What are the differences between taxi insurance and regular insurance?

If you work as a taxi driver, a regular car insurance policy will not be enough to protect you, your car and your customers. You will need a specific taxi insurance policy depending on what type of taxi you drive, either a public hire or private hire taxi.

If you run a taxi business consisting of a fleet of cabs, it can be time-consuming and expensive to take out and renew individual policies for each of your vehicles, which is why taxi fleet insurance is often the best option.

In this article, we’ll cover everything from the different types of policies to how to bring your taxi insurance premiums down. As a specialist taxi insurance broker, we understand that having the right insurance policy is one of the most important considerations for you and your business.

Here is all you need to know ahead of going through the process of taking out taxi insurance.

Why ordinary car insurance won’t cover you

It’s nice to think that your regular car insurance will cover you if you want to operate your vehicle as a taxi, but the policy’s fine print will make it very clear that it won’t.

There are good reasons why it won’t cover you. You’re likely to be doing far more miles than you would ordinarily, so the risk to the insurer is greater, which is reflected in the insurance premiums. Also, you’ll be carrying passengers in your vehicle, who will also need to be accounted for in your insurance policy.

Getting caught without the correct cover can mean you lose your licence and have to pay a heavy fine as you will be deemed to be uninsured. Ultimately, this will affect your livelihood, as it could mean a period out of work.

Speak to an insurance specialist who can find you specific vehicle insurance for commercial use and, in particular, insurance that covers you when carrying passengers.

Private hire vs public hire

Your policy will be dictated by whether you drive a private hire or a public hire taxi.

Public hire taxis, or Hackney carriages are they are also known, can be hailed from the street or can wait in a taxi rank for passengers, which means you can find fares fairly easily and you can pick and choose what hours you work.

Private hire vehicles (PHV), on the other hand, must be booked by customers in advance. Therefore, you only drive when you have a fair, which might mean less flexibility as you can’t afford to choose which hours you work.

These two categories carry different levels of risk, which will be factored into your premiums along with your age, location, vehicle and annual mileage.

Why is taxi insurance expensive?

Speaking of premiums, now’s a good time to discuss why taxi insurance seems like a costly outlay. It shouldn’t come as a great surprise if you end up paying more in premiums to insure your taxi than standard car insurance. When a car is being used for business purposes, the cost of insuring it is higher than if the car is only used socially or for commuting.

You might not agree, but taxi drivers present more risks: a taxi is likely to spend a lot of its time in busy urban areas, where accidents are more likely to happen, for example.

But even if you aren’t a city dweller, you could find yourself having to pay higher premiums than you’d like because:

• You will drive more miles each year
• You will carry more passengers, increasing the risk of personal injury claims
• Some taxi cabs are larger than average cars, so will sit in a higher insurance group

How to reduce your taxi insurance premium

If you want cheaper premiums (who doesn’t?) there are a few things you can do to drive down the cost of taxi insurance:

• Pick a vehicle from a lower insurance group – When choosing your vehicle, it’s smart to pay attention to which insurance group it falls in. The higher the car’s insurance group, the more you’ll pay in insurance. However, it might not make sense to go with the cheapest option – you need to weigh that up against your level of service.

• Drive safely – it might be an obvious answer, but it works. If you drive safely without any accidents you’ll build up a no-claims bonus over several years. Many insurers will offer considerable discounts to drivers who have never made a claim.

• Gain plenty of experience – Insurers may offer cheaper premiums to those who have had their taxi badge for a significant period of time. It’s essential to build up years of safe driving to get these rewards – they can’t be earned overnight.

• Shop around – Don’t just go for the first quote you receive. It takes very little effort to shop around a bit, weighing up the cost of the insurance against the benefits included in the policy.

While premiums are likely to be higher than normal cover, it doesn’t have to break the bank - especially if you use a taxi insurance specialist like Taxi Insurer to help you find the best deal.

Request a taxi insurance quote

Our team at Taxi Insurer can arrange cover for a range of taxis and vehicles including black cabs, saloons and MPVs, for both private and public hire.

At Taxi Insurer, we do our best to you get a fair deal – we will search our panel of insurers to get you our best price for your taxi requirements.

Alongside taxi insurance we offer interest free payment plans to make your taxi insurance manageable. With protected no claims bonus available, why not see if we can save you money today?

From single vehicles to entire fleets, we do the leg work so you don’t have to.

To arrange a no-obligation taxi insurance quote, please call our team on 0121 506 2391, or complete the request form and we'll call you back at a time that's convenient for you.