Public Hire

Taxi drivers have seen it all – the good, the bad and the ugly.

But picking up a celebrity fare always makes a shift memorable. And it is even more enjoyable if the famous face is friendly, chatty – and might even have a selfie taken with the driver.

Taxi drivers will be effected by new laws being introduced next month to reduce distractions on the road make it illegal to use virtually all tech devices while driving.

Under the new regulations which come into force on March 25, anyone caught using mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, PDAs or any other communication devices, will face a £200 fine and 6 points on their licence.

Clean air zones are being rolled out in towns, cities and regions in a bid to cut pollution. But the drive to keep more-polluting vehicles off the roads could hit taxi drivers in the pocket.

Drivers are being faced with the choice of passing on to customers the daily charge for each Clean Air Zone (CAZ) they enter, or switching to cleaner, greener vehicles which are exempt from CAZ charges.

Whatever vehicle you drive, driving in the dark can be dangerous.

Whether it’s late at night or first thing in the morning, no matter how well you might think you know a particular road, junction or dual carriageway; at this time of year it will now pose a completely new set of challenges.

Since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak, taxi and private-hire drivers, have provided an essential service transporting NHS staff, key workers, patients and the vulnerable.

As life starts to return to normal, and fares begin to pick up, at Patons we wanted to do all we could to keep you protected.

The restrictions we are all facing due to Coronavirus will be with us for a while, and whenever the Government recommends easing them, everyone will need to be prepared for what will be a ‘new normal’.

Reducing the spread and keeping passengers, as well as ourselves, safe is now a vital part of every driver’s job.

From April next year all Hackney cabs in Liverpool will have to accept on board card payments.

The mandatory introduction, which follows similar passenger services offered by drivers in London, will provide debit and credit card payment facilities, including contactless.

The environmentally friendly Electric Black Cab – which can take you 80 miles on a single electric charge – will be in and around Liverpool for all to see.

As Patons provide the insurance for these electric cabs we were lucky enough to be the one of the first passengers in the back and we’re huge admirers.

Choosing taxi insurance needn’t be difficult, we have just the solution, here at Patons Insurance! Making sure that you have the appropriate cover to drive your taxi is simple with Patons; we provide insurance for all taxi drivers, regardless of whether you drive a public or private taxi.

We can help you to stay clear of any unnecessary, costly consequences by providing you with insurance advice.

If you’ve decided to become a taxi driver in your local area and got to the point where you have been granted a 1 or 3 year Taxi Driver Licence, you will undoubtedly be keen to get started in your new profession.

The next stage is making sure that your chosen vehicle is licensed as a taxi for the road.

Whether you have a fleet of taxis, minibuses, motorbikes, vans or HGVs, it can be a complicated procedure to get them insured individually.

Ideally, you should try and get one policy that will cover the entire fleet, making the whole coverage a lot easier to manage.

It’s surprisingly simple to save money by adopting smarter and more fuel-efficient driving techniques.

With the potential to save up to one-third on your fuel costs, here’s eight ways to make your taxi driving more economical.