company agrees, subject to the Customer's compliance at all times with these Conditions, to carry Consignments agreed by the Company and the Customer, or to store goods in a building occupied by the Company, or to provide other services as agreed by the Company and the Customer.
(b) The Company is not a common carrier which means that it may refuse to carry the Customer's goods at its discretion. The Company will accept goods for carriage only on these Conditions.
(c) These Conditions apply to the exclusion of any other terms that the Customer seeks to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing.
(d) The Customer shall be deemed to have notice of and accepts these Conditions if and as soon as he places an order with, or accepts a tender from, the Company for the carriage of goods or other services.
(e) The Customer acknowledges that it has not relied on any statement, promise or representation made or given by or on behalf of the Company which is not set out in the Contract.
(f) The Company reserves the right, at its discretion, to inspect all Consignments to check that such Consignments are not dangerous and are capable of carriage to the country of destination within the Company's standard procedures, customs, declarations and handling methods and in compliance with all laws.
3. PARTIES AND SUBCONTRACTING
(a) Where the Customer is not the owner of some or all of the goods stored or carried, the Customer shall be deemed for all purposes to be the agent of the owner or owners and that if any other person has an interest in the goods the Customer is acting as his fully authorised agent.
(b) The Company may subcontract all or any part of its business to another carrier to fulfil the Contract. Any such carrier shall be entitled to sub-contract and these Conditions shall apply to such carriers on like terms.
4. GOODS NOT ACCEPTED FOR CARRIAGE OR STORAGE
(a) The Company shall not accept certain goods for carriage or storage, including, but not limited to, any of the following goods:
(i) Firearms, tobacco products, jewellery (including watches), cash, glass or any articles (or part of them) that are made up of glass, porcelain, earthenware or other similar materials, body parts or human remains, living or dead animals, fish or birds, or any living organism of any type (including trees and plants) and frozen or perishable food; or
(ii) Any goods prohibited by the law or regulation of any government or public or local authority of any country where the goods are carried; or iv. any goods which require temperature controlled transport; unless such notice has been given in writing, the Company shall have no liability whatsoever, including losses arising from negligent acts of the Company, in respect of them.
(b) The Company may impose additional restrictions depending upon destination of delivery and the service being provided. The Customer acknowledges that regulatory and custom clearances may be required for certain goods, which may extend the transit time and may delay delivery.
(c) The Company reserves the right to reject Consignments for reasons of security or safety.
5. CUSTOMER WARRANTY
The Customer warrants, undertakes and represents that:
(i) The Customer promises that the consignment will be sufficiently securely and properly packed and labelled, will be fit and safe to be carried or stored, and will comply with all statutory or other regulations for carriage by road, air, rail or sea, and for mechanical handling and sorting as may be in force or use from time to time.
(ii) the labelling on the Consignment includes the full postcode or zip code of the person or company sending the package and the Consignee;
(iii) the goods comprised in any Consignment are not subject to any licences, permits, certificates, restrictions, or anti-dumping or countervailing laws or regulation;
(iv) the Customer warrants that the Goods do not comprise or include weapons, ammunition, controlled drugs (within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 or any statutory amendment of or substitute for that Act), industrial chemicals, unlawful, noxious, dangerous, hazardous, inflammable or explosive items of any kind, or any items which may not otherwise be collected, carried, stored or otherwise possessed, delivered, imported or exported into or from any country, region or place without declaration, licence or other permission from any statutory or regulatory body.
(v) all plant, power or labour required by the Company is available for loading and unloading any Consignment at any collection or delivery point specified by the Customer or recipient; and
(vi) it will inform the Consignee of the delivery details of the Consignment. The Company may impose a charge upon the Customer for each or any wasted journey made in attempting to deliver the goods.
6. LOADING AND UNLOADING
(a) When we collect goods from, or deliver them to any premises, we or our contractor do not have to provide any necessary equipment or machinery other than that already in the vehicle, or to provide any necessary power or labour other than the driver collecting your goods. It is your responsibility to make such arrangements prior to us agreeing to carry the goods. If we consider that more than one person is required to load or unload your goods we may decline to carry your goods if you have not provided the necessary assistance.
(b) If we or our sub contractor provide help beyond usual loading or unloading procedures, this is at your own risk. This means that you will be responsible for paying and protecting us and our contractors from any claim or demand (including, legal costs) which could not have been made if that help had not been given.
(c) If we agree to carry goods which need special appliances for loading or unloading them, you must arrange for the necessary appliances to be available. If we need to load or unload such goods, we will not be liable for any damage arising from the loading or unloading, however caused, so long as we take reasonable care in doing this. You will be responsible for and will protect us and our contractors from any claim or demand arising from that damage.
7. TRANSIT AND UNCLAIMED GOODS AND UNDELIVERED GOODS
(a) Transit commences when the Carrier takes possession of the Consignment, whether at the Carrier's premises or at some other point of collection.
(b) Where a Consignment cannot be delivered (for whatever reason) or is held by the Carrier to await order or further instructions and such instructions are not given or the Consignment cannot be redelivered within 48 hours, then transit shall be deemed to end at the expiry of such time.
(c) The Carrier shall be entitled to recover its charges in full for any delivery, which is unsuccessful due to incorrect or inadequate information provided by the customer and in addition recover any expenses or losses it suffered or incurred in attempting to effect delivery.
(d) The customer understands and accepts that the Carrier shall be entitled to open and examine any Consignment that the Carrier reasonably considers to be a security or health and safety risk to the Carrier and to take, at its sole discretion, such appropriate action thereafter.
(e) Where the Carrier is unable to effect delivery as requested by the customer when making a Booking, or where transit has come to an end, the Carrier shall use its reasonable endeavours to notify the customer and the Consignee of any undelivered or unclaimed Consignment. Unless the Consignment is collected from the Carrier by the customer, or instructions are given for the disposal, onward carriage or return to the customer of the Consignment, within 7 days of such notice being given (or such other time as the Carrier may nominate), title to the Consignment shall transfer to the Carrier and the Carrier may destroy or sell the Consignment as if it were the absolute owner. Where a Consignment is returned to the customer by the Carrier or a customer arranges for the onward carriage and delivery of the Consignment by the Carrier (excluding any return to the customer), that return or onward carriage (as the case may be) shall be at the customer's sole cost and expense and shall be charged to the customer (and the customer shall pay) at the Carrier's standard rates from time to time in force.
(f) Where the Carrier sells the Consignment to a third party pursuant , the Carrier shall use its reasonable endeavours to obtain a reasonable price for the Consignment and shall apply the proceeds of sale to the payment of all its proper expenses and charges suffered or incurred in relation to the carriage, storage and sale or disposal of the Consignment. Any proceeds left over shall be paid to the customer upon which the Carrier shall be discharged from all liability in respect of the Consignment. Where the proceeds of sale do not meet or exceed the total value of the Carrier's expenses and changes, charge the customer (and the customer shall pay) a sum equal to the shortfall.
8. PAYMENT AND CHARGES
(a) The Company's charges for carriage and other services shall be payable by the Customer; however, the Company shall also have the right to demand and obtain payment from the sender (if different from the Customer) or the Consignee, or from any other person who may be liable to pay the charges.
(b) The price quoted to the Customer at the time of making the Booking shall be calculated on the journey specified by the Customer at the time of Booking (the "Quoted Journey"). The price quoted by us shall be based upon our chosen route between the Collection Address and the Customer's destination (via any other pick-up points or drop-off points stated by the Customer at the time of making the Booking).
(c) Payment of the Company's charges is due no later than the date specified on the Company's invoice/statement or such other period as may be expressly agreed with the Customer in writing. If any payment is overdue then, without prejudice to the Company's other rights and remedies, the Customer shall pay interest on the overdue amount (whether before or after judgment) at the statutory rate of interest payable on late payments from time to time, such interest to accrue on a daily basis, from the due date for payment until payment is made in full.
All credit accounts are invoiced monthly with statements being rendered monthly and are subject to payment within 30 days of the invoice date. If payment is late, we reserve the right to claim interest, compensation and other reasonable costs.
lf any sums owed by the Customer on any invoice or account with the Company become overdue for payment then:
- any credit terms shall be cancelled with immediate effect.
- the company will be entitled to invoice all charges incurred which have not yet been invoiced; and
- all invoices or accounts issued by the Company shall immediately be deemed due for payment and therefore become payable.
The company shall be entitled at any time and from time to time to increase the Company's charges for carriage or other services by giving the customer not less than 7 days prior written notice to accord with increases in relevant costs of the Company's business including but not limited to, fuel and congestion charges.
All amounts payable by the Customer are subject to Value Added Tax which shall be charged at the applicable rate.
8.1 WAITING
In relation to collection from any customer(s), we will allow 20 minutes waiting time starting from the estimated arrival time to the customers premises, or the time which has been specified by the customer. We reserve the right to charge the Customer a waiting time fee for any time involved waiting/loading/unloading thereof at £30.00 per hour.
9. ACCOUNT SERVICES
(a) We may, at any time, set a limit on the total credit given to any Customer at any one time and we shall not be obliged to provide Account Services once that limit has been reached. Any such limit shall be notified to the Customer in writing by us.
(b) Any dispute in respect of the Charges shall be submitted, in writing, within 14 days of receipt by the Customer of the relevant invoice.
(c) When an Account is terminated, by any means whatsoever, the Customer shall pay to us all outstanding Charges which are owed to us as at the date of termination.
10. LIABILITY FOR LOSS DAMAGE AND DELAY
(a) The Carrier shall not be liable for any delayed or non-performance or any loss or damage where liability would otherwise arise caused by:
(i) any act of God including fire, adverse weather conditions, fuel shortages and power failures;
(ii) any war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, insurrection, or military usurpation of governmental power, confiscation, requisition, destruction of, or damage to property;
(iii) any riots, civil commotion, strikes, lockouts, general or partial stoppage or restraint of labour from whatever causes;
(iv) any hijacking, robbery or other criminal action;
(v) any seizure under legal process;
(vi) any act or omission of the Customer or those for whom he contracts or of the servants or agents of either;
(vii) any inherent liability to wastage in bulk or weight, latent defect or inherent vice or natural deterioration of the Goods;
(viii) the inadequate or improper packing of the whole or part of the Goods, unless it is previously agreed between the Customer and the Carrier that the Carrier shall undertake such packing;
(ix) the insufficient or incorrect labelling or addressing of the Goods, unless it is previously arranged between the Customer and the Carrier that the Carrier shall undertake such labelling;
(x) the addressee of the Goods not accepting delivery within 28 days of service on the Customer of the Carrier's notice of non-delivery;
(xi) any marine risks;
(xii) the acts or omissions of any independent contractor in any manner whatsoever where caused by any breach by the Customer of these Conditions and where so caused the relief of the Carrier from liability aforesaid shall be without prejudice to any claims the Carrier may have against the Customer therefore.
b) Nothing in these Conditions shall limit or exclude the Company's liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or the negligence of its employees, agents or subcontractors, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for any other matter which is unlawful to exclude or limit liability.
11. CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION
(a) The Customer must notify the Company of any loss or damage giving rise to a claim within 14 days of the date of despatch. The Customer should confirm any loss or damage by notice in writing within 28 days of the date of despatch. If the Customer fails to do so, the Company shall not be liable for any loss or damage, save and except where the Customer proves that:
(i) It was not reasonably possible for the Customer to advise the Company or make such claim in writing within the time limit applicable; and
(ii) such advice or claim was made within a reasonable time.
(b) In the event of a claim for damage, the Customer must ensure that the Consignment and its packaging is held for inspection at a location within the United Kingdom.
(c) Where the Company is liable for the repair of any damage, then the cost of labour is excluded from repairs and such labour costs are payable by the Customer.
(d) A payment of any claim by the Company shall be in full and final settlement of such claim.
12. CUSTOMERS INDEMNITY
The Customer shall indemnify the Company against all liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and losses (including but not limited to any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of reputation and all interest, penalties and legal costs (calculated on a full indemnity basis) and all other reasonable professional costs and expenses) suffered or incurred by the Company arising out of or in connection with:
(a) any negligent act, negligent omission, negligent misdirection or negligent misstatement by the Customer, sender or Consignee, its servants or agents;
(b) claims of any nature for loss or damage resulting from the carriage of Dangerous Goods
(c) claims and demands of any nature in respect of loss of or damage to the goods made by the Customer and/or any third party additional to or in excess of the limits of liability of the Company set out in these Conditions;
(d) any claims made or penalties imposed by the HM Revenue & Customs or equivalent in overseas jurisdictions;
(e) claims and demands made by any third party attributable to lack of authority on the part of the Customer to enter into the Contract upon these Conditions;
(f) any inaccurate or false information supplied to the Company by the Customer which relates to the Customer and/or the goods comprised in any Consignment;
(g) the Customer's unreasonable detention of vehicles, containers, sheets, pallets and like equipment;
(h) any claim being made by any third party against the Company in respect of loss of or damage to the goods or in respect of any conversion of or interference with the goods.
13. OUR RIGHT TO KEEP AND DISPOSE OF YOUR GOODS
(a) We have legal rights to keep the goods we are carrying for you until you pay us all money due to us in connection with the goods and any other money you owe us.
(b) If you do not pay us any money you owe us within one calendar month of us giving you notice that we are keeping hold of your goods, we may sell the goods as we choose. After we have taken our costs of selling the goods, we will put any remaining proceeds towards any amount due to us. This does not affect our right to recover any amount remaining from you.
(c) We can also dispose of the goods by selling or disposing of them in any other way we consider suitable if:
(i) your goods (or part of them) have perished, deteriorated or altered, or are likely to do so in the immediate future;
(ii) we have not been able to deliver your goods and we have held your goods for 10 days;
(iii) we have made reasonable efforts to contact anyone who could reasonably have an interest in your goods; or
(iv) we have been unable to identify the owner of the goods.
(d) When we ask, you must immediately pay us all our costs, charges and expenses for storing and disposing of the goods or any part
of them.
(e) We will give you credit for any amount left from the proceeds of us selling your goods after we have taken any amounts you owe us and any of our costs, charges or expenses.
(f) If we have already settled a claim you have made for lost goods which are then found, we can dispose of those goods as we see fit and keep the proceeds.
(g) The rights set out in this clause are in addition to any other legal rights we may have. Our liability shall not exceed £100,000 in aggregate in respect of all claims howsoever arising under this agreement.
(h) In no circumstances will we have any liability for:
any loss of or damage to profit, turnover, income, goodwill, expected savings, information (or data) or use; or
any indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind such as, but not limited to any interest, costs, extra charges or costs of repackaging and resending your goods and so on.
(i) We will not be liable to you for any damage to your goods, any loss of or from your goods, or any other loss you suffer that is caused by, or contributed to by, any or all of the following:
(i) you breaking any of these conditions.
(ii) your goods needing special handling which you had not told us about and we had not agreed to.
(iii) natural loss of bulk or weight, a hidden or built-in fault, or natural wear and tear or loss of value.
(iv) your failure to correctly package any goods.
(v) your or anyone else's criminal activities.
(vi) circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
(vii) seizure or forfeiture under legal process.
14. PROOF OF DELIVERY
(a) Each delivery of Goods shall be accompanied by a delivery note which shows the date of the delivery and any other relevant information. Upon delivery of the Goods, the Customer, having had a reasonable opportunity to inspect the Goods, shall sign the delivery note as confirmation that the Goods have been delivered and that no damage has been caused to the Goods in transit. Where the Customer believes that the Goods have been damaged, the Customer should inform us without delay.
(b) The Company will require a recipient of a Consignment to sign as proof of delivery of the Consignment. Any record of the recipient's signature obtained by the Company shall be conclusive evidence of the delivery of Consignments (including the quantity of such Consignments) comprised in the Consignment.
15. PERFORMANCE
The Company shall be relieved of its obligation to perform the Contract to the extent that performance is prevented or delayed by a failure or delay by the Customer to perform any obligations under these Conditions and causes beyond the reasonable control of the Company including but not limited to any force majeure event meaning an event beyond the reasonable control of the Company, including seizure under a legal process, consequence of war, invasion, act of foreign enemy hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, requisition, destruction of or damage to property, extreme weather conditions, compliance with any law, or order of any government or public or local authority, riots, civil commotion, strikes, lockouts, general or partial stoppage or restraint of labour from whatever cause, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, fire, flood, storm or default of suppliers or subcontractors, pressure waves caused by aircraft or other aerial devices travelling at sonic or supersonic speeds, the direct or indirect effect of ionising radiations or contamination by radioactivity and, for the avoidance of any doubt, the Company's charges shall be payable in full in such circumstances, without prejudice to the Company's rights at common law to treat the Contract as frustrated.
16. WAIVER
Any failure by the Company to enforce or apply any provision of these Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that provision and shall not otherwise remove or reduce the Company's right to enforce that provision.
17. SEVERABILITY
If any of these conditions or any part is held to be invalid for any purpose, it shall for that purpose be deemed to have been omitted, but shall not prejudice the effectiveness of the rest of these Conditions.
18. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
The Contract and these Conditions shall in all respects be subject to and construed in accordance with English Law and the parties to the Contract hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England.
