In message , at 13:59:56 on
Wed, 12 Oct 2016, Recliner remarked:

many of the reports that I have read say that it is impossible use this MO
because the London mini-cab companies insist that you rent the car from them
when you drive for them. Your own car sits on your drive.

It almost certainly depends on the firm. I'm sure many of the drivers
are using their own cars.

One common business model is that you have to rent the 2-way radio from
the minicab firm (and that's a kind of "retainer fee" for the firm). Of
course, Uber has made those redundant.
--
Roland Perry