TAXI BASE INSURANCE

If you operate a taxi company, it’s likely you’ll have lots of positive and negative experience of dealing with a variety of passengers. The taxi industry is one of the toughest and most unpredictable, and as such its important to be aware of the risks and to protect yourself fully against them. With almost 300,000 licensed taxi vehicles on the roads of the UK, insurance premiums are on the rise constantly due to increased claims.

Personal Injury

Taxi driving particularly at night, can be a riskier operation due to the nature of the business. Passengers who are on their way home from a night out maybe more at risk from trips and falls. This can impact greatly on your business and can mean you are liable if they suffer a personal injury on your premises. Whether you’re operating a PSV taxi hire company or a private hire one, you’ll need to ensure that you have public liability insurance for your premises and indeed your taxis. If someone has a serious accident, not having such insurance could quite easily put you out of business as legal and compensation costs can mount uncontrollably.

Unexpected Business Interruption

Taxi base insurance varies greatly, so it is important to know what kind of cover you need and the kind of risks you need to consider. Covering an unexpected business interruption if for example, a crime were to occur on your premises, may lead to closure in order to gather evidence and this could last days or weeks.

If your premises were to be maliciously damaged by fire, it could also close your business for a period of time or until you find an alternative premises from which to operate. This can cause massive disruption to your business and a potential loss of earnings, which is something you can insure yourself against with business interruption insurance.

Malicious intent

The taxi business sometimes involves a lot of cash handling, and potential thieves are well aware that your base could be an easy target. So asides from taking reasonable precautions in terms of CCTV and using a safe for cash on the premises, you should also insure your business for carrying cash in transit or storing it at your home or work premises.

Whilst insurance doesn’t deter thieves, it will give you peace of mind and help your business recover more quickly. Insurance against theft or fire is also a vital element to ensure your business is protected fully.

It’s important that you insure your radio equipment against theft and or malicious or accidental damage given that it is a vital element of your operation. Taxi base insurance can also provide cover for your client and business data, in the event of this being stolen or destroyed whether accidentally or maliciously, or if there is a data breach. It can also cover expensive computer equipment which could be vital for your business operation.

Taxi Base insurance and your employees

Commercial taxi base insurance is vital in order to protect yourself against risks within the taxi industry. It protects your employees and your vehicles and also members of the public. You must have taxi base insurance even if you only have a part time member of staff answering the telephone. You need to have adequate public liability insurance for your premises also so that you are protected in the event of a claim for personal injury. If someone were to trip, fall and injure themselves, or indeed in the worst case die there may be a possibility that they could claim against you as the business owner. Such cover should be upwards of £2-5 million to adequately cover you. Employing staff exposes you to risk and you must ensure that you have employee’s liability insurance. This includes any incident where your employees have an accident on site where it is deemed you were at fault. This covers many eventualities and protects you and your business against possible litigation.

Regardless of how big or small your taxi company is, taking out adequate taxi office insurance is vital if you are to protect your business and deliver a quality consistent service. So, make sure you consider all the potential risks and take out adequate cover to ensure your business is operational 24/7 365 days a year regardless of the risks you operate under.