Due to an increase in tourism and people living away from their workplace and choosing not to drive, more people using taxis to get to work (let’s face it, who can afford a car these days?), a boom in the taxi business is being seen – and with the competition level increasing day by day, companies are buying more and more taxis to make a profit. But as the risk level is higher in the business, opting for a taxi insurance policy is a must to overcome the cost of damages caused to the vehicle. However, because of higher premiums required to get the insurance cover, many companies prefer to purchase a cheap taxi insurance policy. Many companies offer cheap taxi insurance policies, where there are fewer features available in the policy.
There are three types of taxi insurance policies available: fully comprehensive, third party and lastly, third party fire & theft. In addition to this, private hire insurance policies and public hire insurance policies are also available. Fully comprehensive insurance cover is the most expensive of all, which covers fire and theft of the third party as well damages caused to the taxi and the vehicle belonging to the third party. Third party fire & theft insurance policy is a cheap taxi insurance policy, in which one obtains insurance that covers a third party because of theft, fire or any kind of explosion.
The last type of taxi insurance, third party insurance, is the cheapest of all because with this type of insurance only the damages caused to the third party by the cab or the taxi can be claimed for. If one doesn’t have any insurance policy, one needs to have at least a simple insurance plan as, according to law, no vehicle can be on the road without having insurance cover. But the type of insurance policy chosen by a person also depends on the use of the cab. For example if a person uses the taxi full time (i.e. for commercial use as well as for personal use), they need to obtain full comprehensive cover. Moreover, the policies are different if the cab is used for private hire. As according to private hire insurance policy the cab has to be pre-booked as well as some amount of security is also to be charged.
In addition to this there are many types of discounts available on taxi insurance policies. One is the no claim bonus, where a person gets some bonuses on the premium of the policy if, in a full year, they don’t claim any damages caused to the vehicle. In order to attract more customers, taxi insurance companies keep providing offers to their clients. Moreover if the taxi company keeps a high level of security for their taxis, then they get some amount of discount on the premium of the taxi insurance policy. Better deals with lower premiums are offered to the taxis that have licences from the government than the ones that are non – licensed.

Insurance Brokers who specialise in offering cover for individual taxi insurance are not necessarily the best placed to offer you expert advice and rates for your taxi fleet insurance.
A lot more fleet insurance companies are now willing to look at taxi fleets which is great news as the old fashioned stigmas associated with taxi fleets are fast disappearing which can only be good news for all involved in the taxi trade and fleet insurance market.
To find the best provider for your taxi fleet insurance it is advisable to source a company who specialise in any other type of fleet insurance, as this will be the important expertise which is applied to your taxi fleet insurance policy.
Some of the aspects for taxi fleet insurance which need to be considered are:
The legal implications of carrying passengers for reward and hire
Policies should ideally provide cover including legal liability for death or bodily injury to any person, including passengers
Policies should also include damage to any other person’s property, including passengers
Accidental damage to the vehicle
Fire or theft of the vehicle
Malicious damage to the vehicle
Taxi fleet like other fleet insurance should cover when necessary a combination of vehicle types
In the same sense it should also be able to cover a mixture of types of cover – fully comprehensive, third party etc.
Ask about how much your excess is to avoid any nasty surprises at the time of a claim
How much taxi experience is naturally very relevant, and you will need proof of this with the length of time a taxi driver has held their taxi badge with the local authorities
Bear in mind that you can save a substantial amount of money by restricted driving on your taxi fleet insurance. The greatest savings are to be had if the taxi is restricted to one driver.
What is considered a taxi fleet varies from broker to broker a little, but the rule of thumb is normally three to five taxis and in some cases two.
Obviously running a taxi firm is challenging, time consuming and difficult at times, and it is important to have as much peace of mind as possible with your taxi fleet insurance. This way its one less thing to think about!
Ideally you will want to tick all the boxes and get yourself a cheap taxi fleet insurance, but be assured that all your requirements are covered.
Taxi fleet insurance can include private hire, public hire and contract hire taxis. You will want to consider additional public liability cover also.
One of the worst case scenarios will be in the case of an accident. You will need to feel reassured by your provider that the accident and claims procedure is on your side, and will be efficient and effective.
Choose a company who has a vast experience in dealing with taxi fleet insurance and knows exactly what you will need from your chosen fleet insurance broker. A good firm of fleet insurance specialists are more likely to be able to offer you a more competitive rate for your taxi fleet insurance.