Options as a taxi driver

cainkapow

I'm 29 and I've just started driving a private hire taxi for a firm in Newcastle.

At the minute I am paying £200 rental/insurance and £90 office fees for equipment etc per week.

I'm trying to look at any possible cheaper way to do it, to it seems like £200 is quite excessive and the car i have isn't the best but the company said that it was all i could get insured on.

In 2009 i was given a driving ban and a fine for drink driving so that's why i was limited to the car i could have.

Does anybody know any good/cheap/reputable taxi leasing options and also insurance companies? Maybe ones that you've dealt with before?

Thanks for any help in advance and please ask if any more details are needed

xapprenticex

I dont think you get drink driving friendly insurers tbh. I guess situations like this is part of the punishment.

That is a lot to be paying weekly though, id expect you to make that a week rather than have to pay it.

dacouch

cainkapow wrote: »

I'm 29 and I've just started driving a private hire taxi for a firm in Newcastle.

At the minute I am paying £200 rental/insurance and £90 office fees for equipment etc per week.

I'm trying to look at any possible cheaper way to do it, to it seems like £200 is quite excessive and the car i have isn't the best but the company said that it was all i could get insured on.

In 2009 i was given a driving ban and a fine for drink driving so that's why i was limited to the car i could have.

Does anybody know any good/cheap/reputable taxi leasing options and also insurance companies? Maybe ones that you've dealt with before?

Thanks for any help in advance and please ask if any more details are needed

How long was your driving ban and in which month in 2009 were you convicted.

Were you jailed for it?

The reason I ask is that Insurers normally have to ignore drink drive convictions after five years from the conviction date.

cainkapow

It was January 1st 2009.

Car insurance itself went down after 5 years but I've only been taxi driving for 2 weeks so have no idea of what a reasonable quote would be on a taxi

dacouch

Unfortunately taxi fleet owners have a certain reputation...

Have a read of this link

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/25/25-disclosure-of-spent-motoring-convictions.htm

You'll also find more information http://www.unlock.org.uk/

You should not be paying more for your drink driving conviction as it's spent (Providing you were not jailed for it).

cainkapow

No I didn't go to jail, I received a 17 month ban reduced to 13 for attending a drink driving awareness course and a 300 pound fine

Pobby

Hi and good luck with it. I did the knowledge in Plymouth and drove for a little while between businesses. £200 a week for car rental and insurance sounds pretty steep to me. Just thinking that I paid about £50 a month and, as said, your conviction is long spent. Even at about £80 a month, that would seem reasonable.

Also seems a bit pricey on the car hire. Unless it is a plated black cab. Even so, does not sound cheap.

What do you expect to earn a week?

cainkapow

On my first week before knowing where to sit at what times for more jobs I broke even, the week just passed I got 350 from Thursday, Friday, Monday (needed to take Saturday and Sunday off) I don't think there's any reason why I shouldn't get 500 at least from Thursday til Monday nights doing 7-7

Owain_Moneysaver

Insurance might drop once you get to age 30.

w211

cainkapow wrote: »

so have no idea of what a reasonable quote would be on a taxi

Around £3,000 - £4,000 a year for a newly private hire/taxi driver.

They look how long you've had your private hire/taxi driver licence for, and it will be extremely high if you're new.

Furthermore, you describe yourself as a "private hire taxi" driver.

Private hire, is pre-booked work, where you're given a time of booking (can also be ASAP) and details of the pick-up address, and usually the drop off address, from your office/control.

Taxi can also pick up work off the street from a hail or a rank (they can also do pre-booked work as above). Insurance for a taxi driver will be higher than for a private hire driver.

If you do go down the leasing route, make sure you've got a back up plan to continue the payments, in case you find the job and earnings aren't as you expected.

shortcrust

Do you mean a total of £290 per week or is the £200 monthly? I don't know anything about taxis but £15k per year sounds like a massive amount to me. Do you make any profit?