Minicab Insurance

Before understanding why it is important to have minicab insurance, one needs to know what exactly a mini cab is. There are basically two types of taxies, private and public, where each of them requires their own type of insurance. A private taxi is essentially a mini cab, which can't pick up any passenger from roadside like a public taxi does. Private taxi insurance is the mini cab insurance that is required to provide insurance coverage to the driver as well as to the passengers.

For each and every taxi driver in the UK, it is a legal requirement to have a proper insurance cover in the event of any eventuality, like an accident or a vehicle theft. Minicab insurance differs from all the other taxi insurance due to some specific restrictions on the use of mini cabs. A mini cab can be pre-booked only and the booking can be done through Internet, on telephone or by personally visiting the office. This system makes it easier for the minicab drivers to know the number of passengers and the location of their destination. Besides, a mini cab comes in the category of car type taxi, which restricts the number of its passenger up to 4 only.

When you compare this restriction of mini cab with that of public cabs or Hackney cabs (generally known as London cabs), you will find that the public cabs are allowed to pick up 5 to 6 passengers at a time. This is why it is necessary to differentiate mini cab insurance from all the other taxi insurance. One can buy mini cab insurance over the telephone or online. However, it is recommended, equally to mini cab drivers as well as to the mini cab running companies, to compare the quotes of a number of prominent insurance services before purchasing a cover. It becomes all the more important if it is the question of many young drivers or of a high risk zone for driving.

Moreover, private taxis (including mini cabs) tend to run for much longer miles than public taxis run. This is because, usually the public taxis ply within a city boundary itself, whereas the private taxis need to travel across several cities in a single drive. Thus, minicabs are in more need of an elaborate insurance coverage that should also include windscreen coverage and breakdown coverage. Most minicab insurance also provides coverage to the driver's cost in case of his temporary inability to drive because of an accident.

Normally, you have two different options to choose from while looking for the most appropriate and cheap mini cab insurance. One is to do your search all by yourself and second is to hire an insurance broker. If you are going with the former option, you will need to either contact or apply to various insurance companies to compare their quotes. Comparing the insurance quotes make it a lot easier to find the best deal of all. There is no doubt you will soon gather a pile of quotes, which you need to analyze carefully before selecting any one of them.

The later option, that is to hire an insurance broker, is the easiest and quickest way to find the best yet cheapest deal for your mini cab insurance. You'll need to spend a bit more though for meeting the service fee of the broker. A specialized insurance broker would be much more experienced than you and hence he'll be in a better position to look out for the best possible cover for you that could meet your all specifications and budget. Whatever option you opt for, always remember to thoroughly search mini cab insurance market before purchasing one.