Rent a wheelchair, piano or artwork

The first question is not where you rent, but whether you need to. For short-term use after surgery or an injury there is often a loan scheme through the health insurer, the municipality or a care shop; start there. What does not fit that scheme is exactly what renting is for: a weekend away, a day out, a wedding, or a visitor who is unsteady on their feet and stays once a year.

Look for what a photo does not tell you: seat width and weight, whether it folds into your boot, whether footrests and a cushion come along, and whether someone can push. Within Medical Aids you can filter on Medical certification; that is the only extra filter this category has.

A mobility scooter is a borderline case: it fits under Medical Aids and under Other Mobility Items in Vehicles & Mobility, so look in both places and ask the owner what applies in their case — Huurmarkt protection does not apply to vehicles. Where protection is switched on for a listing, the risk pool can top up damage beyond the deposit; Huurmarkt assesses every report and there is no entitlement to a pay-out. Injury to a person and damage to other people's belongings are explicitly excluded. That is a matter for your own liability insurance — ask your insurer beforehand whether it covers renting or renting out, because many private Dutch policies exclude it.

Torn between a classical and a steel-string guitar, or between a keyboard and a real piano? A month's rental is the level-headed way to find out, and you pick the start and end date yourself. A month of playing tells you more than half an hour in a shop: whether the instrument suits you, whether you make progress, and whether you still pick it up after two weeks.

Ask in the chat what comes along — a case, stand, cable or charger is listed under 'Included accessories', a field rather than a filter — and how you will transport it. A piano or grand is not a car-boot job: discuss dimensions, weight, stairs and movers before you book. Take photos at pick-up and at return, because without them the renter is liable for damage.

For anything of value, the product value the owner states is what counts. Huurmarkt protection works up to a product value of €10,000, and Huurmarkt guarantees up to €2,000 per booking or up to the current value of the item if that is lower. Where protection is on, you verify your identity or you book without protection — then only the deposit applies; separately, the owner can require ID verification themselves, and that requirement always stands.

One boundary really is specific to this category: the line between an aid and medical equipment. If the user operates it themselves — a wheelchair, rollator, crutches, a shower stool — it is an ordinary listing. If it belongs in the hands of a healthcare professional, or the device requires medical certification or a specific permit, it may only be offered if the applicable law is met. Prescription medicines, surgical and dental instruments and human material may not be offered at all.

Beyond that the same rules apply as everywhere: no live animals, no protected species or products made from them such as ivory, and nothing you are not free to dispose of — leased, financed, your employer's, or on loan. It is all in the Platform rules (in Dutch).