London Banter - View Single Post

[email protected] · April 25th 16, 12:04 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(JNugent) wrote:

On 23/04/2016 20:16, wrote:
In article ,
(JNugent) wrote:

On 22/04/2016 22:50, Mizter T wrote:

On 22/04/2016 20:05, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 19:12:08 on Fri, 22 Apr
2016, Mizter T remarked:

The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on
the streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but
uninsured minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured means
they'll lose their licence.

The lack of insurance is automatic (irrespective of any policy paid
for) if (or perhaps when) the driver of the pirate car plies for hire
by approaching or responding to would-be passengers in the street.

Not always so, actually. In a case I dealt with as a member of the
Cambridge licensing committee, one hire car driver caught plying for
hire was driving for a firm that also had hackneys so insured all its
vehicles for both plying for both uses. This is much more unlikely in
London where there isn't the cross-over in fleets that there s in
Cambridge.

It's not like the good old bad old days when anyone could be a minicab
driver in London, when undoubtedly a fair few weren't properly
insured.

If (ie, when) they ply for hire, they still aren't. They cannot be.

They can as I said above have insurance that covers plying for hire.
They are still guilty of other offences of course but tend to get fewer
points on their licences because the minimum for insurance offences is
six points.

Let's be clear: does the insurance company cover illegal, unlicensed,
criminal plying for hire (eg, by drivers with convictions for rape in
vehicles which do not satisfy the requirements for lawful plying for
hire)?

The mere fact that some broker has issued a cover note might mean
that a casual HORT1 stop by the police can be deflected. But it will
not necessarily mean that the passenger will be covered if his spine
is injured in a traffic accident.

In a case where drivers caught plying for hire were brought before
councillors for their licences to be considered at least one had not been
prosecuted for not having insurance on the grounds I gave. I can't give you
more details but the driver was operating for the largest local operator.
Decisions to prosecute are of course taken by the police and CPS and not by
councillors. The offences were disclosed in a joint operation between the
police and council licensing enforcement staff.

--
Colin Rosenstiel