What Is Taxi Insurance?

What Is Taxi Insurance And What Does It Cover?

As a taxi driver, if your vehicle is off the road following an accident then this costs you money. The longer you’re not working, the longer you’re not earning. As such it is vital that you have the right cover in place to protect you and your vehicle, to ensure you’re back up and running as quickly as possible. Whether you’re a private hire driver or public hire driver, drive a black cab or a minibus, it doesn’t matter, you still need taxi insurance. You can cover the vehicle, the driver, any passengers and members of the public and their property too – just in case you run in to some trouble!

Taxi Insurance Explained

Taxi Drivers know that the last thing they need is for their vehicle to be off the road, and their opportunity to be earning money restricted. Therefore getting the right kind of insurance is key. Insurance for taxi drivers is usually more expensive than that of a standard car policy though, mainly due to the fact that your occupation means you spend more time on the road, which statistically increases your risk of being involved in an accident; the higher the risk, the more expensive the premium. Also, the vehicles can be larger than normal cars and can carry more people, meaning they often fall into a higher insurance group, and there’s more risk of personal injury should anything happen.

There are three main types of Taxi insurance; Policy Only, Named Driver and Any Driver over a pre-determined age. Policy Only is more often than not the cheapest type of insurance and is the most basic form. You can add more names to the policy but that is when the price will start to increase. A Named Driver policy is insurance taken out by the taxi driver just for themselves. An Any Driver policy will be the most expensive because it is, as the name suggests, able to let any driver drive the vehicle as long as they fit within a predetermined criteria such as age, convictions etc.

On top of these policy types there are three levels of cover to each one. Third Party Only, Third Party, Fire & Theft and Comprehensive. Third Party Only will cover you for any damage caused by yourself to someone else’s vehicle, property or person but will not provide any cover for yourself or your vehicle. Third Party, Fire & Theft on the other hand will also cover all third parties and will also include the benefit of covering your own vehicle for damage caused by fire or if it were to be stolen. Comprehensive cover provides the most extensive protection, including all of the above but with the added benefit of covering you and your vehicle against injury/damage.

If you are self-employed and/or conducting contract work you may also wish to add Public Liability insurance to your policy. This may seem like something you don’t think you need, but consider the amount of passengers you pick up and drop off every day and then imagine how many that equates to in a year, it only takes one person to be involved in an incident that could see a successful claim rise to many thousands of pounds. This is not limited to accidents involving other vehicles either, it could be an incident within your vehicle as a result of sharp objects, for example.

So in summary, what are the basics of Taxi insurance?

• Cover For Private Hire
• Cover For Public Hire
• Cover For Chauffeuring
• Policy Only Cover
• Named Driver Cover
• Any Driver Cover
• Comprehensive Cover
• Third Party, Fire & Theft
• Third Party Only
• Replacement Plated Cabs
• Public Liability Cover

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