Any taxi drivers out there?

dallydoolittle

Hi

My husband has been doing taxis for a couple of years now, by using the firms taxi, but he is going to be using his own car soon and putting that on as a taxi.

Can anyone recommend a good insurance company for taxis?

Many thanks in advance

Premier_2

dallydoolittle wrote: »

Hi

My husband has been doing taxis for a couple of years now, by using the firms taxi, but he is going to be using his own car soon and putting that on as a taxi.

Can anyone recommend a good insurance company for taxis?

Many thanks in advance

I would have thought his employer or fellow employees would be the best source of this information.

paddedjohn

Most firms do a group insurance for about £50/ week. Don't forget if he plates his own car then it can only be used as a taxi and can't be used by other members of the family for sdp.

davemorton

paddedjohn wrote: »

Most firms do a group insurance for about £50/ week. Don't forget if he plates his own car then it can only be used as a taxi and can't be used by other members of the family for sdp.

You sure about this??

societys_child

Unless things have changed, just need to cover or remove the signs for sdp use.

Wig

davemorton wrote: »

You sure about this??

Yes, a hackney carriage can only be driven by a licenced/insured (for that local authority) hackney driver even when outside of the local authority area......not sure about private hire cars.

There are not many taxi insurers out there

motaquote used to do it don't know if they would do it for your local authority though and I thought they went bust so I'm surprised to find them here http://www.motaquote.co.uk/
You will probably have brokers in your area who do it.

Also Westminster is another one, again not sure if they will cover all areas..... http://www.mywestminsterinsurance.com
Westminister used to give me the best quotes as they are not brokers, you are insuring direct with them.

Unless things have changed, just need to cover or remove the signs for sdp use.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. For starters removing the plate/sign may not be an easy task, the vehicle may be painted to look like a taxi. and it will still have a meter inside. Even if you could remove the plate etc it is still a licenced hackney carriage and unless you have legislation or case law to reference that says removing plates etc renders it no longer a HC.....I would think you are wrong.

The unlicenced driver would also have to get sdp insurance cover to drive it. The taxi insurance company won't give it to you. And any other run of the mill sdp insurance company will say "no" as soon as you declare the car is a licenced taxi.

paddedjohn

societys_child wrote: »

Unless things have changed, just need to cover or remove the signs for sdp use.

Once a car is plated for private hire then the owner of the vehicle would need written confirmation/permission from the council dept who deal with taxis to use the car for other use. It's been covered on here some time ago in depth.

no-oneknowsme

OP , if your Husband has any private NCB then he should contact AXA for a quote. When my Husband began taxi'ing Axa allowed him to use his 7 years on his private car as NCB on his first taxi policy , this , as you can imagine made a massive difference to his taxi policy price!

Also , although the discussion of other people not being allowed to drive a car which is plated for their own social , domestic and pleasure use HAS been done before on this board , you may find that this varies between councils.

I personally am in Northern Ireland and my Husbands car is taxi plated. I however am listed on his policy as being able to drive the car for SDP use. No where on the policy documents does it state that the plates/roof sign have to be removed!

Its not just as simple as telling the OP that only the taxi driver can drive the car...because as we discovered before there is more to it than that!!

no-oneknowsme

Sorry , should have said OP , get a quote from an insurer called DNA insurance.

They worked out very cheap for my Husband but at the end we didnt need to move as AXA matched the quote DNA had given us.

At the minuite my Husband has 2 non fault accident and more importantly 1 FAULT accident on his policy and he only pays £1023.00 per year for his insurance. This includes 12% interest for paying over the full year in installments.

dallydoolittle

Thank you everyone great advise, my husband was under the impression that no-one else could drive his car once it had become a taxi e.g. me luckily I have my own car, maybe this isn't the case after some of the replies.

No-oneknowsme yes my husband has 7 years NCB so we will look into axa many thanks.

Wig thanks very much.

passatrider

dallydoolittle wrote: »

Thank you everyone great advise, my husband was under the impression that no-one else could drive his car once it had become a taxi e.g. me luckily I have my own car, maybe this isn't the case after some of the replies.

No-oneknowsme yes my husband has 7 years NCB so we will look into axa many thanks.

Wig thanks very much.

The only persons who can drive a vehicle that is licensed as a taxi are holders of valid taxi badge holders for that area. It makes no difference whether the taxi signs are removed or not.