Taxi Insurance

Being a taxi driver can be very rewarding and many people spend their careers enjoying life on the road.

But, like any career, it is something people have to be passionate about in order to go the distance – and there are ups as well as downs.

Although you must have taxi insurance to operate legally in the UK, there are other types of insurance needed to run a taxi business.

And, typically, the bigger the operation, the more cover is needed to protect staff, passengers and the entire operation.

Cancelled cabs cause frustration and inconvenience all round and taxi drivers are among those looking for a solution.

The problem is largely the result of improved technology and booking apps which let drivers and passengers know exactly how far away they are from each other.

Whether it is a holiday, wedding or heading home after a night out, people turn to taxi drivers to get them to and from events and venues safely.

Taxi drivers are the most versatile professionals on the road, never knowing where the next fare will take them.

As the cost of living continues to increase, there are steps taxi drivers can take to reduce their taxi insurance premiums.

The rising cost of domestic car insurance made headlines recently after the Association of British Insurers revealed that soaring repair costs pushed the average vehicle premium to £511 – 21% higher than this time last year.

Range is everything when it comes to EVs and is a big issue for taxi drivers every day – will they be able to take a fare wherever they want to go and what happens if they need to charge on the way?

These problems will disappear as battery technology improves and electric vehicles will be able to travel further on a single charge, which is good news for people who earn their living on the road.

As technology and innovation continue to drive the taxi industry forward, drivers and fleet owners need to make sure they have the right taxi insurance in place for the work they do.

The traditional industry model was black cabs or Hackney carriages, which required public hire insurance, and private hire vehicles or minicabs, which needed private hire insurance.

Two driverless taxi operators insist their technology is safe as their cabs continue to be rolled out across one city, despite concerns raised by the emergency services.

Cruise and Waymo have been operating trials with driverless taxis in San Francisco in a bid to increase the number of autonomous taxis on the streets.

There are times when fleet taxi insurance is a better option for taxi companies than taking out public hire insurance or private hire insurance for individual drivers.

A fleet usually includes five or more vehicles used for either private or public hire and can include a mixture of cars and vans. This gives them the flexibility to be able to cater for all types of fares from short trips to longer trips.

An illegal taxi driver who picked up fares across Liverpool city centre was asked ‘was it worth it?’ after being banned and fined hundreds of pounds.

The Liverpool Echo reports that Liverpool City Council officers observed Mruan Elkehya posing as both a private hire driver and public hire driver over a period of two months.

Over the past 18 months, Just Stop Oil protesters have brought roads across the UK to a standstill with a variety of demonstrations.

These have included gluing themselves to roads in towns and cities to block traffic, protests on motorways causing huge disruption, as well as slow marches through London which hold up traffic.

There have been calls for national taxi legislation to ensure standards across the UK, as well as closing loopholes that benefit some taxi drivers over others.

One of the biggest issues has been legislation which allows taxi licences to be issued by one authority while the driver is actually operating in another. A consequence of this loophole has been that some drivers have benefitted from some licensing authorities charging different fees.