http://www.insurancechoice.co.uk/AFF02504

General notes about Private Hire & Taxi Insurance for guidance purposes only, this is not a legal document or statement:

Why do i need Taxi Insurance?

The law in this country that every motor vehicle must be insured to a minimum standard defined by the Road Traffic Act of 1988. This says that you must have insurance to cover you at least for injuries that you might cause to other people and damage to their property.

All Taxis have to be additionally insured for the “carriage of persons for hire or reward”. There are two types of use: “public hire”, normally associated with black cabs, allows clients to hail the cab and to be picked up anywhere by the roadside; “private hire” requires that the journey is arranged via a taxi office prior to the journey starting.

The Taxi licensing authorities will require sight of valid insurance documents before issuing a taxi licence plate for a vehicle.

What is insured?

In the main “third party” insurances cover you for little more than the legal requirements.

“Third party fire and theft” insurances will also cover you for damage caused to your vehicle during a theft or an attempted theft, or if your vehicle is involved in a fire. If your vehicle is not recovered following a theft, or is a total loss in a fire, the insurance company will pay you the value of your vehicle at the time of the incident.

If you have a valuable vehicle, you may want to purchase “comprehensive” insurance. This also covers damage to your own vehicle in an accident, even if the accident is your fault, and malicious damage.

What is not insured?

Please note, “Third party” type insurances do not cover you for damage to your own vehicle or property.

“Comprehensive” policies usually have an “excess”. This is an amount of money that you are responsible for if you make a claim. Suppose you make a claim for £1000 of damage. If you have an excess of £250, you will be required to pay for the first £250 of the claim and the insurer will pay the rest.

However, there will also be restrictions on what you can use your vehicle for and who may drive it. For instance, the insurance may only cover the vehicle whilst being driven by certain named drivers. Many taxi insurances will only provide cover for licenced taxi drivers, so if a spouse drives the car, he or she will not be insured unless they possess a valid taxi driver badge. This applies even if you remove the taxi licence plate from the vehicle temporarily.

In addition,vif you allow your vehicle to be driven by someone else, or used for some other purpose, it will not be insured and in fact it will be being driven illegally.