A public hire vehicle is a taxi cab that is licensed by the local taxi licensing department for use as a hackney carriage. These vehicles must have a public hire taxi insurance policy before they can be used for the purpose of hire and reward. The ‘iconic’ London Black Cab is a typical example of a public hire vehicle. The public hire taxi vehicles can be found throughout the UK and are commonly found outside train stations, parked in designated taxi ranks.

The public hire vehicle can be flagged down by a member of public if the taxi has the for hire sign on. A point to remember is that the private hire licensed vehicles must be pre-booked in advance by the customer and cannot be hailed on the road. Public hire vehicles come in all different forms from saloon cars, six, seven passenger seats or even up to 9 seat vehicles are available. In London the most common make is the London Taxi International (LTI) or the Metrocab and these taxis are known throughout the world as London Black Cabs.

In the UK a minimum of third party insurance cover is a legal requirement before any motor vehicle can be used on a public highway. This also applies to taxi vehicles and a public hire insurance motor policy must be purchased by the cab driver before the vehicle can be used for taxi purposes. Public hire taxi insurance polices differ from standard private motor insurance policies and as such only specialist insurers and brokers that have expert knowledge in the taxi industry offer these types of policies.

A public hire insurance policy is usually not available through the normal comparison sites as the risk questions are different and also the taxi product is a lot more complex to administer. In most cases the taxi insurance brokers will request certain documents from the public hire driver. These documents can include;

• DVLA Counterpart Driving Licence
• DVLA Photo Card Driving Licence
• Public Hire Drivers Licence (known as the ‘badge’)
• Public Hire Vehicle Licence (known as the ‘plate’)
• V5 Registration Document (Log book of the vehicle)

Depending on the public hire drivers individual circumstance the price of the public hire insurance quotes will vary considerably from one taxi insurance company to the next. Taxi drivers with experience will usually get a cheap public hire insurance quote than new taxi drivers. There are many providers of taxi insurance, so do shop and compare public hire insurance quotes online for your taxi vehicle.