Taxi insurance

Taxi insurance, simply put, is a specialised type of commercial car insurance designed specifically for those who use their vehicle to carry passengers for payment. This will cover much more than standard car insurance due to the nature of the job, including increased mileage, passenger safety and any legal requirements.

Taxi insurance is essential because standard personal car insurance doesn't cover the specific risks associated with commercial use. It provides higher liability limits, covers passenger injuries, protects against property damage claims, and fulfils legal requirements, ensuring adequate coverage for the unique risks of operating a taxi.

There are three basic types of car insurance policy available for taxi drivers: ‘policy only’, ‘named driver’ and ‘any driver’.

• ‘Policy only’ cover will be the cheapest, but bear in mind that the cost will go up as more names are added to the policy.
• ‘Named driver’ insurance is ideal if you just own one taxi and are the only driver of it.
• An ‘any driver’ policy, as the name suggests, covers anyone to drive your taxi, so long as they are above a set age (usually 25). This kind of cover is, as you would expect, the most expensive.

Please note that these are just the taxi-specific aspects of the cover – you’ll still have all of the options you’d get when insuring a conventional car like third party only; third party, fire and theft; and fully comprehensive. You'll also be able to choose from a number of different add-ons, such as public liability insurance or legal cover.

Other things to consider are whether you’re just insuring a single vehicle, or whether you need to look at fleet insurance.

Taxi insurance is usually also split into private hire insurance and public hire insurance. The kind of policy you can get will depend on whether you’re driving a public hire (like a hackney carriage) or a private hire (like a booking-only minicab) vehicle. As a general rule, public hire taxis are slightly more expensive to insure, but this is not always the case – given that the vehicles themselves tend to be newer, and the drivers older, when compared to private hire cabs, insurers tend to look on them quite favourably.

Taxi drivers, due to the nature of their work, rack up pretty serious mileage, often at unsociable hours and in built-up areas, statistically increasing the risk of accident and therefore the price of insurance.
Often, taxis are quite large, to accommodate a higher number of passengers, and this pushes them up into a higher insurance bracket, further increasing the cost of the premiums on offer. This will be particularly relevant if you drive a minibus or Multi-Person Vehicle (MPV).

You won’t have to pay totally over the odds though to insure your taxi – there are always ways to keep costs down.

So, how much will your taxi insurance cost? The best way to find out is by getting a quote, as premiums can depend on a wide range of factors, such as your driving history and the type of car you'll be driving.

Aside from choosing a smaller vehicle and building up a no claims bonus, the best way to save money on your taxi insurance is to shop around and compare online.
Use a taxi insurance comparison service like ours to find competitive quotes on the market. All you need to do is let us know what kind of policy you’re after and we’ll do the leg work for you, so all you need to do is pick the one you want and start saving right away.