The Pros and Cons of Public and Private Hire

When it comes to whether to become a private or a public hire taxi driver the choice can be difficult. And that’s not just based on lifestyle and operations, it also comes down to private and public hire insurance. These are the pros and cons, however it’s up to each individual to decide how much weighting they give to each point.

The main annoyance of becoming a private hire driver is the insurance company. Unlike a public hire insurance policy, the private hire insurance policy may give the insurance company permission to keep track of where each cab has gone. This means that the company will have to deal with a lot of stressful reporting obligations. Public hire cabs certainly have more freedom associated with them.

Most of the time, the public hire taxi drivers will have a lot more clients as they can pick people up at the side of the road or just park somewhere and wait for clients. This is a much more economical option than the private hire taxi driver as they are forced to drive to each location and waste valuable fuel each time.

However, when it comes to the quieter times of the year the private hire driver may find themselves reigning supreme as they are almost guaranteed a steady stream of clients. The public hire driver is relying on people who are out on the streets. If there is nobody around then they are wasting time and money as they have no clients to take care of. This is a major issue for many public hire taxi drivers.

Parking can be an issue for private hire taxi drivers as they don’t have designated parking spaces. Essentially, they are just like normal motorists, and this can be a problem in the major cities where free parking spaces are few and far between. When it comes to private hire drivers and popular locations it’s often just a matter of stopping and letting your passenger leap out of the car. It’s not the most convenient way in the world, and that’s why public hire drivers have that great perk of having council-designated spaces.

Find the best public hire insurance at Redmetro

Posted by Denise on May 16 2012. Filed under Commercial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry