Taxi Driver Online

Hi all, im just about to get my temp permit which means ill be able to drive as a taxi driver. its a private hire not a hackney. i was just wondering what costs are involved. for e.g

1) do i need seperate insurance from the one which i already have?
2) if so, do i get that seperatly or from the operator?
3) what is the estimated weekly rent? will it include insurance?
4) how does account work work? when/how can i get my account money?
5) i have a decent/executive car, should i be fussy to which cab company i should work for?

im based in London by the way. thanks to all that can help me

Interesting.

I'm surprised you didn't sort all this out before you applied.

1) No mini cabs in London dont have insurance.
2) See above.
3) It doesn't matter what the rent is, it's how much you take.
4) You do the work, and someone else reaps the rewards.
5) Yes.

Save ya money mate.

These kinds of questions could be answered in different ways for every operator in London.

Best bet is to ask around a few that you think might be suitable and see what's on offer.

You can find out their rental and get an idea of how they handle accounts, but the big unknown is how much you work they will actually give you.

And don't just go for the lowest rental - on balance this probably means that you won't be as busy as with a higher rental, but this rule isn't hard and fast.

You won't really know what suits you best until you've tried it, so to some extent whatever you do will be a shot in the dark, but once you get a better feel for what's going on you can always change operators.

ok, so i dont need another insurance, and i should shop around to see what the rent is. I wouldnt like to work for a operator that is not busy, no one would. speaking from experience, would you guys know what day of the week is more busy than others? working days this is. i would imagine thurs, fri and sat are more busy than others, am i correct?

You'll need public liabilty insurance. talk to the boss of the office you go to. if they are any good they should be able to give you the details, or just ask another driver on their fleet.

if you work for a busy firm, every day of the week is busy. especially at this time of year in the lead up towards xmas. but obviously Fri, sat & sun are the busiest days by far.

thanks stevo, and thanks to every1 that replied, ill shop around and see what i can do.

SteveO

If you work for a cab company in the city you do lots of work in the week and have friday night, saturday night and all day Sunday off.

Guest, you do need special insurance it is called Hire or Reward. In London you will probably be looking at 4K a year for a newbie.

_________________
A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

its frightening, how little is known by people in private hire in London
the e-mail terrifies me!

and hes going to be set loose in London?

i do know my way around London, its obvious that if your new to a business that one will ask questions. Seeing that the people on here are freindly and knowledgable i thot id ask you guys first. I could ask several operators, i will soon, but i thought id get a little bit of an idea before i ask them

many of our drivers do, but personally i just work fri, sat, sun and sometime mon. more fun to be had working weekends

It's also frightening how smug some people can be.

He's not in private hire, didn't you read the post?

I suppose Mr Smart Alec knew it all from birth?

RAOTFLMFHO
i AM TAKING TO YOU AS YOU ARE VERY FUNNY

Them blokes who drive a black cab are full of information, though dont tell them you are a taxi driver you will set off a diplomatic incident!

Generaly when its busy in London its quiet everywhere else, and visa versa
you see if a chap goes to London we took him to the station hours earlier, so we are busy at 5am when you are asleep in your bunk, and at 10 am we go for our siesta when you are flying around.

just remember the following a fiver is blue a tenner is brown 20 is purple and a 50 which is most common in London is red.

if they give you a tissue bag and tell you to get yourself a drink its a tea bag and the person who hands it to you is from Sussex,

someone who hands you a tatty card, beware its a library ticket and hes from Mansfield.

someone who will tell you all the regs during the journey is from Manchester.

and if they try and sell you a bottle of spray on tan they are from Gateshead.

if they try to negotiate the fare with meat are from Halifax, and it will pay to keep a mixed grill under your seat so you can give a couple of sausage in change.

laugh and the whole world laughs with you.

read his post, he said hes in private hire not Hackney!
only he describes himself as a taxi driver.
so yes I read and understood his post.

perhaps you ought to read, then understand it

smug? yes smug I love it when the likes of you get it wrong!