Finding Taxi Insurance for the Novice Driver
As a new driver, you will already be aware of the need to get adequate taxi insurance.
There are many providers on the market but they tend to charge a bit more if you are new to the driving experience.
Therefore your search is complicated by the fact that you are considered to be a high risk by many providers who would otherwise offer you the low cost options.
In order to overcome these negative aspects, you will need to work from scratch and ensure that you get the most appropriate deal on the market at the time.
1.
The relevant information: Before providing you with taxi insurance, the insurer will need to ascertain the level of experience you have of driving.
It might be that you have never driven a commercial vehicle but that you have significant driving experience in your private life.
Make sure that you point this fact out to the broker so that they can find some way of reducing the premiums that you have to pay.
There is no like-for-like scheme but they will give you some discounts based on the information which you have provided to the team.
2.
Ascertain the status of your locality: Because the taxi insurance might cover premises and theft, it is important that you restrict applications to so called safe areas which have low crime rates.
This will reduce the amount you have to pay.
In some other instances the taxi insurance premium might be reduced as one of the introductory rates kicks in.
The provider will want to ensure that you remain a loyal customer.
Therefore they will make efforts to give you as many bonuses and discounts as is possible within the current assessment criteria.
3.
Dealing with the insurance excess: You can reduce the premium that you pay on a taxi insurance policy if you agree to have a large excess figure.
This is the money that you will need to contribute to any claim that you make.
It has been found that the level of excess can reduce the policy premium by up to 5%.
It is important that you only agree to an excess figure which is well within your means.
There is no point in picking up a figure that you are going to fail to pay in any case.
4.
Major claims: Given the implications of losing the NCD status, there is a tendency on the part of applicants to hide their claims.
The matter is resolved before it comes to the attention of the insurer.
This is a pointless exercise because you are effectively paying the full claims cost and yet you continue to pay up on insurance.
As a rule of thumb, look at the total amount of money that you pay per annum.
If the claim exceeds that amount then you should notify the provider.
If the claim is less than that figure then you might consider ignoring the taxi insurance policy and just doing the repair work independently.
5.
Do not purchase products that you do not need: The sales people for the taxi insurance company will try to make you increase the provision beyond the minimum standard.
Make sure that you resist this temptation.
The extra services on offer are not free of charge.
They can end up significantly increasing your premium and yet there are no guarantees that you will see all the benefits that you have been hoping for.
Therefore you need to restrict the amount of extra features which you accept on the taxi insurance policy.
Many of them have very little to do with your driving experience.
There are many providers on the market but they tend to charge a bit more if you are new to the driving experience.
Therefore your search is complicated by the fact that you are considered to be a high risk by many providers who would otherwise offer you the low cost options.
In order to overcome these negative aspects, you will need to work from scratch and ensure that you get the most appropriate deal on the market at the time.
1.
The relevant information: Before providing you with taxi insurance, the insurer will need to ascertain the level of experience you have of driving.
It might be that you have never driven a commercial vehicle but that you have significant driving experience in your private life.
Make sure that you point this fact out to the broker so that they can find some way of reducing the premiums that you have to pay.
There is no like-for-like scheme but they will give you some discounts based on the information which you have provided to the team.
2.
Ascertain the status of your locality: Because the taxi insurance might cover premises and theft, it is important that you restrict applications to so called safe areas which have low crime rates.
This will reduce the amount you have to pay.
In some other instances the taxi insurance premium might be reduced as one of the introductory rates kicks in.
The provider will want to ensure that you remain a loyal customer.
Therefore they will make efforts to give you as many bonuses and discounts as is possible within the current assessment criteria.
3.
Dealing with the insurance excess: You can reduce the premium that you pay on a taxi insurance policy if you agree to have a large excess figure.
This is the money that you will need to contribute to any claim that you make.
It has been found that the level of excess can reduce the policy premium by up to 5%.
It is important that you only agree to an excess figure which is well within your means.
There is no point in picking up a figure that you are going to fail to pay in any case.
4.
Major claims: Given the implications of losing the NCD status, there is a tendency on the part of applicants to hide their claims.
The matter is resolved before it comes to the attention of the insurer.
This is a pointless exercise because you are effectively paying the full claims cost and yet you continue to pay up on insurance.
As a rule of thumb, look at the total amount of money that you pay per annum.
If the claim exceeds that amount then you should notify the provider.
If the claim is less than that figure then you might consider ignoring the taxi insurance policy and just doing the repair work independently.
5.
Do not purchase products that you do not need: The sales people for the taxi insurance company will try to make you increase the provision beyond the minimum standard.
Make sure that you resist this temptation.
The extra services on offer are not free of charge.
They can end up significantly increasing your premium and yet there are no guarantees that you will see all the benefits that you have been hoping for.
Therefore you need to restrict the amount of extra features which you accept on the taxi insurance policy.
Many of them have very little to do with your driving experience.