Though driving a taxi is a tough career choice and from the outset, you do not need to have just the vehicle and the knowledge but the right insurance too. Getting the wrong insurance cover can let you off the road before you even get into gear and let the handbrake off!

So, if you are searching the Online Taxi Insurance Quotesto get the right policy for your taxi, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to taxi insurance, from legal requirements to how licensing affect your insurance premiums to cut the cost of your cover.

Taxi insurance and your legal obligations

Let’s start with the rule of the law. Just like any other vehicle on UK roads, your taxi must have vehicle insurance. But keep in your mind that ordinary car insurance will not cover you if you want to operate your vehicle as a taxi. Looking at the fine print of the policy, you’ll come to know that ordinary car insurance won’t even cover you for your daily commute. So, you will need to talk to a broker who can help you find specific vehicle insurance for commercial use and, particularly, insurance that covers you when carrying passengers.

Primary and Subcategories

These are the types of “Hire and Reward” service you offer and will have a determining factor on the type of insurance you need to take out, which regulations you have to adhere to and what level of ‘risk’ your insurance provider will classify you under.

The two major types of taxi insurance are Public Hire and Private Hire that are discussed under

Public Hire

This is designed for taxi drivers where the rides are not pre-booked, and the driver accepts fares from passengers at the side of the road. For example, black cab and Hackney carriage drivers licensed to pick up passengers without prior arrangement.

Private Hire

This covers taxi drivers who are only licensed to carry pre-arranged passengers who have booked through a licensed operator. Private hire insurance does not cover drivers for ‘hailed’ fares or pick-ups that have not been pre-arranged. This includes limousines, minicabs, chauffeured vehicles and corporate pick-ups - such as airports etc.

For both categories you should be covered for the third party only, third party, fire and theft or, optimally, fully comprehensive coverage. You may also add on features such as breakdown cover, but these are not legal requirements.

How Licensing Affects Your Insurance?

Some insurance providers like Cubit Minicab Insurance ask you to provide them with the proof of your licensing agreement with your local administrative authority or council to offer you the taxi insurance quote. Or if you are operating Hackney Carriage, they will ask you about your badge number. On the other hand, if you are operating a fleet of vehicles then you will need to supply proof of a current licensing agreement to get insurance.

Licensing authorities may also require you to have public liability insurance or Third-Party Liability cover before issuing an operator’s licence.

Insurance for self-employed drivers

Depending on what type of taxi service you plan on offering, you should choose from the above categories -Private or Public Hire. However, you can add on Public Liability cover as an absolute minimum to provide your vehicle with extra coverage. You may also consider adding to your taxi insurance quote the other types of covers including personal injury, breakdown cover, loss of earnings and legal expenses cover.

Insurance for Employed Drivers

If you work for a taxi firm you will need to talk to your fleet manager about what type of insurance is offered to drivers through the company, whether they are responsible for insuring the vehicles, and whether you are covered under their Public Liability insurance. You may find that taking out your own Personal Liability cover and loss of earnings insurance is a wise move. Also ensure that if you are using a fleet car that your own private vehicle is insured under a separate, standard policy. If you are required to supply a vehicle you will need to take out Public or Private Hire accordingly.

Check Out A Comparison Website

While looking for Online Taxi Insurance Quotes, comparison websites have done a great deal that they don’t cover all the bases when it comes to insurance. It has been seen that most of the major comparison websites focus on private insurance rather than commercial insurance. Taxi insurance is classified as non-standard product’ and so many comparison websites won’t carry it because it doesn’t generate enough interest for it to be profitable for them.