What insurance do I need as a new taxi driver?

November 5th, 2014

As a taxi driver, it is crucial that you have the right insurance in place to ensure that you are covered in the event of an accident. Not only that, but it is the law that ‘every vehicle used for hire and reward must have adequate and appropriate taxi insurance ‘– as defined by the Road Traffic Act of 1988. Taxi insurance is a type of insurance targeted specifically for taxi drivers and whilst it is more costly than a personal car policy, a standard vehicle policy is not enough to cover you for the high costs an incident may result in.

There are three different types of private hire taxi insurance; ‘Policy only’, ‘named driver’ and ‘any driver over any age’. The latter is the most expensive type of policy, which covers not only you but any other named drivers you wish to add. The type of insurance you decide to go with will depend largely on whether you wish to have additional drivers to your insurance.

If you own a taxi company and have more than one vehicle, it may be worth considering a ‘taxi fleet’ policy. This type of policy can be more cost effective and save you the time and hassle of insuring your vehicles individually, as it places all of your vehicles under one insurance scheme.

Taxi Liability insurance is another type of policy, which some licensing authorities do require you to have. This type of insurance covers you in the event of an incident which occurs outside the vehicle, for example whilst opening the door for your passenger or carrying luggage. Whilst this type of insurance may seem like an unnecessary cost, accidents outside the taxi do happen and could cost you thousands if your passenger decided to make a claim.

The level of cover taxi insurance offers is split into the same three categories as car insurance; ‘third party only’, ‘third party fire and theft’ and ‘fully comprehensive.’ As with car insurance, the ‘fully comprehensive’ option is the most recommended – due to the higher level of cover.

Taxi Choice Insurance are a specialist taxi broker with an expert taxi team and a vast panel of insurers. For more information or to get a quote, call 0333 200 0089

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