Make the Most of Christmas Festivities

Christmas Taxi

One of the busiest times of the year has already began in earnest. Make the most of Christmas festivities and have your taxi in tip top condition inside and out!

There is some truth to be said that generating more custom can be attributed by ‘word of mouth’. Having a neat and tidy taxi will have the potential for returning customers who may also pass your number onto their friends and increase your work load. More work undoubtedly means more income, so get the proverbial snow ball rolling and greet the New Year in profit!

What makes your taxi service better than your competitors? Having a clean interior will make an impact on people’s initial perception of your services- dirty cab implies a sloppy attitude!

It’s important to remember that you may not be able to be very selective with your customers, but they can be very selective with which taxi they use! Your own attitude will also have an impact on people recommending you to others!

Being helpful and friendly goes along way with most people. Business cards can be obtained very inexpensively. Give out your card to all new customers to save them having to look you up in the phone book next time they need a taxi. Having a business card also shows professionalism, it informs people that you are serious about your work. Make sure you display your taxi license at all times, failure to do so and you may find yourself in court facing fines!

Above all make sure you have the correct taxi insurance. Having Public Liability included within the policy is well worth the additional cost at this busy time of the year.

Christmas Couriers

In the lead up to Christmas courier companies are cramming as many deliveries as they can in order to take advantage of the increase in Internet shopping.

Despite reports earlier in the year informing and advising courier drivers that towing a trailer means that most vans will then exceed the Gross Ton Weight making them illegal to drive on the UK roads, the number of van couriers using trailers is on the increase.

What is probably even more scary is that these courier vans are breaking the law on two other counts. Driving while towing a trailer requires the driver to have the correct driving license. It’s doubtful that many of them actually do have this. Driving without the correct type of license and being overweight will also mean that their van courier insurance will be invalid. Therefore if the parcels are lost, stolen or damaged they will not necessarily be covered.

There are estimated to already be over two million uninsured drivers on UK roads, vans towing trailers illegally will further add to the figures.

It may well be that in order to turn a profit before the end of the year these courier vans are prepared to take the risk of being caught rather than lose out on business, but at what cost if the get caught? Or are the courier van drivers blissfully unaware that they are breaking the law particularly if they are employed by a courier service which has a fleet courier van insurance and are given reassurance by their employers that ‘everything is covered‘?

Face the Facts

With the marked increase in people using the Internet to do their Christmas shopping there is a real opportunity to earn extra income as a courier, however, you will need to make sure that you set up a legitimate business and have the right type of insurance cover. Many people are unaware about the different type of insurance needed when using a vehicle as a courier.

Unlike ‘carriage of own goods’ those who are transporting goods for a third party and being rewarded or paid will need to have a courier insurance policy which covers multiple drops and the goods.

The incorrect insurance can be a very costly error on your part, cheap courier insurance policies are readily available, but bare in mind that there are some insurance companies who appear to offer a real bargain until you make a claim, you may then find out the hard way that many aspects such as windscreen cover is not included, neither will you be covered if you leave the keys in the ignition or vehicle and as a consequence it is stolen.

It may sound rather daft that people are still leaving keys in the ignition despite all the warnings and advice, however, it is all too simple to overlook when you are in a hurry and jumping in and out of your vehicle frequently. Let’s face most of us are convinced that theft will never happen to us right under our noses, the sad truth is that it only takes one incident to become a statistic and with a vehicle full of Christmas goodies your vehicle might escape theft but the contents may not.

Advice on Cheap Taxi Insurance

As everyone may be feeling the pinch over Christmas, i’m thinking about becoming a taxi driver to earn some extra pennies, so here are my findings on searching for taxi insurance.

Choosing cheap taxi insurance is a great idea however, I think it’s best to check the voluntary excess as you may find yourself paying quite a lot of money should you make a claim. The majority of insurers have a relatively low voluntary excess, but it is possible to increase the excess and lower the taxi insurance premiums to save money, unless you have an accident of course and make a claim to find yourself forking out to have minor repairs carried out which are lower than the excess, its well worth asking to make sure you know what voluntary excess your policy has.

Cheaper insurance can also be offered by insurers if you have proven years of taxi driving, this is generally calculated by the number of years you have held your local authority taxi badge. Further taxi insurance savings can be made if the taxi is insured for one driver only and that one driver is also the owner. Taxi firms which have a number of taxis may benefit further by having fleet taxi insurance rather than an individual policy for each vehicle.

If you are new to taxi driving no claims discounts earned on private vehicles are typically taken into consideration, however private vehicle no claims discounts rarely transfers in their entirety to taxi insurance, but like the ad on TV ‘every little helps‘ and a combination of looking at different aspects and deals being offered by insurers there are some very competitive taxi insurance policies available on the market at the moment.

Accidents do Happen

Historically courier insurance has been an area of insurance which was seen as second-rate and many insurers would not give consideration to such enquiries, with the dramatic increase in courier services providing reliable and timely deliveries many businesses are electing to use couriers rather than the Royal Mail.

Finding the cheapest and most competitive courier insurance is relatively simple with the influx of on-line insurance companies and brokers, however, courier service insurance in the UK is regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), therefore you should make sure where the insurance company is based otherwise the insurance policy they offer may not meet the UK regulations and when you make a claim you may find that your insurance doesn’t cover you, which can potentially mean disaster for you and your company.

Some excellent cheap courier insurance deals are available on-line and to save you time many brokers will do the ‘leg work’ for you to find the most competitive price to meet your needs making your life even easier. Goods in Transit, parcels and packages and even insurance for undisclosed package content is widely available for all types of courier vans, dispatch riders and motor bikes.

With Christmas courier deliveries expecting to rise sharply over the next few weeks making sure you have the right courier insurance may seem like a huge expense, but at the end of the day accidents and incidents do happen, spreading the cost of your courier insurance by opting for monthly installments rather than compromising on the amount of insurance cover is a far better option in my opinion.