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There are two types of cab drivers. The first is Hackney Carriage driver also classified as taxis and public hire drivers. These vehicles are available for hire and reward and can be hailed by passengers on the street. These drivers are licensed by their local taxi licensing authorities and have to meet the councils licensing conditions such having the correct public hire insurance in place.

The second class of drivers is the private hire driver also commonly called minicabs. The private hire vehicle must be pre-booked by the passengers and cannot be hailed. Again these drivers must have a valid private hire drivers badge and their vehicle must have either a private hire vehicle plate (permit) for hire and reward use. Again the correct type of insurance policy must be in place before the vehicle can be used for hire and reward. For minicab drivers they require a private hire insurance policy.

Although types of vehicles and methods of regulation, hiring, dispatching, and negotiating payment differ significantly from country to country, many common characteristics exist.

Active Insurance offers low cost taxi insurance quotes for all UK cab drivers. For advice or a competitive call our taxi department today – 0844 477 9805

Taxi Insurance

NICEIC is warning homeowners to be aware of counterfeit contractors. The organisation has found that over the past year the number of electricians fraudulently claiming to be NICEIC Part P registered has increased by over 60 per cent.
Emma McCarthy, chief operating officer of NICEIC Group, said, ‘Electricians advertising their services as being NICEIC registered, when they are in fact not registered, are not only committing a criminal offence but may put lives at risk by carrying out electrical work that they are not certified for. It is important that homeowners are aware that these scam electricians are out there and of the dangers that they pose.’
NICEIC and Trading Standards are taking a strong stance towards cracking down on this abuse of consumer trust and blatant flouting of safety laws. The introduction of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Act, which came into effect in May 2008, has also led to an increase in investigations resulting in prosecution.
Homeowners have been alerted to the rise in fraudulent claims via coverage in the national and regional press. The aim of the campaign is to not only support genuine NICEIC registered electrical contractors, but keep the homeowner safe too.
‘Every fraudulent claim to be NICEIC registered is taken extremely seriously and our complaints team works closely with Trading Standards all over the country,’ McCarthy added. ‘We have helped to secure prosecutions and our expertise means that we’re the first port of call for many consumer protection bodies when they want advice on where to find a good electrician.’
If homeowners are in any doubt as to their electrician’s NICEIC registration status they should contact NICEIC for verification on 0870 013 0382 or go to www.findanelectrician.info to find a registered electrician in their area.

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Liability Insurance

The website behind Norwich Union, the UK’s biggest insurer, is set to change its customer website to aviva.co.uk on 1 June. The website switchover coincides with Norwich Union’s name change to Aviva, as part of the Aviva group’s move to a single global brand – the fifth largest insurer in the world.

Sixty million people have visited the site since it first launched as norwichunion.com in 1997. During that time it has supplied the nation with more than 100 million insurance quotes, and sold over 2 million home insurance, motor, taxi insurance, business insurance and travel insurance policies. During the course of a decade it has established itself as the ultimate one-stop-insurance-shop, helping protect peoples’ homes, cars, travels, as well as financial security for the future through its range of life insurance policies.

Steve Genders, head of online sales and marketing, Aviva comments: “For over a decade we have provided customers access to our policies through our continually evolving website. We’ve gone from being a call-centre based business to half of our motor insurance policies starting online. Customers can even compare our prices and level of cover against some of our competitors to ensure they’re getting the best deal for their insurance needs.

“Though the journey for norwichunion.com is coming to an end, from 1 June when our customers visit Aviva.co.uk, they will have access to everything they expected from Norwich Union, as well as the market leading capabilities such as a full self-service function which allows customers to manage, change, renew and view their policies online.”

The lead up to becoming Aviva sees the UK’s biggest insurer as busy as ever in helping its customers. Some statistics that capture the scale of the insurer’s operations include:

• Fixing enough properties to employ 1,700 local builders
• Replacing enough car windows to cover encase the Empire State Building in glass – twice over
• Buying enough carpet to stretch from Berlin to Istanbul

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Active Insurance

For taxi drivers, one of the biggest costs is often their taxi insurance and this is especially the case for drivers aged under 25 years old without any previous taxi experience. Also if you have been unfortunate to have been involved in a fault accident your taxi insurance premiums can easily double or more in certain circumstances.

There are some taxi insurance policies available that offer the no claims bonus to be protected. Its worthwhile considering the extra cost to have your no taxi no claims bonus protected especially if you have accrued 4 or more years. Active are one the UK’s leading taxi insurance brokers offering some of the best deals on both private hire insurance and public hire insurance throughout UK.

Active Insurance – 0844 477 9805

Taxi Insurance

MORE than 100 furious taxi insurance drivers piled into Worcester’s Guildhall to protest at licence fee increases they say will force up fares and push scores of cabbies out of business.

From next month, Worcester taxi drivers already being squeezed by the credit crunch and persistently high petrol prices will see the cost of their annual licence from the council rise by at least 35 per cent.

Drivers warn many will be forced out of business and that ultimately the cost will be passed on to the Worcester public via higher fares.

But the huge fee rises were confirmed by Worcester City Council’s licensing committee on Tuesday despite the presence of at least 100 protesting drivers.

Kershid Baig, of the Worcester Taxi Drivers Association, told the committee: “This increase will directly lead to people being made unemployed. The trade is already affected by the credit crunch with takings down 40 per cent and worse to come. This will lead to people going on the dole.

He said: “These increases will have to be passed on to the public – the public will have to pay more.”

The council is increasing the annual renewal fee for city taxi drivers by 35 per cent, from £252 to £340.

New taxi insurance drivers’ applications fees will rise by nearly 20 per cent, from £336 to £399, while private hire firms with more than one car will be hit hardest of all, paying an extra £50 per vehicle on top of the existing fee of about £250.

Taxi driver Pat Borthwick said: “Other authorities do not charge nearly so much.

“We need more support from our local council.”

But councillors said they were standing by their policy of raising all licence fees so that they cover the councils’ own costs in issuing the licences.

The new policy has led to other big fee increases this year, most notably for small business such as pet shops and beauty parlours.

The council’s head of environmental health Martin Gillies said: “Our income from taxi licences is just over £100,000 a year. The cost of providing the service to the council is roughly £141,000, so we’re actually suffering an annual loss.

“We’re not allowed to make a profit on licences but we are encouraged to cover our costs.”

Cabinet member for finance Councillor Roger Knight said: “We put forward a policy that we should cover the costs of licensing to the council and I don’t think we should step away from that.”

The new licence fees will come into force on Wednesday, April 1. Any request from drivers to raise taxi fares will have to be approved by the licensing committee at a future meeting.

Cheap taxi insurance from Active for drivers with at least 1 years taxi no claims bonus. For the best deals on private hire insurance or public hire hire insurance contact Active today,

Active Insurance - 0844 477 9805

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Taxi Insurance