Being involved in the taxi trade comes with a whole host of responsibilities. Not only do you need to make sure you’re fully licenced before you can start work (appropriate licences can be obtained from your local authority) but you need to have sufficient private hire insurence in place as well, because that’s the only way to make sure you’re totally prepared for doing business as a taxi driver.

A lot of people might wonder why they need separate taxi insurance if they’re already covered with a more generic car insurance policy, and the simple answer is that you’ll be operating in a business capacity rather than driving for pleasure. You’ll be dealing with members of the public, transporting strangers from place to place rather than providing a personal taxi service for your own friends and family, and you’ll also be operating on a hire and reward basis which adds another element of risk into proceedings.

By having sufficient cover in place you can be confident that you’re prepared for any eventuality. At the most basic level you’ll be able to choose from third party, third party fire and theft and fully comp, and it’s always wise to go for the most comprehensive level of cover you can afford. But, there’s more to it than meets the eye—a policy of this nature should ideally include everything from vandalism cover to breakdown assistance, and make sure to check that your chosen policy covers you for loss or damage to your radio/meter as well to keep your business interests properly protected.

Public liability insurance will also be an essential consideration—it’s there to provide a financial safeguard should things go wrong, ensuring that if a member of the public was injured or their property damaged you wouldn’t be held financially liable. There are plenty of other levels of cover you could need depending on your individual circumstances, but as long as you make sure you’re getting a bespoke policy that’s tailored to your business interests you can be confident in being prepared for anything the taxi world could throw at you.

Anyone in the taxi industry is bound to have been faced with price hikes over recent months. Whether it’s increasing fuel costs, higher badge and licencing costs or ever-rising insurance premiums it could be hard to stay on track, and many drivers have had to make some hard choices as to whether or not they can continue. So just why is insurance for taxis going up?

Unfortunately there’s no simple answer to this, as it seems to be the way the insurance industry in general is going. But, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken its toll—even people who have a flawless driving record have seen their premiums rise by as much as 40%, and that’s a huge amount of cash to have to part with when you’re not actually getting a better service. Then there’s the fact that taxi drivers are deemed to be a higher insurance risk than regular drivers—they’ll be on the road far more than most people and as such are statistically more likely to make a claim, putting them straight in the high risk category and pushing up the cost of insurance accordingly. Taxis are more likely to suffer from accidents as well as general wear and tear, and the fact that you’re dealing with members of the public means you’ll need a decent level of liability insurance in place as well.

There are several factors that come into play to determine the cost of insurance, but despite the fact that insurance premiums are on the rise it doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune. Or at least, you don’t if you make sure to choose your policy wisely. Always spend the time to research the area if you want to get the best deals, and comparing the options is vital. Be on the lookout for any added discounts too because that can be a great way to reduce your premiums—think no claims bonuses, new policy discounts and even discounts for arranging things online, and you could soon get the cost down to something more manageable. Know what to look out for and you’ll be able to lessen the impact of the price hike, giving you the insurance you need at a price you can afford.

If you’re involved in school trips of any kind you’re going to need a suitable vehicle to accommodate, and that means you’ll need adequate school minibus insurance as well. This is particularly important to remember in an educational capacity as your passengers are vulnerable individuals, so just what do you need to consider when choosing insurance of this kind?

• Level of cover. Cover should always come first, particularly in this case, and that means going for a fully comprehensive policy will always be preferable. Of course, it all depends on your circumstances and budget, but you wouldn’t want to come unstuck with children in tow so it makes sense to be prepared.
• European travel. If your school trip is involving travel to Europe you’re going to need to check that you’re fully covered, but luckily most policies will include a maximum of 90 days EU travel as standard.
• Breakdown assistance. Breaking down is never going to be the highlight of your journey, but it could be even worse with school children. Avoid the possibility of being stranded at the side of the road with breakdown assistance, and with most policies offering this as standard (or at the very least an optional extra) you won’t have to worry.
• Price. Price will always be a vital consideration, and with budgets becoming increasingly tight it’s more important now than ever before. That’s why research is so vital—if you make sure to research the area and compare the options (ideally by coming to us) you’ll be able to find the ideal quote without spending a fortune in the process.
• Entitlement and training. Anyone looking to drive a minibus needs to have appropriate entitlement to ensure they can legally drive this category of vehicle, and whilst training isn’t a specific consideration when choosing insurance per se it’s an important point nonetheless—you should always have experience if you want to drive vehicles of this kind, particularly when dealing with children, and many school unions will actually require you to go on minibus driver training schemes.

These are just a few points you need to consider when choosing school minibus insurance, and if you make sure to bear them in mind you’ll be able to get on with your school trip in confidence.

If you’re looking for private hire minicab insurance you could be wondering how to find the best deals. You don’t want to spend a fortune yet even the quotes you’ve come across might not quite hit the mark, so what can you do? Well, you could indulge in the age-old art of haggling. Many people seem to have lost the skill in recent years but it’s time we got it back again, because haggling can actually be a great way to keep the cost of your insurance premiums down.

These days people seem afraid to question the price given, not only by insurance firms but by service providers, financial organisations and outlets of all kinds, and that can be a big mistake. The prices shown at face value will already be hugely overinflated to give companies the kind of profits they need, but that doesn’t mean they can’t lower their prices if asked. In fact, many insurance companies (and related firms) actually expect you to ask for a discount—they put their prices up to accommodate haggling, and by not doing so you’re already losing out and are effectively paying far more than you need to.

It needn’t even be that difficult to achieve the desired results. Just call up your insurance firm and ask them for their best price—chances are they’ll already be able to offer you something lower than you were expecting, and if you’re a loyal customer it’s worth playing on their business sense to get them to reduce their prices even more. Customer retention is important for companies—it costs one tenth the amount to retain a customer than it does to get a new one—so they could easily offer great discounts just to keep you on their books. You could enjoy even bigger success if you do a bit of research to find a few alternatives, and if you pit a few companies against each other you could soon get them to lower their prices.

So, haggling really does work if you want to keep the cost of your private hire minicab insurance down. If you don’t ask you don’t get, so what are you waiting for? Get on that phone and start negotiations, and you could be well on your way to making some fantastic savings on your premiums.

Selecting an insurance policy will be a big decision for any minibus driver. It may not seem that important in the grand scheme of things, but just think about it for a moment—your income could be on the line should things go wrong, and unless you want to suffer the financial and perhaps legal consequences it makes sense to be prepared. But, it’s worth remembering that the only way to get a decent policy is to make sure you’ve got a decent company to provide it, so if you’re looking for suitable minibus insurance companies just where can you start?

Well, heading online will always be the first step on your journey to finding the right insurance firm. By performing adequate research you’ll get a thorough overview of the type of companies available, and with so much information at your fingertips you’ll soon be able to narrow down the options. You’ll be able to find far more companies than if you stuck to traditional routes (such as going through the phone book) which means you’re much more likely to be left with a company that meets your standards, and thanks to the industry becoming increasingly social you could soon find someone who fits the bill.

You need to make sure you’re choosing a company that’s reputable, reliable and that treats its customers well, and that can easily be achieve if you stay on the lookout for reviews, recommendations and testimonials from past customers. Head to review sites or even social networking sites to see if anyone’s talking about your potential company, and if you see what their Twitter or Facebook profiles are like you’ll soon be able to get a feel of the type of company they are.

It’s important you look at the more nitty gritty aspects of your company too, and making sure their policies and procedures match your criteria is vital. Ideally they should be able to offer a 24 hour claims line, a quick claims process and plenty of additional support, and if they’ve got UK-based call centres it’s even better. Making sure they offer the right cover at the right price will be a given but that can easily be discovered by getting a quote or by heading to price comparison sites, and if you make sure to consider every aspect of potential minibus insurance companies you can be confident in finding a firm that meets your standards.

As a taxi driver your vehicle is your livelihood. You need to make sure you’re prepared for anything that could come your way, particularly as you’ll be on the road for far longer than a regular driver, and that makes adequate insurance a vital investment. You need to spend enough time researching the area to ensure you’ve got a policy that fits the bill, but there’s one thing that you always need to remember—make sure you’re getting tailor-made private hire insurance quotes to ensure complete protection.

Getting tailor-made options is the only way to know, for certain, that you’ve got a suitable policy. Different people will always have different circumstances, particularly in a commercial setting, and as such you should be looking for an insurance firm that can build their policies around your unique requirements. Going for a one-size-fits-all solution will never be ideal, and even if you’ve found your potential quote on a comparison site it’s worth spending time going through things with your chosen insurer to make sure you’ve got the policy that’s right for you.

Your taxi is your business and unless you’ve got a suitable policy you could be putting your entire livelihood in jeopardy, so it’s vital that you get a bespoke option that can give you the exact level of cover necessary. You could even save money in the process—by getting a bespoke policy you’ll only be paying for the level of cover you need, helping you save cash whilst having the cover that’s right for you. Remember that you need to give wholly accurate information unless you want to come unstuck, because if anything doesn’t add up your claim won’t be upheld and if you misled your company on purpose you could be committing insurance fraud too, so it simply isn’t worth the risk.

Getting tailor-made private hire insurance quotes will ensure you’ve got the policy that meets your exact circumstances. You can be confident that your finances (and your livelihood) will be properly protected, safe in the knowledge that you’ve got a financial and legal lifeline should things go wrong, so when looking for insurance quotes always go to a reputable company that builds their policy around you and you can get on with your day without a thing to worry about.

There’s no denying it—budgets are tight. With more of us having to watch the pennies than ever before it’s never nice to have a bill falling through the letterbox, and if your private hire driver insurance policy is due for renewal you could well be wondering where you can make some savings. You might be tempted to reduce your level of cover but that will never be the better option as you could be putting your livelihood at risk, and that’s why it makes far more sense to see what discounts you can find.

Most insurance firms will be able to offer discounts of some kind. They want to secure your business, particularly in the current climate, and as such will offer a whole range of incentives to get you to switch to them. So, just what will you be able to find? No claims bonuses will be first on the list, and if you’ve got a good driving history you could make some great savings. Other discounts could include those offered to experienced drivers, new policy holders and those who are BTEC qualified, and some will even offer discounts for arranging things online or simply for paying by Direct Debit. And, if you’re not left with the price you want, you could always ask. If you don’t try you’ll never know, and if you pit a few companies against each other and engage in the good old art of haggling you could secure an added discount quickly and simply.

It’s worth going to your regular insurance firm first to see what they can provide, but don’t be afraid to look elsewhere—chances are you’ll be able to find some fantastic bargains, and if you take your new offers back to your current insurer they could even match it for the minimum of hassle and great savings to boot. Always see what discounts you can uncover for your private hire driver insurance and you could save a small fortune whilst getting the policy that’s right for you, so make sure to look around and you could soon have more cash in your pocket.

Anyone that drives a taxi for a living needs to put insurance at the top of the agenda. But, the desire to save time and the need to save money can sometimes clash—it can be all-too tempting to choose the first quote you come across, yet that will invariably mean you don’t get the best deal. So just what can you do? Well, seeking insurance online to find a quote for your taxi could help.

By heading online you’ll be able to save time and money for the perfect combination, and the simplicity of online searches combined with the number of potential quotes out there means you’re bound to find the policy that suits your precise needs. Performing an online search will be much quicker than calling up each insurer individually because if you don’t like what you find you can simply close the page of and keep looking, and a quick search could be all it takes to find plenty of different companies that you otherwise may not have come across.

You won’t have to speak to anyone else if you don’t want to meaning there’ll be no pushy sales tactics to contend with, and if you head to specialist brokers or price comparison sites (such as us) you’ll find it even easier—just fill in a single form and you’ll instantly be presented with quotes that are perfectly matched to your requirements, slashing the time it would normally take to search on your own. As for cost savings, well, they’ll be a given.

Because you’re spending the time to research the area you won’t be choosing blindly and will easily be able to compare the options to see which quote offers the best deal, and again if you head to price comparison sites you’ll soon be able to see where savings can be made. Some companies even offer additional discounts for arranging things online to put even more cash in your pocket, so make sure to look for insurance online to find a quote for taxis and you can save time and money for the ideal combination.

There are plenty of taxi firms to choose from these days, but it’s important to choose wisely if you want to be confident in getting a policy that will perfectly suit your needs. Your chosen company needs to specialise in the industry as that’s the only way you can be sure of their level of expertise and ability to meet your requirements, and offering a great level of cover at the right price should be central to the whole thing. Unfortunately some companies can often fall short but one that should be at the top of the list is taxi direct insurance , but it’s still important to do your research to ensure you can find the policy that you’re after.

Different routes to sourcing quotes can produce different results, and even if you’ve got an idea of the company you want it’s still vital to shop around to see which route could be the most beneficial. Some websites will offer markedly different prices so don’t take everything at face value, and you might even like to consider the possibility of added incentives—a lot of sites will provide generous discounts or added extras if you arrange your quote through them, so it’s worth spending the time to see what’s out there. But, price will always be the single most important aspect to consider so at the end of the day it all comes down to comparing the options, and if you want to get a good idea of the type of quotes out there you’ve come to the right place.

We can help make it quick and simple to find the policies that you need, and whether you’re looking to source quotes from Taxi Direct Insurance Services or indeed anywhere else you should always make us your first and only port of call. Comparing the options is the only way to be confident that you’ve got the best deal and our tool can help you locate the best prices out there, so always spend the time to research and you could have the perfect quote before you know it.

We all know the value of shopping around for minibus insurance quotes, but these days it’s all-too easy to get side-tracked. This means that a lot of people renew their policy blindly, and if they’ve already got a good deal they don’t think that there’s anything wrong in doing that. But, therein lies the rub—unless they spend the time to look around they won’t actually know that they’ve got the best deal, because no matter how good it seemed last time around chances are there could be far better prices out there today. Simply renewing your insurance policy should therefore be the last thing on your mind, because unless you spend the time to look you can never be quite sure that you’ve got the best option.

But, don’t think that shopping around has to be time-consuming. If you head to price comparison sites you could find it almost as quick as a basic renewal, so there’s no excuse to not give it a go. All you’ll have to do is fill in a single form before being presented with plenty of quotes that will perfectly match your requirements, and because they’re all tailored to your needs you can be confident in getting the perfect level of cover to suit. You’ll get an instant overview of which one could be right for you and will soon see where savings can be made, and with many sites letting you arrange cover there and then you won’t have to waste a second of your day.

Even if you’re happy with your insurance company and are thinking of renewing straightaway, just spend a few minutes to see what else is out there—a lot of companies will match or even beat their competitors’ prices, so if you find a better deal elsewhere make sure to take it to your current insurer to see what they can do. You could end up with a far better price for the exact same policy, so never just renew your minibus insurance policy blindly and you can be confident in getting the perfect quote at a price to suit.