Taxi Driver Online

Risk and Gamble are exactly the same thing, to take a risk is to gamble.
How do Bookies, Casinos stay in business that is pure gamble by your definition and yet they profit year after year. Insurance companies gamble that you will die before they pay out more in pension than you put in. You do not understand a thing about risk and probabillity.
You have moved the goal posts again on the original question, you are now talking about borrowing £50k, that is a different proposition from using redundancy money to fund future income. How can you have a sensible debate if you keep changing the question to fit you answer.
The question is what business can you buy for £25K that is comparable to a taxi ?
20 years ago the banks would not lend against a plate, as you said "it has no value in law" you had to have some other collateral, a house or endowment policy etc. and no bank will lend you money to buy property unless you have an income to repay the loan. The whole bank manager scenario is a crock. Banks use a credit scoring system they don't care what the money is for, they lend to those that are the most likely to pay back, amounts over £10k are covered by bad debt insurance that the bank takes out and the borrower pays for. Insurance companies, the stock market, bond markets, commodities its all gambling. Banks cannot leave the money in the vaults doing nothing, inflation will eat away at it, the same with the £25k redundency money, where else could you buy an income of level you would get from working a taxi for that sort of money.
JD your thinking is almost as bad as "sussex" but for the opposite reason.

Taxi are or were in effect nationalised, the operators do not control the fares, the vehicle spec etc. Taxis operate under license. The only difference is that it is at a local level.

OFT must have given you a different report to the rest of us becuase it says nothing of the sort.
Not a member of the T&G are you?

Fares aren't controlled as you seem to be saying. Drivers can and do apply for rises. If they dont get them they can appeal to the courts.
But how many cab drivers apart from the idiots in Hartlepool work in areas that they think the fares are too cheap.
Most I come across are quite happy with the fares they receive.
I thought OFT wanted to be rid of fare controls. But everyone hated that idea.
You cant have it both ways.

Look at the table that lists numbers of PH and Hackneys add that together then add the number in dereg areas in every case on the list the number of Hacks went up and the PH's went down overall there were less vehicles available, its there in the report. If I had a copy to hand I would give you the page number, but I can't be bothered to get it out the file.
Not a member of DENSA are you ?

If there is going to be less cabs after dereg, then what the f*** have we got to worry about?

If cabs numbers go down then I'm from the planet Zog.

If you take a long term view then you would have less to worry about.
The industry is desperatley short of drivers now, who is going to drive the extra vehicles ?
Most people are worried about the value of their plate especially if they paid thousands for it, but that is peanuts compared to the income from a cab over your working life.
Get things in proportion. Look deeper into the possibilities and ignore knee-jerk panic.

I assume planet Zog is defecient in oxygen as you seem to have impaired brain function.
Cab numbers increase but PH's decline that was the findings of the survey and as no-one has disputed the figuers I assume they are correct.
Why not do some reseach reading whilst sat waiting for a fare instead of whinging and whinning with all the other no-hopers. Educate yourself out of the deadpool take charge of your future.

If dereg is so certain and so iminent why arn't there hundreds of plates for sale. Why arn't all these sages of wisdom selling their plates ready for the mass issue of freebies.
None are prepared to put their money where their mouth is.
TD says currenly £50k would just about buy a plate in his area, but says only a fool would buy one. How does that work, why hasn't he sold his even at £25k it would all be profit when the LA de-limits. I wish I had a pound for every time an owner tells me plates are worthless but would not lets theirs go for less than £20k.
Has anyone ever known a taxi driver admit he's had a great night and earnt bundles, no the best night of his life and he'd say it was OK. But the bad nights they never stop telling you about them.

If i sold my plate to someone for 50 grand and then they dereged, i would spend every day waiting for someone to stick a knife in me.
Do someone for a tenner and it might get forgot.
50 grand and it wont.

I thought I had already explained my opinion of calculated risk against a pure Gamble.
If it didn’t register then I can’t be held responsible for that.



I wasn’t aware I had brought Casinos and Bookmakers into the argument but if you are referring that both those gaming industries are a pure Gamble then you obviously don’t know how those industries operate.

I do know how they “operate” and I would never class them as a gamble. So even though you yourself are of the opinion that a Calculated risk and a Gamble are the very same, please don’t infer that I share your opinion because I certainly do not.

If you want an education on how the Gaming industry works I would be more than happy to
Enlighten you. Your inference that they are a Gamble just highlights your lack of understanding of Bookmakers and Casinos.



Where do you get these crazy ideas from? lol

Insurance companies use risk assessment, this risk assessment takes many forms, too numerous to mention but at the end of the day it comes down to probabilities. The probabilities of my house being broken into or me having an accident or the plane I am travelling in crashing, or the likelihood of my house flooding or falling down. They take a calculated risk no matter what policy is taken out, whether it be life insurance, car insurance or whatever, the higher the risk factor equals a higher premium. It’s as simple as that.

In insurance everything is calculated, nothing is left to chance. That’s why the odds are in their favour. Insurance companies know that a certain percentage of losses will occur each year, they fix their percentages accordingly, its all a percentage game, same as Bookmaking and Casinos but I suppose all that is a little over your head.



Wasn’t it you who mentioned 50K did you not say the following statement?



If it was meant to read something different then you should have said so at the time. If you make a statement like the one you made above, you can only expect us mere mortals to respond to what is actually written.



What I actually said was that over 20 years ago some banks would take into account the plate being an asset; indeed here in Manchester many plates were bought through financiers on the strength of the Value of the plate and not by having to re-mortgage their home. All that changed after 1986 when the 85 act became law.

It would appear that you have a fairytale notion that Banks lend out large amounts of money to any Tom Dick or Harry without security. You will be able to get a small unsecured loan of ten grand or so on the basis that you are credit worthy but when it comes down to a self employed cabbie borrowing 50k on an unsecured loan then I’m afraid you don’t know very much about Banks and their criteria for lending.

The first thing they will look at is your income and your job status. They have to be satisfied that you are earning enough money to repay the loan, they also have to be satisfied that the job you are doing satisfies their lending criteria. They will look into your bank account details to see how it has been run over a period of time and then they will let you know if your unsecured loan application has been successful. If you want to go to a private lender and bypass the bank you can do it over the phone, they will access your credit worthiness and tell you within five minutes if you’re successful. But don’t hold your breath.

Finally you mention redundancy money. Why you never mentioned this before I don’t know. But tell me; in what locality will this mythical person invest his 25 grand? Have you found a restricted area where cabs and plates are being sold for 25 grand? Do all those wishing to buy a Cab and plate for 25k have to pull up stumps and migrate there? Can you assure us that this locality will not deregulate this year next year or anytime in the near future. If it does can those that invested their 25k come to you for compensation because of your miscalculated reasoning? I am very much looking forward to your advice as to where prospective owners can buy a cab and plate for 25k.

In the present climate why would a person wish to speculate 25 grand on a plate when they can jockey for someone else or drive their own car on private hire? The earnings are comparable.


Best wishes

JD

I thought I had already explained my opinion of calculated risk against a pure Gamble. If it didn’t register then I can’t be held responsible for that.



I wasn’t aware I had brought Casinos and Bookmakers into the argument but if you are referring that both those gaming industries are a pure Gamble then you obviously don’t know how those industries operate.

I do know how they “operate” and I would never class them as a gamble. So even though you yourself are of the opinion that a Calculated risk and a Gamble are the very same, please don’t infer that I share your opinion because I certainly do not.

If you want an education on how the Gaming industry works I would be more than happy to
Enlighten you. Your inference that they are a Gamble just highlights your lack of understanding of Bookmakers and Casinos.



Where do you get these crazy ideas from? lol

Insurance companies use risk assessment, this risk assessment takes many forms, too numerous to mention but at the end of the day it comes down to probabilities. The probabilities of my house being broken into or me having an accident or the plane I am travelling in crashing, or the likelihood of my house flooding or falling down. They take a calculated risk no matter what policy is taken out, whether it be life insurance, car insurance or whatever, the higher the risk factor equals a higher premium. It’s as simple as that.

In insurance everything is calculated, nothing is left to chance. That’s why the odds are in their favour. Insurance companies know that a certain percentage of losses will occur each year, they fix their percentages accordingly, its all a percentage game, same as Bookmaking and Casinos but I suppose all that is a little over your head.



Wasn’t it you who mentioned 50K did you not say the following statement?



If it was meant to read something different then you should have said so at the time. If you make a statement like the one you made above, you can only expect us mere mortals to respond to what is actually written.



What I actually said was that over 20 years ago some banks would take into account the plate being an asset; indeed here in Manchester many plates were bought through financiers on the strength of the Value of the plate and not by having to re-mortgage their home. All that changed after 1986 when the 85 act became law.

It would appear that you have a fairytale notion that Banks lend out large amounts of money to any Tom Dick or Harry without security. You will be able to get a small unsecured loan of ten grand or so on the basis that you are credit worthy but when it comes down to a self employed cabbie borrowing 50k on an unsecured loan then I’m afraid you don’t know very much about Banks and their criteria for lending.

The first thing they will look at is your income and your job status. They have to be satisfied that you are earning enough money to repay the loan, they also have to be satisfied that the job you are doing satisfies their lending criteria. They will look into your bank account details to see how it has been run over a period of time and then they will let you know if your unsecured loan application has been successful. If you want to go to a private lender and bypass the bank you can do it over the phone, they will access your credit worthiness and tell you within five minutes if you’re successful. But don’t hold your breath.

Finally you mention redundancy money. Why you never mentioned this before I don’t know. But tell me; in what locality will this mythical person invest his 25 grand? Have you found a restricted area where cabs and plates are being sold for 25 grand? Do all those wishing to buy a Cab and plate for 25k have to pull up stumps and migrate there? Can you assure us that this locality will not deregulate this year next year or anytime in the near future. If it does can those that invested their 25k come to you for compensation because of your miscalculated reasoning? I am very much looking forward to your advice as to where prospective owners can buy a cab and plate for 25k.

In the present climate why would a person wish to speculate 25 grand on a plate when they can jockey for someone else or drive their own car on private hire? The earnings are more or less comparable.


Best wishes

JD

So If I bought a property for 30 grand 24 years ago and it is now worth 300 grand, in your estimation there has been no real gain. If I let that property out for x amount of pounds each month over that 24 year period you are saying there has been no income?

You should re evaluate your thinking. Investing in property and re letting is far more commercially sound than speculating large amounts of money in a Taxi License plate.

I bought my plate for job security not as a long term investment. It has stood me in good stead for many years and it owes me nothing. However, you can travel twelve miles down the road and you can get a plate for free. I have a very good friend who actually owns his own vehicle in an unrestricted area and I can assure you he is making as much if not more than me at weekends.

Nowadays, buying a plate for 50 grand and thinking that the 50 grand is as safe as houses is complete and utter fantasy. Times have changed and they will keep on changing.

Sussex has a slogan at the end of his posts, which says “Not long now” I don’t know how long it will be before the whole of England and Wales is De restricted but eventually it will come, if you don’t believe it will ever come in your lifetime then it is understandable why you take the stance that you do. However, for those of us who have a slightly different crystal ball than yourself we think it is inevitable.



I think your trying to pick my brains now lol

I have an ex cab driver friend who went into the shoe business, he speculated a thousand pounds and ended up doubling his money; he has never looked back since that day. He now makes a very decent living from selling shoes and he wouldn’t entertain coming back into the Cab Game. He didn’t have to part with no 50 grand. I have another friend who went into the spectacle frames business he did the same thing. Bought A thousand pounds of frames wholesale and he also more than doubled his money. So you don’t need a large amount of money to make a decent living all you need is a little bit of imagination and a lot of get up and go.


I have a couple of friends who twenty years ago went into the Estate agent business, at the time they new nothing at all about the business or indeed property markets but they were very good salesmen.

They rented a shop on the main highway and started selling and letting property mainly houses. So from knowing nothing about property management they instantly became Estate agents. From there they grew the business and they are now both millionaires. There is nothing stopping you doing the same.

Has that information given you a little incentive to branch out on your own and apply yourself to something other than driving people from A to B?

Best wishes

JD

Reply.
Either you don't read my posts fully or you are diliberately distorting what I have said and then rewriting the same thing in your own words.
The main point I made was that you buy a plate to secure an income not for growth. That is clear in my post but you have recycled it as your own thoughts.
The original question was from someone thinking about buying a plate with redundacy money, not borrowing as you distorted it.
Why have'nt you sold your plate if you are so certain and doing other than driving people from A to B.
Your example of buying a house for income is another crock, the comparison is as stupid as buying a plate and not driving.
What do you expect to gain from dereg ? You are so keen to see it happen I assume you will benefit from it.