• National Areas Covered
• Private & Public Hire
• NCB Discounts
• Competitive Prices

Taxi insurance including liability insurance for taxi and base

Find out about insurance for your taxi and liability protection for you and your passengers.

• Public and Private hire insurance, vehicles, drivers and claims
• Liability Cover - Public, Employers and Taxi Base Offices
• How to get in touch and take out cover

Who are we?

Milestone Insurance Consultants provide all types of insurance, but have become one of the UK's leading brokers giving specialist advice on cover for taxi drivers, their vehicles and businesses. We have been operating in the industry for the past 30 years providing independent and unbiased advice.

We employ a dedicated workforce of talented people, who are always happy to help in choosing the right insurance that suits you.

Information about Taxi insurance and what risks it can cover you for

Taxi insurance encompasses a diverse range of different taxi services and private hire operations in the United Kingdom, spanning single vehicles to fleets, saloons to purpose built cars and various types of private hire to public hire. Each driver has distinctive qualities and will come into contact with different types of people and situations as part of their experience.

Regardless if the vehicle is intended for private or public hire use, various levels of cover are available that secure the insured against potential risks. To help you decide on which insurance is right for you, our informative approach may help to put any fears you have to rest.

Single Vehicles

Single vehicle taxi insurance policies can insure drivers of all ages to operate one motor vehicle for public or private hire purposes.

Multiple Vehicles and Fleets

Cover is available for individuals and companies with more than one vehicle.

Types of Vehicles

The vehicle body groups used mainly as taxis feature:

• Saloons and Hatchbacks
• Black Cabs and Hackney Carriages
• Estates
• People Carriers or MPV’s
• Minibuses
• Customised Vehicles

Drivers and Proposers

Licencing authorities are responsible for the issuing of taxi badges and vehicle plates to drivers; they regulate taxi drivers and their vehicles requiring them to fit within a set of guidelines to be suitable for operating in their local area.

For a taxi driver to be elligable for insurance each one must be licenced and hold a taxi badge and the vehicle that they drive must clearly show the correct plate for the area that they are operating in.

Number of Drivers

'Driving options' describe how a vehicle is insured to be driven. Here are some examples:

• Insured only driving
• Insured and Spouse
• Insured plus One (or more)
• Insured Excluded plus One (or more)
• Any Driver

Driver Characteristics

Information such as the age of the driver, the duration they have lived in the UK, their driving licence start date, their taxi no claims bonus years, claims, conviction, medical and vehicle insurance history are all relevant when taxi insurance is concerned.

It’s important that taxi drivers are able to maintain a certain level of health and fitness to be suitable to drive a taxi vehicle. They must be and have been a United Kingdom resident for at least 3 years and own a valid driving licence that is at least 2 years old.

To be insured to drive a minibus as a UK taxi the driver must comply with additional requirements and maintain an additional level of health and fitness. The vehicle must hold PSV licence entitlement and the driver a PCV permitted driving licence.

No Claims Discount

The 'no claims bonus' typically reflects how many years a driver has been 'claims free' and depending on the bonus this allows for further discounts to the taxi insurance premium. Additional NCB protection is available with some schemes in some circumstances.

Areas of Cover

Taxi insurance features three different levels of cover, each one increasingly protects the insured against claims relating to third party damage, fire, theft damage, accidental damage, malicious damage (or vandalism) and potentially windscreen damage.

• Third Party Only - Damage to third parties
• Third Party Fire and Theft
• Comprehensive - Third party, fire, theft and accidental damages

Examples of how taxi vehicles are used

Public hire operators are the only ones allowed to display a ‘taxi’ sign on their vehicles; their drivers are legally able to pick up a customer if they are ‘flagged down’ on the side of the street or at a designated taxi rank without the need for a booking.

Private hire drivers have a much larger scope of operation when it comes to hire and reward. Within reason, any type of vehicle is allowed to operate under this line of business; they are able to transport their customers as long as a pre-booked appointment has been arranged beforehand.

However some private hire companies have contracts with third parties and local councils allowing them to provide a dedicated service to their shared customers (i.e. NHS patients, people with special needs, supermarkets and airports).

Licencing Authorities

Local authorities play a large part in regulating the operations of hire and reward firms in their territorial area. They are involved in issuing taxi plates and badges, setting limits on the numbers of public hire vehicles and enforcing safety requirements by inspecting and performing routine and spot checks on all hire vehicles. Taxi drivers are assessed for their suitability, knowledge of the area they will be operating in; their criminal background is also checked by the licencing authority.

Your Passengers

Once a passenger steps out of a taxi vehicle, the public liability portion of taxi insurance is unable to cover for risks involving the passenger. An extended public liability cover is available, it can insure passengers and their luggage outside the vehicle. Click here to find out more about Public Liability Cover.

Breakdown Cover

Vehicle breakdown cover is sometimes available through comprehensive taxi insurance policies. It ensures, in the event that the vehicle breaks down, that it can be restored to full use at no extra cost. Breakdown cover usually comes in different levels of protection:

• Roadside Assistance
• National Recovery
• Home Start or
• European Cover

Liability Cover Protection

In this context, liability cover extends beyond the protection of taxi insurance to include the public, employees at work and their employers and the business assets of a taxi base office.

Public Liability

Taxi drivers and bases come into contact with members of the public as part of their business. In the unfortunate event that a passenger is injured or their luggage and personal effects are damaged or lost whilst in the care of the taxi driver, Public Liability can cover for the cost of damages in this situation.

Employers Liability

If an employee is made ill or is injured whilst working because of an employer, the cost of legal fees, and any damages incurred, can be covered by Employers Liability.

Taxi Base Office Liability

Encompassing the entire business, taxi base office liability can cover the premises and office contents of the taxi firm. If the business has employees or has customers entering the premises then Employers Liability and Public Liability are able to be included in addition to the standard cover.

Information on available insurance schemes

We provide a number of informative brochures on the taxi insurance policies that are available to you through us. Key facts cover the main features of the insurance policy.

Policy documents give detailed information about the insurance policy. Claim forms provide a way for a client to submit information concerning a motoring incident to their insurer.

Claims and Convictions

Motoring incidents and convictions are important subjects to deal with when it comes to taxi insurance.

Types of Incident:

• Collisions range from low energy events (dents and scrapes) to high impact crashes.
• Vehicles can be subject to theft, break-ins or malicious damage for a number of different motives.
• A vehicle can be set on fire; it may have a fault, be exposed to criminal damage or be involved in an accident.
• Windscreens can be chipped or smashed in many situations.

Making a Claim

If you feel you need to let us know about or make a claim after the event of a motoring incident you can call this telephone number: 0800 027 9764. Otherwise you could click here to find out more about taxi insurance claims.

Driver Responsibility and possible Claim Outcomes

When settled, claims usually fall into two categories: “fault accident and pending claims” or “non-fault accident with full cost recovered”. Each can have an impact on the premium of a taxi insurance policy.

Motoring Offences and Convictions

Motoring convictions are the result of offences committed whilst being in charge of a motor vehicle. Endorsements and disqualifications can be applied to the offender’s driving licence as a consequence.

How to get in touch

There are a number of ways to get in touch with us, you can write to us, call our telephone number, fax us, follow us using social media or you can fill out our enquiry form. Click here to visit our contact page.