Hire purchase

Hire purchase (abbreviated (HP) this is an arrangement whereby a customer acquires an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g. 40% of the total) and repays the other part of the cost of the asset over a period of time or term for a contract, in which a purchaser agrees to pay for goods in parts or a percentage over a number of months. In Canada and the United States, a hire purchase is termed an installment plan although these may differ slightly as in a hire purchase agreement the ownership of the good remains with the seller until the last payment is made. Other analogous practices are described as closed-end leasing or rent to own.

The hire purchase agreement was developed in the United Kingdom in the 19th century to allow customers with a cash shortage to make an expensive purchase they otherwise would have to delay or forgo. For example, in cases where a buyer cannot afford to pay the asked price for an item of property as a lump sum but can afford to pay a percentage as a deposit, a hire-purchase contract allows the buyer to hire the goods for a monthly rent. When a sum equal to the original full price plus interest has been paid in equal installments, the buyer may then exercise an option to buy the goods at a predetermined price (usually a nominal sum) or return the goods to the owner.

If the buyer defaults in paying the installments, the owner may repossess the goods, a vendor protection not available with unsecured-consumer-credit systems. HP is frequently advantageous to consumers because it spreads the cost of expensive items over an extended time period. Business consumers may find the different balance sheet and taxation treatment of hire-purchased goods beneficial to their taxable income. The need for HP is reduced when consumers have collateral or other forms of credit readily available.

These contracts are most commonly used for items such as car and high value electrical goods where the purchasers are unable to pay for the goods directly.

To be valid, HP agreements must be in writing and signed by both [parties].They must clearly lay out the following information in a print that all can read without effort:

If the seller has the resources and the legal right to sell the goods on credit (which usually depends on a licensing system in most countries), the seller and the owner will be the same person. But most sellers prefer to receive a cash payment immediately. To achieve this, the seller transfers ownership of the goods to a Finance Company, usually at a discounted price, and it is this company that hires and sells the goods to the buyer. This introduction of a third party complicates the transaction. Suppose that the seller makes false claims as to the quality and reliability of the goods that induce the buyer to "buy". In a conventional contract of sale, the seller will be liable to the buyer if these representations prove false. But, in this instance, the seller who makes the representation is not the owner who sells the goods to the buyer only after all the installments have been paid. To combat this, some jurisdictions, including Ireland, make the seller and the finance house jointly and severally liable to answer for breaches of the purchase contract.

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