Terms and Conditions
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE AND SERVICES
AD003 v3.0 | Effective 25 August 2026
Effective date. These terms apply to Contracts formed on or after 25 August 2026.
WHO THESE TERMS COVER
Business Customers. Companies, partnerships, sole traders and other customers buying wholly or mainly for business use, including approved credit-account customers.
Consumers. Individuals buying wholly or mainly for personal use, whether at the trade counter, by telephone or by another distance method.
Important. How the Customer pays - cash, card, bank transfer or an approved credit account - does not by itself decide whether the Customer is a Business Customer or a Consumer.
CUSTOMER-FACING LINKS
Terms page: hinch-hyd.co.uk/terms-and-conditions
Privacy policy: hinch-hyd.co.uk/privacy-policy
Cookie policy: hinch-hyd.co.uk/cookie-policy
Legal notice: hinch-hyd.co.uk/legal-notice
Website: hinch-hyd.co.uk
Consumer rights. Nothing in these terms limits a Consumer's statutory rights. If a Consumer term conflicts with a mandatory legal right, the mandatory right applies.
1. Definitions and interpretation
1.2 "Company", "HHL", "we", "us" or "our" means Hinchliffe Hydraulics Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 03968174, with its registered office at 66-68 Oswald Road, Scunthorpe DN15 7PG and trading address at East Common Lane, Scunthorpe DN16 1AZ.
1.3 "Consumer" means an individual acting wholly or mainly for purposes outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession.
1.4 "Contract" means the contract between HHL and the Customer for the supply of Goods and/or Services.
1.5 "Customer", "you" or "your" means the person or organisation buying Goods and/or Services from HHL.
1.6 "Goods" means any products, components, parts, hose assemblies, pumps, machinery, equipment or other items supplied by HHL, including items supplied as part of Services.
1.7 "Services" means any inspection, testing, repair, refurbishment, installation, commissioning, maintenance, design, fabrication or other services supplied by HHL.
1.8 "Site" means the place where Goods are delivered or Services are performed. "Writing" includes email.
2. Application of these terms
2.1 These terms apply to all quotations, orders, counter sales, telephone sales, Goods and Services supplied by HHL unless HHL agrees different terms in Writing.
2.2 The Customer must be given a reasonable opportunity to read these terms before the Contract is made. A reference to these terms on an invoice alone may be too late, so HHL will also make them available with quotations, order acknowledgements, at the counter and during the telephone-order process.
2.3 Clauses expressly marked "Business Customers only" apply only to Business Customers. Clauses expressly marked "Consumers" apply only to Consumers. If there is a conflict, a Consumer-specific clause takes priority for a Consumer.
2.4 Business Customers only: any terms submitted by the Customer are excluded unless HHL expressly accepts them in Writing. Consumers are not bound by any term that is unfair or not properly brought to their attention.
2.5 No employee or agent may vary these terms unless authorised by HHL and the variation is confirmed in Writing.
3. Quotations, orders and contract formation
3.1 A quotation is an invitation to place an order and is not an offer. Unless the quotation says otherwise, it expires 30 days after its date and may be withdrawn before HHL accepts the order.
3.2 A Contract is formed when HHL confirms the order in Writing, begins work or production, dispatches the Goods, or supplies the Goods or Services, whichever happens first. For a counter sale, the Contract is normally formed when payment is taken and the Goods are supplied.
3.3 For telephone orders, HHL will confirm the main terms before accepting the order and will provide the Contract information in a form the Customer can keep, normally by email or on paper. Clause 11 contains additional rights for Consumers.
3.4 The Customer must check the order acknowledgement and promptly tell HHL about any error. HHL is not required to accept a change after the Contract is formed.
4. Specifications, descriptions and advice
4.1 Descriptions, drawings, dimensions, illustrations and performance figures are general guidance unless expressly incorporated into the quotation or order acknowledgement.
4.2 HHL may make a change that is required by law, safety requirements or technical necessity, or that does not materially reduce the quality, function or performance of the Goods or Services. A material change for a Consumer requires the Consumer's agreement.
4.3 The Customer is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of any drawing, specification, sample, measurement, part number, duty information or other information it supplies.
4.4 The Customer should not rely on technical advice unless the relevant operating conditions and intended use have been accurately explained to HHL. Nothing in this clause excludes liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
5. Prices, VAT and additional charges
5.1 Prices are in pounds sterling. For Business Customers, VAT and any delivery, packaging, travel, accommodation, testing, certification or similar charge are additional unless the quotation says they are included.
5.2 For Consumers, HHL will state the total price including VAT and any mandatory delivery or other charge before the Contract is made, so far as the total can reasonably be calculated.
5.3 If the Customer changes the scope, quantity, specification, delivery arrangement or timing, HHL may revise the price and programme. HHL will obtain the Consumer's agreement before making a material price change.
5.4 Where a price cannot reasonably be fixed in advance, HHL will explain how it will be calculated. Any estimate is prepared in good faith but is not a fixed quotation unless expressly stated.
6. Payment
6.1 Approved Business credit accounts: payment is due 30 days net from the invoice date. A different payment period applies only if HHL agrees it in Writing for the relevant account or Contract. Credit facilities are subject to approval and may be reduced, suspended or withdrawn on reasonable notice, or immediately where payment is overdue or credit risk materially changes.
6.2 Customers without an approved Business credit account must pay before collection, delivery or commencement of the Services, unless the quotation or order acknowledgement states another arrangement. HHL may require a deposit or payment in stages for special-order, bespoke or project work.
6.3 Business Customers only: all sums are payable without set-off, counterclaim, deduction or withholding except where required by law. HHL may suspend further supply while any undisputed amount is overdue.
6.4 Business Customers only: HHL may claim statutory interest, fixed compensation and reasonable recovery costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, as amended. Statutory interest is currently 8% above the Bank of England base rate.
6.5 A payment method does not determine customer status. A private individual paying cash for a telephone order may still be a Consumer, while a sole trader paying cash for business use may be a Business Customer.
7. Delivery, collection, performance and risk
7.1 Any date or period is an estimate unless HHL expressly agrees in Writing that it is fixed. HHL will use reasonable efforts to meet an agreed date and will notify the Customer of a material delay.
7.2 HHL may deliver or perform in reasonable stages. Each stage may be invoiced separately where the quotation or order acknowledgement provides for staged supply.
7.3 Consumers: risk in Goods passes when the Consumer, or a person nominated by the Consumer other than the carrier, takes physical possession. HHL will deliver within the agreed period or, if none is agreed, within the period required by law.
7.4 Business Customers only: risk in Goods passes when the Goods are unloaded at the delivery address, collected from HHL, or made available for collection and the Customer fails to collect them after reasonable notice.
7.5 If the Customer prevents delivery or performance, HHL may store the Goods, charge reasonable additional costs after notice, and reschedule the Services. A Consumer will only be charged costs that were properly disclosed or reasonably caused by the Consumer's breach.
8. Customer responsibilities and site safety
8.1 The Customer must give HHL accurate and timely instructions, specifications, access arrangements and contact details, and obtain any permissions needed for delivery or performance.
8.2 Where Services are carried out at a Site, the Customer must provide safe access and working conditions, disclose hazards and contamination, isolate equipment where appropriate, and provide any Site-specific safety information and permits reasonably required.
8.3 The Customer is responsible for ensuring that any equipment on which HHL is asked to work is owned by the Customer or that the Customer has authority to instruct the work.
8.4 HHL may stop work if it reasonably considers conditions unsafe. The Customer is responsible for reasonable additional cost and delay caused by inaccurate information, unsafe conditions or a failure to provide agreed access, except to the extent caused by HHL.
9. Title to Goods - Business Customers only
9.1 Title to Goods does not pass to a Business Customer until HHL has received payment in full for those Goods and all amounts due under the relevant Contract.
9.2 Until title passes, the Business Customer must keep the Goods identifiable as HHL's property, store them safely, keep them insured for their full value and not pledge or grant security over them.
9.3 If payment becomes overdue or the Contract is validly terminated, HHL may require return of Goods to which it retains title. If the Business Customer does not return them promptly, HHL may enter business premises at a reasonable time to recover them, but only where lawful and without using force.
9.4 Consumers: title passes in accordance with the Contract and applicable law. This clause does not alter the Consumer risk rule in clause 7.
10. Inspection, defects, warranties and returns
10.1 Consumers: Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for any purpose made known to HHL and as described, and Services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. The Consumer's statutory remedies are not limited by a manufacturer's warranty or by these terms.
10.2 Consumers buying at the counter do not normally have an automatic right to return non-faulty Goods simply because they change their mind, unless HHL agrees a goodwill return. This does not affect rights where Goods are faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose.
10.3 Business Customers only: the Customer must inspect Goods promptly and notify HHL in Writing of an apparent shortage, transit damage or defect within 10 days of delivery, and of a latent defect promptly after it becomes reasonably discoverable.
10.4 The Customer must give HHL a reasonable opportunity to inspect an alleged defect and, where reasonable, retain the Goods and relevant packaging pending inspection. No return may be made without HHL's return authorisation, except where a Consumer has a statutory right to return.
10.5 Where HHL is responsible for a defect, HHL will provide the remedy required by law. For a Business Customer, HHL may choose to repair, replace, reperform or refund the affected Goods or Services, subject to clause 15.
10.6 HHL is not responsible for a fault caused by fair wear and tear, accident, misuse, contamination, incorrect storage, unauthorised alteration or repair, or installation or operation contrary to instructions, except where HHL is legally responsible.
11. Consumer telephone and other distance orders
11.1 This clause applies where a Consumer Contract is concluded exclusively by telephone, online, by email or by another distance method without the simultaneous physical presence of HHL and the Consumer. It does not apply merely because a Business Customer orders by telephone.
11.2 Before the order is placed, HHL will provide the information required by law, including the main characteristics, total price, payment and delivery arrangements, HHL's identity and address, complaint contact details, cancellation rights and any applicable exception. HHL will then provide confirmation on paper, by email or in another form the Consumer can keep, no later than delivery of the Goods or before the Services begin.
11.3 Goods: the Consumer will normally have 14 days from the day after the Consumer, or a person nominated by the Consumer, receives the Goods to tell HHL that they wish to cancel without giving a reason. The Consumer then normally has a further 14 days to return the Goods.
11.4 Services: the Consumer will normally have 14 days from the day after the Contract is made to cancel. If the Consumer expressly asks HHL to begin during that period and then cancels, the Consumer must pay a reasonable amount for Services supplied up to cancellation. The right to cancel may be lost once the Services are fully performed, but only where the Consumer expressly requested early performance and acknowledged this consequence.
11.5 To cancel, the Consumer must make a clear statement by email to accounts@hinch-hyd.co.uk, by post to East Common Lane, Scunthorpe DN16 1AZ, or by using the model cancellation form in Appendix A. Use of the form is optional.
11.6 HHL will make any refund due within the legal time limit. For Goods, HHL may withhold the refund until it receives the Goods back or the Consumer provides evidence of return. HHL may reduce the refund for handling beyond what is reasonably permitted in a shop and will refund only the standard delivery cost where the Consumer chose a more expensive method.
11.7 The Consumer is responsible for the direct cost of returning cancelled Goods if HHL told the Consumer of that responsibility before the Contract. HHL will explain the return method for Goods that cannot normally be returned by post.
11.8 The change-of-mind cancellation right does not normally apply to Goods made to the Consumer's specification or clearly personalised, which may include a hose assembly or component made to a unique specification. This exception does not affect rights if the Goods are faulty, misdescribed or not fit for that purpose.
12. Inspections, repairs and refurbishment
12.1 A quotation may include a minimum inspection or diagnostic fee. If clearly stated before the Contract, that fee is payable for the inspection even if the Customer decides not to proceed with repair or refurbishment.
12.2 HHL will not carry out material work beyond an agreed quotation or authorised limit without the Customer's approval. If further work becomes necessary, HHL will explain the reason and obtain approval before proceeding, except for action reasonably required to make equipment safe.
12.3 The Customer must disclose any hazardous substance, stored pressure, contamination, dangerous condition or unusual service history that may affect safe handling or work. HHL may charge reasonable decontamination or safety costs that were disclosed or caused by inaccurate information.
12.4 Customer-owned Goods remain the Customer's property. HHL will take reasonable care of them while in its possession but is not responsible for inherent defects, ordinary deterioration or loss caused by matters outside HHL's reasonable control, subject to clause 15 and Consumer rights.
12.5 Unless the Customer tells HHL in Writing when placing the order that it requires any removed, replaced, damaged or redundant Customer-owned Goods or parts to be returned, the Customer authorises HHL, once the replacement Goods have been manufactured or the relevant Services completed, to retain, reuse, recycle or dispose of them. Ownership passes to HHL at that point and no scrap-value allowance is due unless agreed in Writing.
12.6 HHL will make this default clear before the Contract is made. Goods identified for return will be made available once the relevant charges have been paid, subject to reasonable collection or delivery arrangements and any legal or safety restriction.
13. Storage, lien and uncollected Goods
13.1 When Goods are ready for collection, HHL will notify the Customer. If they are not collected within the stated period, HHL may give further Written notice and charge a reasonable storage rate disclosed in that notice.
13.2 Business Customers only: HHL has a lien over Customer-owned Goods in its possession for amounts properly due in connection with those Goods and, to the extent lawful, other amounts due from the Business Customer. HHL may retain the Goods until payment.
13.3 If Goods remain uncollected, HHL may exercise any right to sell or dispose of them under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 or other applicable law. HHL will first give the notice required by law, allow a reasonable collection period and take reasonable steps to obtain a fair value where a sale is appropriate.
13.4 HHL may deduct properly due charges and reasonable sale, disposal and storage costs from the proceeds and will account to the Customer for any balance. No clause permits HHL to scrap valuable Customer Goods without the notice and process required by law.
14. Cancellation by Business Customers
14.1 A Business Customer may cancel or change an accepted order only with HHL's Written agreement. HHL may require payment for work completed, Goods made or ordered, supplier cancellation or restocking charges, and other reasonable loss directly caused by the cancellation, including lost profit where legally recoverable.
14.2 HHL will take reasonable steps to mitigate its loss. This clause does not apply to a Consumer exercising a statutory cancellation or other legal right.
15. Liability
15.1 Nothing in the Contract excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of title, defective products where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
15.2 Consumers: HHL is responsible for loss or damage that is a foreseeable result of HHL's breach or failure to use reasonable care and skill. HHL is not responsible for business losses suffered by a Consumer because the Consumer used Goods or Services for business purposes.
15.3 Business Customers only: subject to clause 15.1, HHL is not liable for loss of profit, revenue, business, contracts, anticipated savings, goodwill, production or use, or for indirect or consequential loss.
15.4 Business Customers only: subject to clause 15.1, HHL's total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with a Contract will not exceed the total charges paid or payable under that Contract.
15.5 HHL is not liable to the extent loss is caused by the Customer's inaccurate specification, misuse, failure to follow instructions, unauthorised alteration, or failure to take reasonable steps to reduce the loss.
16. Intellectual property and Customer materials - Business Customers only
16.1 Each party retains ownership of intellectual property it owned before the Contract. HHL retains intellectual property in its drawings, methods, designs and documents unless the Contract expressly transfers it.
16.2 The Business Customer warrants that HHL may use any drawing, design, data or specification supplied by the Customer for the Contract. The Customer will indemnify HHL against a third-party intellectual-property claim caused by HHL following that material, except to the extent caused by HHL's own change or misuse.
17. Events outside reasonable control
17.1 Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by an event outside its reasonable control, including severe weather, fire, flood, epidemic, war, civil disturbance, industrial dispute not limited to its own workforce, transport interruption, utility failure, cyber incident or supplier failure that could not reasonably be avoided.
17.2 The affected party must notify the other, take reasonable steps to reduce the effect and resume performance as soon as reasonably possible. Payment obligations for Goods or Services already supplied are not suspended.
17.3 If the event continues for more than 60 days and materially prevents performance, either party may terminate the affected part of the Contract by Written notice. Consumer rights relating to delayed delivery remain unaffected.
18. Suspension and termination
18.1 HHL may suspend supply or terminate a Contract by Written notice if the Customer commits a material breach and, where the breach can be remedied, fails to remedy it within a reasonable period stated in the notice.
18.2 Business Customers only: HHL may suspend or terminate immediately if the Customer is unable to pay debts when due, enters an insolvency process, ceases or threatens to cease business, or HHL reasonably believes payment is at serious risk, subject to any restriction imposed by insolvency law.
18.3 On termination, sums due for Goods or Services already supplied and reasonable committed costs become payable. Rights and obligations intended to continue, including payment, title, liability, data protection and governing law, survive termination.
19. Data protection
19.1 HHL will process personal data for quotations, account administration, order fulfilment, delivery, credit control, legal compliance and related business purposes in accordance with applicable data-protection law and its Privacy Policy.
19.2 The Privacy Policy is available at hinch-hyd.co.uk/privacy-policy. The Legal Notice is available at hinch-hyd.co.uk/legal-notice. The Cookie Policy is available at hinch-hyd.co.uk/cookie-policy.
20. Notices and contact details
20.1 A formal notice under the Contract must be in Writing and delivered by hand, by prepaid first-class or next-working-day post, or by email to the address or email address stated in the quotation, order acknowledgement or most recent Written contact details.
20.2 A notice is treated as received: if delivered by hand, when left at the correct address; if posted, at 9:00am on the second Business Day after posting; and if emailed, when sent without a delivery-failure message, provided that an email sent outside 9:00am to 5:00pm on a Business Day is treated as received at 9:00am on the next Business Day.
20.3 HHL contact details: East Common Lane, Scunthorpe DN16 1AZ; telephone 01724 281180; email accounts@hinch-hyd.co.uk; website hinch-hyd.co.uk.
21. General
21.1 Business Customers only: the Customer may not assign or transfer the Contract without HHL's prior Written consent. HHL may assign the Contract as part of a business transfer or to an associated company, provided this does not reduce a Consumer's rights.
21.2 No person other than HHL and the Customer has a right to enforce the Contract under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
21.3 If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it will be treated as modified to the minimum extent necessary, or deleted if modification is not possible, without affecting the remaining provisions.
21.4 A delay or failure to exercise a right is not a waiver. A waiver on one occasion does not waive the right on another occasion.
21.5 The quotation, order acknowledgement, these terms and any document expressly incorporated into the Contract form the entire agreement. Nothing in this clause excludes fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, and it does not remove a Consumer's statutory rights.
22. Governing law and jurisdiction
22.1 The Contract and any dispute or claim arising from it are governed by the law of England and Wales.
22.2 Business Customers only: the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
22.3 Consumers: the Consumer may bring proceedings in the courts available under applicable consumer law, including the courts of the part of the United Kingdom where the Consumer lives where the law permits.