Taxi Driver Online

advertorial but some interesting info with Brighton in at number 15

https://yourherefordshire.co.uk/all/news/news-hereford-is-reportedly-one-of-the-cheapest-cities-in-the-uk-to-become-a-taxi-driver-according-to-a-new-study/

The taxi insurance experts at Zego have examined several administration costs that are required when setting up as a taxi driver in each UK city.

Startup factors include the average cost taxi insurance, initial cost of a DBS certificate, average cost of a taxi licensing fee (for three years) and the average cost of petrol per litre.



London tops the study as the most expensive UK city for taxi drivers, with an average set up price of £1,856, which doesn’t include any actual vehicle costs.


The average annual cost of taxi insurance in London is £1,542 – which is the cheapest quote the experts found. A licensing fee for a taxi driver for three years in London is around £261.55.

Wakefield is the second most expensive city in the study, with a total startup cost of around £1,828and a cost of around £642 for a three-year taxi licensing fee. The average price of petrol per litre in Wakefield is £140.

In third place is Bradford, costing a total £1,714 to start up as a registered taxi driver. The cheapest taxi insurance quote found in Bradford for a taxi driver is £1,471, and a three-year licensing fee is £199.

The top ten is rounded out by Coventry, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Luton, Southampton, Manchester and Wigan.


The cheapest UK city to become a taxi driver is Inverness in Scotland, with an average total startup cost of around £853

Hereford is also amongst the cheapest cities for setting up, with an annual taxi insurance cost of around £708.

Sten Saar, CEO of Zego, has commented on the research:

“Today taxi drivers are an essential part of society, transporting members of the public daily.

“It is no surprise that London tops the study, being the capital city of the UK and even declared the fourth most expensive city in the world. The total average initial startup for a taxi driver in London is around £1,856 – and that’s without purchasing a vehicle.


“Taxi insurance is a broad term that can be applied to insurance for private hire vehicles, black cabs and Uber drivers, and it is important a taxi driver knows which one is most suitable for them.

“Private hire insurance provides cover for licensed drivers who carry pre-booked passengers in return for payment. Private hire insurance is sometimes called taxi insurance, minibus insurance or PCO insurance, specifically for people who drive passengers for a living.

“It is important to be aware that your standard motor insurance (known as social, domestic and pleasure), does not cover this type of business activity.

“Public liability insurance is also recommended for taxi drivers, as it provides protection for claims against the driver. Normally this is for circumstances such as if a passenger suffers a personal injury or damage to their property while either in, entering or leaving the taxi. In this case it will cover you against any legal or compensation claims.

“In recent times, taxi drivers have felt the brunt of inflation across the UK, therefore will are looking for ways to reduce their outgoings – and there are several ways to do so.”

Below, experts at Zego have shared five top tips on how taxi drivers can reduce their outgoings:

1. Fuel efficiency

Maintaining efficient driving habits can significantly reduce your fuel consumption. By accelerating smoothly, maintaining a steady speed, planning your routes to minimize mileage and avoid unnecessary idling, you will notice the difference in your fuel spending.


2. Regular vehicle maintenance

The one thing that will stump a lot of motorists in general is not regularly maintaining their vehicle for failures to occur further down the line.

Therefore, to help you avoid costly repairs in the long run, follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule, check tyre pressure regularly, and keep up with oil changes and other essential services.

3. Familiarise yourself with tax deductions

As a taxi driver, there are tax deductions specific to your profession.

Therefore, it is recommended you keep track of all your expenses related to your business/vehicle such as fuel costs, vehicle maintenance, insurance premiums, etc.

Consult with a tax professional to make sure you are taking advantage of all eligible deductions.

4. Shop around for insurance

Always shop around for the best insurance deals and don’t just automatically renew with the same provider without checking elsewhere.

Look for policies that offer the coverage you need at the most affordable rates.

5. Ditch the ‘dead miles’

Dead miles are what will increase your fuel consumption the most.

Try to minimize you idling time by avoiding prolonged periods of hovering or diversions that waste fuel.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Not sure I trust any surveys coming from insurers.

And as for Wakefield just being behind (the 3-year knowledge test) London doesn't bode well for its accuracy.

But I suppose it does help the insurer spread its name.

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IDFIMH

It would be interesting to pick some of these number apart, but can't be bothered, and couldn't find anything when I looked for the source document or report a couple of days ago.

But, for example, there's no such thing as a DBS certificate in Scotland, so it's not entirely clear what the Scottish figures for that actually refer to.

As for the insurance figures, does anyone actually believe that the average policy in the likes of Edinburgh costs £923?

And even if it was the average, it certainly can't be representative of the cost for new drivers, so surely a flaw in the methodology there?

Another obvious flaw is that the CEO uses the t-word generically, so the insurance figure must be an amalgam of private and public hire insurance, or wot?

But, of course, it's all part of a sales pitch, so it helps that the cost of insurance is portrayed as a lot lower than it actually is

I presume there is some sort of vetting procedure such as a police check involved during the licencing process and the cost for that is quoted which appears to be considerably cheaper than the England councils; especially Luton (£82 for a DBS )




the problem is an insurance company is probably the only organisation that could get access to such commercially sensitive data

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Yes, Edders, I think the Scottish equivalent to the DBS stuff is called Disclosure Scotland.

But, in Fife at least, it all goes on under the bonnet, and our application stuff just says that applicants will be checked with Police Scotland, and I'm not sure to what extent Disclosure Scotland is involved with that.

And, more to the point, there's no separate fee for us in Fife, so there's just a single figure for the application fee.

Which was one reason I wanted to see the full documentation used by Zego - to see what figures they used for Fife.

But they must have spent a lot of time collating the various figures for the 350 or so UK licensing authorities. Equally, I'd guess it would be easy to pick holes in the figures if anyone was so inclined

And, of course, it's effectively impossible to scrutinise the figures for insurance premiums, for reasons of commercial sensitivity that you state. But they just don't ring true to me, particularly since the figures are aimed at new drivers.

Anyway, from what I can see Zego hasn't managed to generate much in the way of local publicity (searching online, at least), so to that extent as a sales pitch it hasn't been particularly successful. Then again, I've no idea what metric they use to measure the success of such marketing initiative anyway

I doubt they did that I think they probably just did about 50 to 100 cities not the rural districts

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

You could be right, Edders, and it may just be a sample of towns and cities. But the piece certainly gives the impression that the study includes every licensing area.

However, although the fact that the CEO uses the t-word generically may not be relevant, I'm beginning to think that the study is only about PHVs.

He says 'taxi insurance' includes PHVs, black cabs and Uber drivers, and to that extent I assumed the study was about both HCs and PHVs.

But it looks like they actually only insure PHVs (although they have a separate category for Uber, but it's not clear what the difference is), so to that extent how could the insurance policy cost include HCs? As you said, commercial confidentiality would preclude them from getting figures for HCs...

And they certainly use the t-word liberally on their website with regard to PHVs. But looking at this below, even assuming the figures have any merit, is it any wonder that the public and many in the trade are confused about the t-word?


Anyway, at the very least I suspect the numbers in the article lack, er, statistical rigour

But, of course, the press will just faithfully rehash it all, including the t-word.

(Although, online at least, it looks like only a few local press sources and the specialist insurance and fleet car press have bothered with it.)