Taxi insurance can mean private hire taxi insurance or it can mean black taxi cab hackney carriage insurance. It more or less covers the same aspect. In this blog we will list the cheapest and the dearest taxi insurance companies in the uk. You may have noticed taxi insurance companies do not sell directly to the public. They usually have brokers who are intermediares and sell on their insurance service on a localised scale. A broker is usually a middleman but in certain aspects it can be a good thing to have a broker as he/she can search the whole insurance market with you and ensure you are getting the best deal available.
But be careful with some taxi insurance brokers. They may want to sell you the highest paying policy just to have a higher commission rate for themselves.
Taxi insurance can provide the best deals and impartial advice in the uk for taxi insurance.

The Black Cabs' history goes back to the time of horse-drawn cabs which were called Hackney Cabs. The term comes from the French word haquenee referring to the ambling horses used to pull the original Hackney Carriages. The Hackney Carriage originated in London, England in 1625. The cabs still come under some of the old rules from the horse-drawn days. The Black Cabs are the only taxis that are allowed to pick people up from the street. There are also mini cabs in London, however they can only collect someone if they have made a prior arrangement by phone.

Before a taxi driver gets his Hackney Cab Licence he or she must pass a test called 'The Knowledge'. This is a difficult test and requires the cabbie to know the streets of central London like the palm of their hand. Mini cab drivers do not need to pass this test.
The Knowledge

Taxi drivers in London undergo a demanding and arduous testing of their knowledge of the city, its daily traffic patterns and the fastest routes between locations. Estimates suggest that gathering the basic understanding needed to acquire The Knowledge involves a full-time year of study, absorbing the information provided by street maps and travelling around the city itself.

The result is that drivers of official London Hackney Cabs are renowned for their detailed and intimate knowledge of London's streets and attractions. Strangely enough, scientific study has shown that possession and expansion of The Knowledge increases the size of the anterior and posterior hippocampi of the brain - the area that handles spatial memory and spatial navigation.

Compared with baseline controls and inexperienced cabbies, long-serving taxi drivers possessed considerable more developed hippocampi.

The Vehicles

There are currently 3 makes of vehicle licensed to ply for hire in London:

LTI (London Taxis International) - FX4 taxi, Fairway taxi, Fairway Driver taxi, TX1 taxi, TX2 Taxi & TX4 taxi.
Metrocab - Series 1 Metrocab, Series 2 Metrocab, Series 3 Metrocab & TTT Metrocab.
Eco City Vehicles - Mercedes Benz Vito Taxi.
All of these vehicles have to conform to the conditions  of fitness as set out by the PCO (Public Carriage Office).

http://www.taxi-london.net/

To obtain a Hackney/Carriage licence you have to comply with a checklist. These are made available at many licensing and council offices and they can also be requested via the website. To become a taxi/hackney driver you would need prior to obtaining a cheap Taxi Insurance quotation:
Current Full British Driving Licence, Three Passport size photographs, Completed and successful Criminal Record bureau disclaimer, Current medical certificate showing clean bill of health together with the appropriate fee. They would also be asked to complete a quick multi-choice question quiz to accompany their application. This is then passed over to be checked by an official of the licensing authority who then will accept or decline the application with details on how to appeal if necessary.

Once this has been done you will then be asked to provide a taxi insurance certificate in order to put a license on your vehicle.

That’s where we at Staveley Head Ltd come in; we offer a wide range if insurance for all types of drivers whether you are a new taxi driver or be an old hand at the job. To obtain a quotation we can take details of the risk either by phone or through an internet enquiry for which an experience insurance underwriter is quickly onto this and able to search through the market to offer a policy that suits your needs and at the correct price.

Please try now to lower your cost of uk Taxi Insurance and put us to the test at the Taxi Broker Staveley Head Ltd.
 http://www.staveleyhead.co.uk/taxi/taxi-insurance-news.php?article=54

As you can see we have spent a lot of time and effort in developing a much more focused website aimed at our customers. We made sure that it was easy to navigate and simple to find out who your local agent is and to get in touch with us.

In addition we have also put a lot more information about our company and who we are as well as providing you the customer with details of our trusted and wide-ranging Taxi Insurance products.

We have over 60 years knowledge and experience behind us, we do not operate a call center - we deal with you via your local agent we believe in a local face to face way of working - and we are totally focused on the hire and reward insurance market unlike most of our competitors.

Whether you are a new or existing customer we value any opinion you have about the website or what you would like to see in the next update.

http://www.wmia.co.uk/news.php?show=m&id=1

Smart taxi fleet owners who don't want to take a risk insure through us, Markel Underwriting Managers, a subsidiary of Markel Corporation. A Company with a history of competitive pricing, prompt settlements and underwriting consistency. A company that's ranked among the top 50 Property & Casualty insurers in America. We were there for you then, we're here for you now, and we'll be there for you … for your future. 

Markel Underwriting Managers, Inc. and Markel Corporation are proud members of the Taxicab, Livery and Paratransit Association.

http://www.insurecabs.com/Pages/Default.aspx

While reforms seem to be taming New Jersey's chronically high auto insurance rates, a new problem has arisen: Owners of buses and other commercial vehicles say their bills have skyrocketed in recent years.

Bus operators large and small say that in some areas of the state, insurance rates can reach $50,000 per year and some can't get coverage at all. Minority bus owners say they have been particularly hard hit, with some being driven out of business. Cab drivers complain they pay rates that dwarf those paid by ordinary drivers.

"We're out of business," said Nate Lawson, owner of Nate's Transportation in Newark, who stopping running his own buses in 2005 after more than two decades when his premiums shot up. "We can't even buy insurance. That is total discrimination."

Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who chairs the lower house's insurance committee, is sponsoring legislation that would scale back required commercial insurance coverage to reduce rates. The bill cleared Cohen's committee last Thursday, and he announced he will hold a hearing in September on the cost of commercial insurance, and why some can't get coverage.

"There are some small companies literally going out of business," said Cohen (D-Union). "It's time to take a hard look."

Carol Katz, lobbyist for the Bus Association of New Jersey, said her members, which include large bus companies like Coach USA and Academy, estimate their average insurance costs have risen from about $12,000 per bus in 2001 to about $35,000 — just for liability and medical coverage. She said collision coverage adds another $7,500 to $15,000 per bus.

Even a cab driver in New Jersey can pay as much as $10,000 annually for full coverage, said Charley Martini, a longtime insurance executive who may form a company to sell coverage to taxi owners. They now can buy policies from only one private company and a state-run insurance pool, he said.

In contrast, insuring an automobile in New Jersey costs an average $1,185 in 2005, according to the latest available figures. Though that's still highest in the nation, the rates fell 3.3 percent because of recent reforms.

Insurance industry officials question whether rates are as high as critics claim, but acknowledge they are more expensive in New Jersey than other states because of the high population density and a legal requirement that bus owners buy broader coverage.

John Petrilli, vice president and general counsel for Lancer Insurance of Long Beach, N.Y., which insures more buses in New Jersey than any other private operator, said prices rose around 2001 but his company has charged an average of $9,300, not counting collision, over the past five years.

Katz said her members wish they could find rates that cheap.

Insurers concede many don't offer bus insurance, saying buses tend to be magnets for nuisance claims, fraud and big payouts.

"It is highly specialized and very few companies have found they can underwrite it effectively," said David Snyder, vice president of the American Insurance Association.

Some minority-owned firms feel they may be victims of racism and say they're being forced out of New Jersey. Two bus company owners, Lawson and Curtis Dukes of Irvington, recently filed civil rights complaints with the U.S. Attorney's Office contending they are being targeted because of race.

Oscar Bennett, who owns Queen City Tours Inc. of Plainfield, said he operated buses for 28 years without a major accident. From 2002 to 2005 his insurance bill went from $6,800 to $57,333 per bus. He later found cheaper insurance, but by last year, could no longer get coverage.

"Nobody would insure me. But I would match my safety record against any company in the United States," he said.

Bennett said he's already lost his house and is struggling to maintain ownership of his bus lot in Plainfield. He said he was forced to lease his vehicles to his cousin in North Carolina, where they are registered and insured — at about $7,000 per bus.

Bennett filed a complaint with the state insurance department after Lancer Insurance refused to write a policy. The insurer said they refused coverage because he violated federal transportation safety regulations and was canceled by a previous insurer for not paying his bills. Bennett said he did have trouble paying some bills after they rose so quickly, and that the safety violations were technical and minor.

New Jersey does have an "insurer of last resort" for some who cannot find policies on the open market, but its rates aren't cheap: $42,815 to insure a charter bus in Newark with 21 to 60 seats, not including physical damage coverage, according to William Rader, assistant commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance.

Unlike the private passenger market, which remained under tight state control until 2003, the commercial market has been largely deregulated since 1982.

Cohen said he is aiming at one of the rules the state does have: requiring bus owners to pay up to $250,000 of the medical bills of any driver injured in an accident.

His bill (A1973) would make injured passengers tap their own auto or health insurance policies for the first $10,000 in medical bills from a bus accident. Bus companies would have to pay any remaining costs up to $250,000. Katz said this would lower insurance costs because most medical claims are under $10,000.

Bus accidents and fatalities have fallen in New Jersey in recent years, according to federal data.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1213160739165610.xml&coll=1

Paratransit is a risk retention group, licensed and admitted in Tennessee. A risk retention group may not be subject to all of the insurance laws and regulations of your state. State insurance insolvency guaranty funds are not available for risk retention groups.

http://www.paratransitinsurance.com/default.asp

ChoiceQuote has been providing insurance cover for public and private hire taxi drivers in the UK for over 10 years.

Competitive private or public hire taxi insurance policies and first class service for any level of cover you may require.

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Personal accident and public liability cover available
Mirror no claims bonus from other motor vehicle policies

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Whatever type of taxi you operate or are looking to purchase in the near future, it's crucial that you get the best cover to suit both your budget and your needs. Our taxi insurance advisors are experienced at offering you the best cover and advice, however many years you've been driving.

We have offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow where our taxi insurance experts will look after your needs and find the right quote for you. You can also get a quote online today and let ChoiceQuote help to find a taxi insurance quote to suit your budget.

http://www.choicequote.co.uk/taxi/taxi-insurance-uk.asp

In news that may be of interest to drivers with taxi insurance, the city's council voted to keep the taxis following a consultation and council meetings.

The taxis are accessible to both able-bodied and disabled members of the public and bear signs to show they are properly licensed.

Features used inside the cars include a wheelchair retention system and a hearing loop and intercom system.

Rob Laidler, sales director at LTI Vehicles, said: "We are very proud of our professional taxi service in Liverpool and feel sure that that the public will be pleased with this decision to keep such an iconic vehicle and the benefits that it provides."

He added that the firm is also keen to work with disabled groups in Liverpool to look into how its current taxi model can be improved.

LTI Vehicles is a provider of a network of taxi dealerships.

http://www.choicequote.co.uk/news/taxi/taxi_liverpool_to_keep_taxi_fleet.asp

http://www.taxiinsuranceuk.co.uk/