Taxi drivers throughout the world have a lot to contend with when it comes to running their businesses. The ever-increasing price of fuel, mechanical services and road tax insurance coverage simply acts as another obstacle for our drivers to overcome.
Although many modern insurance companies claim to be able to offer cut price premiums the truth is that it is the way that risks are approached that influences policy prices. It is no secret that taxi insurance is one of the most expensive categories on the market, causing immense problems for city cab drivers. In addition to the prominent focus on risk it is the area in which drivers practice in that also has a bearing on the premiums put forth.
Taxis are in constant use and often dealing with conditions of congestion. This is one of the many notions that contribute in the taxi drivers association with risk.
Private hire insurance however is a whole other ballpark, completely detached from the stigmas taxi drivers are connected to. Although taxi and private hire insurance may seem very similar to you and I, in the eyes of the insurer they are worlds apart. They serve as two completely different markets in which the insurance industry deals with in very separate manners.
The word that we always have to keep in mind is ‘risk’. A policy price is greatly determined by the risk factor presented to the insurers and brokers of the industry. If you are a taxi driver operating in peak hours in the busiest cities you will inevitably fall in to a higher priced insurance bracket than the privately owned wedding caroperating once a week in the countryside. In general it is safe to say that the private hire driver is at more of an advantage than your average taxi driver when it comes to policy creation.
What the insurance sector likes to hear is a narrative of consistency, knowing exactly what the driver does with his or her vehicle. With the majority of taxi driver’s work is a race, rushing to be the best in their area. This instills no faith in the policy provider, feeling worried over the thought of possible claims.
Private Hire vehicles are viewed as far less of a risk to the policy provider, mainly due to the way in which they use their vehicles for business. Where public hire taxis work purely from hailing passengers and passing trade the private hire vehicle is to be pre-booked, planned and placed into a thought-out schedule. This idea of order and organization is a great comfort to insurers when compiling the information for agreements.
This means that Private Hire Vehicle work is structured with less emergency bookings being carried out. Public taxis are infamous for encapsulating that sense of urgency, all fighting to secure the fare and get the next set of passengers in their taxi as soon as possible. With such an approach to timekeeping the possibility of an accident consequently elevates, seeing the prices of the premiums presented increasing with it.
This quick turnover of fares results in more passengers wanting to be chauffeured; thus a higher statistical risk of an accident. Although you may have implemented additional protection on your taxi this type of information takes the front seat when arranging insurance agreements.
Public hire taxi insurance is composed on the back of the driver’s behavior and traditionally the manner of the private hire chauffeur is one of patience and virtue. It is for this reason that such drivers reveal themselves as more of a stable candidate in the mind of the insurer.
