Last week I was sent to pick up a brand new wagon which is on leasehire, it clearly stated on the paperwork that the wagon was for the company I work for but I wondered if I could ever become liable for the vehicle in the future? say if the company I work for went bankrupt or whatever.
No you can’t.
As long as your company was named as the lessee on the hire document, you were just signing as their agent to confirm the time, place, starting mileage and condition of the vehicle upon collection.
On the otherhand, if your name was on the document as the lessee, congratulations you have just become an owner operator. But I think you would have remembered getting your O licence, giving consent for the credit check and writing out the deposit cheque; so don’t worry.
What you signed was just a delivery note, although many leasing companies don’t call it that. The moral of the story is don’t sign anything which you don’t understand. If in doubt ask.
As said all you’ve signed for is to say that the vehicle has been collected and possibly that the vehicle appeared visually to be in good condition.
It’s no different to when you deliver goods and someone signs for them, they’re accepting delivery not responsibility for payment for the goods.