Taxi Driver Online

Cabbie’s high price for mercy mission



A WIGAN cabbie is counting the cost of a mercy dash to Germany which has left him unable to work for months.

John Hewson of Pemberton faces the prospect of losing thousands in lost revenue through his self-employed job after he failed to update his Hackney driving badge by a matter of days due to a family emergency.

“ In my whole career not once have I ever had a run in with the council or had a complaint against me and now this
John Hewson

The 64-year-old was forced to drop everything and board a flight the day before his licence needed renewing after his sister-in-law, who lives in Hockenheim, took ill.

Now Wigan Council insists John, who has worked on the roads of Wigan for more than 30 years, has to reapply for all taxi licences including CRB checks, knowledge tests and a medical, costing him hundreds.

However, John said this process has resulted in him losing his job for up to 11 weeks.

He added: “It’s really daunting and upsetting as I don’t know how I’m going to support my family as the application times could take up to 11 weeks.

“I had filled the forms out and was ready to post but my sister-in-law took ill and I had to fly to Germany the day before it was due to be renewed.

“Not only this but my wife has to have surgery and I just lost track of everything. It’s actually a lot more serious than it sounds.

“I’m gutted that I only missed the date by a matter of days and I have tried talking and have apologised to people at the council but there’s nothing they can do. I just have to go through the whole process again.

“In my whole career not once have I ever had a run in with the council or had a complaint against me and now this. It was just a simple mistake but because of this I will lose thousands, I’ve not got a clue what I’m going to do, it’s a nightmare.”

Alan Blundell, Wigan Council’s assistant director for regulation, explained the authority wrote to all 1,400 licensed taxi drivers in January last year to advise they were no longer issuing renewal reminder notices as part of a streamlining of administration processes to limit increases in licence fees.

He said: “The letter also reminded all drivers that it is their responsibility to ensure that their licence is renewed on time.

“All drivers should know when their licence is due to run out – we even print licence expiry dates on the badges which taxi drivers have to wear when they are working.

“All drivers should therefore be fully aware of the expiry date of their licence, and also of the importance of submitting a timely renewal application to us.

“Unfortunately, this taxi driver did not submit a renewal application. His licence has therefore lapsed and may not be re-instated until minimum legal requirements have been satisfactorily complied with.”

source: http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/ca ... -1-7141148

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Quote:

but there’s nothing they can do

really?

Exeter City Council v Sandle

Publisher Citation: [2011] All ER (D) 150 (May)
Court: Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court (London)
Judge: Collins J (judgment delivered extempore)

Representation Joss Ticehurst (instructed by Exeter County Council) for the authority.

The respondent did not appear and was not represented.

Judgment Dates: 16 May 2011

The Case

Road traffic Hackney carriage. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the respondent's appeal, held that a hackney carriage licence could be granted both before and after the expiry of an existing licence.


viewtopic.php?t=16814

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

council are being arsey but thems the rules if you want to play with their ball.


so many drivers/owners leave their renewals to the last minute silly silly idea get it in as soon as you can and its one less concern

If you don't get your DBS back in time here you don't get your badge.
Having said that, this is another case of why on earth did he leave it until the last minute to apply for his renewal?

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Grandad,

He had to jump on a plane and go to Germany.

The day before his badge expired. Why had he not put his application in earlier?
We get notification about 6 weeks before licenses are due for renewal. It's just my opinion but these people who always leave important things like their licenses to the last minute are probably the ones who always arrive 20 minutes late for every job.

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Grandad,

We get 6-8 weeks with our lot just to be on the safe side, excuse my sarcasm about him having to jump on a plane, I think it's a futile excuse from the driver, it was hardly his direct family who was ill was it? If it was his son or grandson who was ill then yeah I could cut him some slack but his sister in law FFS??