Taxi Driver Online

Colleague in CRT got stopped by the cops yesterday and told he was driving an uninsured hackney and that he'll be the one facing a £200 fine and 6 points on licence. Naturally, he was bemused and angry.

Seems the owner (a non-driver) had been paying the previous owner (the guy he bought it from) the premiums by cheque and the guy was paying them on his behalf from his account while the transfer of ownership went through. However, seems the former owner had stopped paying the premiums a couple of months back hence the taxi showing up on cop checks.

Gutted for the driver, who showed the cops the insurance cert showing the insurance was still 'valid'. Not his fault no-one told him.

Has anyone been in this position before. Driver not online, so said I'd try and get any helpful steers about what he could do.

Cheers in advance.

Depends on the local rules, but it's quite possible that the Plate is not legal either, due to the change in ownership.

Regarding the Insurance Matter ~ Get to a Solicitor ~ asap.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

It's the driver's responsibility to make sure the vehicle he's driving is both roadworthy and fully insured, before he sets off.

If the driver genuinely believed that someone else, in this case the owner, had insured the vehicle he has a good case to argue at court (well he would down here).

His license will still be endorsed, but no points added to that license. The fine will be smaller, or maybe an absolute discharge.

If I was the driver I would write to the court pointing out what has happened. Down here he would get a fair hearing and the above would be the outcome.

I suggest he seeks legal advice via the Citizen Advice Bureau.

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IDFIMH

Think the driver has a good case if he has shown the insurance certificate and his booking office should have owners records of vehicle.

Has the driver been to the cab office for advice?

You can hardly argue mitigating circumstances, when as a professional driver, the vehicle and passengers are your responsibility.

Trust me on this, the guys screwed.

more problems with plate sales

the problem is according to the council the insurance has to remain in the name of the license holder until its fully transfered over.([edited by admin] imo)
that usually takes months so the new owner pays for the taxi and starts using the vehicle.
and has to pay the previous owner the premiums until the council ok's it.

thing is the new owner l in my experience doesn't want to pay the premiums till the last second,and you have to hound them like a fecking debt collector.
i had to cancel one in the exact same manner,because they would not pay on time,and we're not talking £50 a month here.

anyway i think the guys fecked no matter the excuse to the courts they(the courts) are duty bound in this.
the responsible parties,the council,the buyer and seller. are all party to this.the only loser is the driver.

a few probs may well arise for this transaction.
regardless of who never paid what
the license may well be revoked its a serious offense
if i was the driver and i ended up getting shafted on this id stick it right up them.

Don't be such a missog.

Clearly the law has been broken, but the end will be (should me take the time to get proper advice) no points and small/no fine.

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IDFIMH

I think that, in South Ayrshire, a Plate becomes void on the change of the Vehicle's Ownership

Every Council has different Regulations on this matter. Big Paul, it seems to me that your friend needs to do some homework.

Most Solicitors will give a short, half hour, Consultation for free. I think that this is too serious, for his future prospects, for him to be faffing about.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Skull - thanks for the unnecessary lecture. While I'm sure the lad accepts he has a responsibility regarding insurance and road-worthiness etc the fact that there was a certificate in the taxi that showed valid insurance in place was about as much as he could do to ensure. Insurance companies don't give info to people who aren't the policy holders so what other check do you expect him to do here - contact the insurance company on a daily basis to check the current status?

You seem to be suggesting he was asking for it. The guy's just an ordinary bloke trying to earn a living and he's the one that's likely to be the one taking the biggest hit here (if not the only one taking a hit).

Anyway - thanks to the rest of the guys for the helpful pointers. I'll pass them on and I'm sure they'll be much appreciated.

Vehicle insurance can be checked on the askmid database.

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Grandad,

Pepipoo.com offers some good online advice for motoring offences. Quite an informative/addictive forum. Post your case on there too.

It is also a condition under council rules that the liecence holder has correct insurance in place for the vehicle assuming that he let this lapse he could be in the [edited by admin] with the cab office

The best thing to do is go see the cab inspector and explain the sitution to him(assuming the driver has nowt to hide)

So he had a year's “valid” insurance certificate in the cab even though the premium hadn't been paid. I don't think so, unless things have changed. In my experience, the Insurance Certificate only states the From and To dates, covering the period paid. The schedule, on the other hand, explains the overall policy and conditions.

In the past, even though I had agreed to pay a year's insurance, I would be given a new certificate for each quarter, subject to the insurance company receiving payment.

I could be wrong, but I can't remember ever receiving an insurance policy covering a whole year, without first paying the full premium up front.

Oh and I might add, the policy certificate looked more like a receipt about half the size of an A5.

Maybe things have changed or insurance companies now do things differently, but that's way it was when I had a taxi.


"You seem to be suggesting he was asking for it." I wasn't suggesting anything of the sort.

Oh and Paul, go fu*k yourself!!

Here's an idea Paul, if you think, your chum has a case, why don't you put your money where your mouth is, and stump up the cash for his lawyer's fees? That way, you come back on this forum and tell us how much, you and he, benefited from the whole experience.

I don't suppose the guy that bought the taxi is coming forward with the cash.

It's always the same with guys like you Paul, asking for advice really means, “tell me what I want to hear.” I don't even think you're being told the real story.