Taxi drivers 'missing out on thousands of euros in insurance savings'
Taxi drivers are missing out on insurance savings worth thousands of euro during the Covid-19 crisis due to the requirements of the National Transport Authority (NTA), according to the largest Irish union representing the sector.
Jim Waldron, spokesman for the National Private Hire Taxi Association (NPHTA), said that the NTA’s requirement that any driver switching from a professional policy to one for domestic and social use must give up their tamper-proof discs is discouraging the union’s members from securing savings they cannot afford to do without.
Every licenced taxi driver in Ireland is required by law to maintain two tamper-proof discs on their vehicle.
Mr Waldron said that drivers are declining to lower their insurance costs for fear that the NTA would not be in a position to reissue and affix discs to them in short order so they can work again when the crisis ends.
Typically professional insurance policy premiums for taxi drivers in Ireland average in the region of €2,500, depending on the driver’s safety record.
They can rise as high as €10,000 per annum in certain cases.
“Taxi drivers don’t have the faith in the NTA to replace the discs quickly if they need and are able to work. They’re afraid to seek a reduction in their insurance because of this requirement,” Mr Waldron said.
A spokesperson for the NTA said that the disc requirement is necessary so that drivers “don’t operate as a taxi without the appropriate insurance cover”.
Meanwhile, Mr Waldron also called on all taxi drivers to break the electronic link on their vehicle to the NTA’s driver check app in order to verify that they have been off the road when the issue of possible post-crisis compensation is raised.
At present, off-the-road drivers using their car for private reasons are listed as still at work. Mr Waldron said that per the app 78% of drivers are still at work, a figure far removed from the reality.
