Not all have the qualifications to become a driver for mainstream online transportation platforms. For one, Lyft has a very strict background check. Uber is forgiving but signing up as a driver might be difficult still. And so, some stick to being taxi drivers.
If you're offering a taxi service, including an unmarked car service using your personal vehicle, it is essential that you maintain adequate taxi business insurance coverage.
Given the high possibility of different exposures happening, particularly relevant to the constant driving conditions of a car-for-hire service, you need to make sure that your taxi, your business, and your customers are well covered.
In fact, regional regulatory statutes provide that the legal operation of a taxi service requires industry-standard minimum property damage and personal injury coverage included in taxi insurance. After all, in car crashes, a taxi can cause as much damage as a limousine.
Our discussion today will look into the nook and crannies of taxi insurance. Understand how it will help, what are the inclusions, how much to pay for premiums, and which companies offer the best coverage.
Taxi service has rushed onto the global service industry scene. Many urban residents are forgoing personal car ownership in favor of using smartphone-app ride-hailing services which are convenient, hassle-free and economical. For many workers, having a side-hustle for extra income is now possible by using a personal vehicle and without requiring the excessive certification processes typical of the old-school taxi industry.
Tailored taxi business insurance and taxi driver insurance are products insurance companies especially underwrite for private for-hire taxi businesses, public hire taxis, Uber, Lyft, and others. Regardless if you use an economy or luxury car as a taxi, you need to have commercial taxi insurance as protection. There are many inclusions in taxi and transport insurance. Nonetheless, the one you’ll always find in the quotes of taxi insurance companies is liability insurance.
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The primary coverage companies offer to taxi business and drivers is liability insurance. Liability insurance has different forms. And what’s available for you is general liability insurance. General liability insurance is available as long term or short term taxi insurance policy, which provides coverage for the following perils:
| Coverage | Function |
|---|---|
 Third-Party Personal Injuries | Your taxi operations will injure third parties such as clients, contractors, and other third parties. General liability insurance will pay the medical expenses of people you injure |
 Third-Party Property Damage | Your taxi operations will cause property damage. Aside from personal injuries, general liability insurance will also reimburse the losses of third parties whose personal effects were damaged by you |
 Legal Expenses | Third parties might take legal action after you inflicted them with injuries or property damage. In such a situation, general liability insurance takes care of attorney fees, court payment orders, and other legal costs |
Insurance companies allow you to get more from general liability insurance. This comes at a price though. But even so, consider investing more on premiums so that general liability give you these additional protections:
 |  |
|---|---|
| Advertising Injury Coverage | Rented Premises Liability Coverage |
| A third party might sue your taxi business for slander, libel, breach of confidentiality, copyright infringement, false advertising, and other related acts. If this happens, general liability insurance added with advertising injury coverage will cover attorney fees, court payment orders, and other legal costs | If you’re renting a commercial space for your taxi operations, don’t hesitate to add rented premises liability coverage to general liability insurance. The commercial space you’re renting might get damaged or destroyed because of fire and general liability insurance with rented premises liability coverage will reimburse the landlord for you |
Public liability insurance for taxi services is a coverage that is necessary for any business dealing directly with the general public. The function of general liability insurance and public insurance are the same - that is to cover personal injury claims and property damage claims third- parties file. But you should remember that unlike general liability insurance, public liability insurance can’t be added with products and completed operations coverage or rented premises liability coverage. This means that its scope is more limited.
If you’re a taxi driver renting a taxi or using an owned taxi, then getting public liability insurance is the best option. However, if you’re running a taxi service business employing multiple drivers and taxi vehicles, the best option is general liability insurance.
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Another inclusion in tailored commercial taxi insurance is commercial auto insurance. It is important to note that commercial auto insurance policies for vehicles (whether a marked taxicab or private vehicle for hire through an app service) differ from personal auto insurance. It is essential that all taxi operators carry commercial auto insurance because it provides the following comprehensive protections:
| Coverage | Function |
|---|---|
 Auto Liability Coverage | Your taxi will cause an accident either by crashing into a vehicle or an object. If it inflicted injuries to third parties or damaged someone’s property, auto liability coverage in commercial auto insurance will cover expenses for the medical treatment of injured parties and reimbursements of damaged property. Understand though that auto liability coverage won’t provide help if your taxi caused an accident due to its involvement in the following criminal activities - DUI, overspeeding, and more |
 Physical Damage Coverage | No one will ride a taxi that looks damaged and worn. This is why commercial auto insurance for taxis has physical damage coverage. Physical damage coverage has two forms - collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement if the taxi got damaged after colliding with a vehicle or an object. Comprehensive physical damage coverage will shoulder expenses if fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils damaged the taxi |
 Emergency Roadside Assistance | A taxi constantly runs on the road and it will experience occasional defects. This will result in an interrupted trip. But still, it needs to get back up and running no matter what the issue is. Emergency roadside assistance coverage in commercial auto insurance will reimburse what was spent on roadside assistance services such as battery jump-start, gas delivery, tire repair, tire delivery and replacement, and more |
 MedPay/Personal Injury Protection | MedPay/personal injury protection is a very essential coverage in commercial auto insurance for taxis. MedPay and personal injury protection will cover the medical treatment of passengers and the driver who got injured after the taxi caused an accident or got involved in an accident |
Taxi fleet insurance or commercial fleet insurance is very useful when running a taxi service business owning three or more taxis. By the way, dump truck, tractor, heavy equipment, and seasonal snow plow businesses are all examples of business types that also need to get commercial fleet insurance.
Commercial fleet insurance isn’t different from commercial auto insurance. It has the coverages discussed in the previous section too. But there’s one thing that makes commercial fleet insurance unique, that is you can insure three or more taxis under one insurance policy. Commercial fleet insurance is advantageous because its premiums are cheaper than when you get separate commercial auto insurance for multiple taxis.
Also Read: Limousine Insurance: Limo Insurance Cost & Quotes From $11
As a taxi business, you’re using a commercial space serving as an office, taxi terminal, and warehouse for supplies. You have to get that insured too. And to do so, purchase commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance primarily covers these perils:
 |  |
|---|---|
| Building Destruction | Building Damage |
| If your taxi business’s commercial space gets destroyed by fire or extreme weather, commercial property insurance will reimburse your investment | Fire, extreme weather, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils will damage your taxi business’s commercial building, and commercial auto insurance will reimburse your investment equal to the value of damaged structures |
Pay more on commercial property insurance premiums and you’ll enjoy protection against damage to business equipment and building contents. Additional inclusions in commercial property insurance are:
 |  |
|---|---|
| Stocks and Contents Coverage | Business Equipment and Tools Coverage |
| Within the premises of your taxi business’s commercial space are computers, office furniture, CCTV cameras, and other valuables. When these become damaged or destroyed due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, commercial property insurance with stocks and contents coverage will reimburse losses equal to the value of items lost or damaged | Commercial property insurance added with business equipment and tools coverage will reimburse losses if the equipment your business is using to maintain and repair its taxis becomes lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils |
Do you plan to get commercial property insurance and general liability insurance? If this is the case, don’t buy the policies separately. We suggest you look for an insurance company offering a business owner’s policy for taxi businesses.
A business owner’s policy is a fusion of commercial property insurance and general liability insurance added with one or two inclusions. For example, a business owner’s policy will also offer workers' compensation insurance, cyber liability insurance, business interruption insurance, etc.
Workers' compensation insurance is useful whether you’re driving your own taxi or running a taxi service business. You never know when you yourself or employees might experience a work-related accident. Work-related accidents are often costly and workers' compensation insurance will pay for the following expenses on your behalf:
| Coverage | Function |
|---|---|
 Employee Treatment/Medical Procedure | Driving a taxi exposes you or employees to numerous injuries. One of the functions of workers' compensation insurance is to shoulder the cost of surgeries, therapies, and other medical treatment/procedures |
 Hospitalization | Some injuries will require extensive stays in the hospital. Workers' compensation insurance ensures that you continue healing without any problems by taking care of hospital bills |
 Medication | If your doctor or an employee's doctor, recommends medicines, workers' compensation insurance also provides coverage. It will cover expenses for medication no matter what kind of drug you or an employee needs to fully heal |
 Rehabilitation | Your injury or an employee's injury might result in impairment. In line with this, rehabilitation might be required to reverse the effects or mitigate the reduction in the quality of life. It’s also the job of workers' compensation insurance to cover the therapist fees and other rehabilitation expenses |
 Lost Income Compensation | Workers' compensation insurance will also help if you or an employee can’t drive the taxi and not generate income due to an injury. This insurance provides a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage. Say, if the wage is $678 per week, a $460.29 weekly allowance will be received as compensation for lost income |
 Death Benefits | Workers' compensation insurance provides death benefits if you or an employee dies due to work-related hazards in taxi service |
Workers' compensation insurance is very useful since there are many work-related hazards when operating a taxi. Here are some recorded incidents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration:
| Incident Date | What Happened |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2020 | An employee of a taxi company was dispatched. While working, an unknown assailant rode the taxi and shot the driver multiple times. The driver in question died on the spot |
| March 20, 2011 | A driver, working for a Lexington taxi service company was found dead inside the unit he was operating. The cause of death was a gunshot to the head |
| March 8, 2009 | A king cab taxi driver was shot by an unknown assailant while picking up a passenger |
Temporary taxi insurance is primarily offered as tailored monthly taxi insurance or weekly taxi insurance having general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance as the primary inclusions. Insurance premiums are paid daily or weekly depending on your choice. Note that the cost is more expensive than long-term taxi insurance.
There’s tailored airport taxi insurance for taxi drivers and taxi businesses specializing in airport transfers. The primary inclusions are general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, and cargo insurance.
As a taxi driver or taxi service business, you must carry the minimum commercial auto liability coverage mandated by your state. Getting general liability insurance is recommended but not required.
If you’re planning to be a driver for Uber or Lyft, you must get commercial auto insurance and add Uber and Lyft as additional insureds. You can get insurance coverage from commercial insurance companies, Uber, or Lyft.
The average taxi insurance cost is about $78 per month or $936 per year for $1 million general liability insurance. However, the average taxi insurance price will depend on many factors, the more drivers and vehicles your taxi business has, the more your taxi car insurance cost will be. Also, your taxi service insurance requirements may vary according to your state’s minimum insurance regulations. In addition, here’s a table showing the best taxi insurance companies:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $68 | $816 | Taxi insurance quotes comparison online |
| AXA | $73 | $876 | Commercial auto insurance for taxis |
| Uber | $78 | $936 | Uber drivers |
Remember, when searching for cheap taxi insurance quotes, that you need to make sure you are adequately covered in order to mitigate the potentially catastrophic financial implications of an accident. If you are driving with the Uber service, remember that your third-party and commercial operations may be fully or partially covered by Uber’s insurance provisions. Double-check the Uber policy with your insurance broker to be certain you are covered for your circumstances and vehicle use.
To get the best offers and rates for commercial taxi insurance and perform instant taxi insurance online quote comparison from top taxi insurers, click the 'Get Quotes' button and complete the questionnaire to have the best taxi insurers compete for your business!
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It is critical to look at the insurance companies that offer affordable taxi insurance. Doing so will allow you to look at the good and bad sides of carriers. Also, it helps you decide whether the insurance solutions available from each insurance company suit your needs or not. Read these reviews to know the best taxi insurance companies' pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.
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Taxi insurance policies CoverWallet sells are underwritten by its partners
CoverWallet is an insurance broker that customizes the quotes of its partners to give you tailored taxi insurance offering four coverage options as shown in the table below:
| Taxi Insurance Plan | Inclusion |
|---|---|
| Basic | General liability insurance with products and completed operations coverage |
| Standard | General liability insurance and commercial property insurance |
| Pro | Commercial property insurance and general liability insurance with workers compensation insurance |
| Pro Plus | Custom plan - CoverWallet leaves it up to you to get what insurance products are needed. In this plan, you can get different types of insurance so long as you can afford their premiums |
Upon buying insurance from CoverWallet, you then get access to the MyCoverWallet app. Use this app to check the status of insurance policies, pay premiums, add additional insureds, and get certificates of insurance online.
CoverWallet will insure you instantly online without talking to an agent. You can also use its insurance quotes comparison platform before getting insured to look at other companies selling tailored taxi insurance. Another thing, CoverWallet allows you to cancel a policy anytime without any charges.
Best for: Taxi insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $68 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Comprehensive commercial auto insurance
Can be paid in 5 months or 10 months
Doesn’t offer other business insurance policies for taxis
As with Uber coverage, the car owner’s personal automobile insurance must be maintained, as it is the only coverage during personal use times of vehicle use. However, with AXA policies (covering non-US locations), there is coverage during business use of your vehicle as a taxi for injury, loss, or damage to third parties and their property. The policy can be widened to include fire, theft, or accidental damage as well.
Best for: Commercial auto insurance for taxis
Average cost: $73 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Fast to process claims
Only provides insurance for Uber drivers
For drivers working with the Uber app, Uber provides commercial auto insurance for rides coordinated through its ridesharing platform. When Uber drivers are online and available for pick-up, as well as when on route to pick up and during trips, Uber provides third-party liability insurance. Note that the rate of coverage during the trip is $1M for third-party liability and includes car cash value for comprehensive and collision coverage. The rate of coverage is less during a driver’s time working but not within a trip’s duration (i.e. during ‘available’ or ‘waiting’ times).
Best for: Uber drivers
Average cost: $78 per month
Our rating: 8/10
1 / 5
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
1 / 5
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
1 / 5
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
5 / 5
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
5 / 5
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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