Taxi and Private Hire Breakdown Cover: Your Go-To Guide

For taxi or private hire drivers, breaking down on the road is more than just an inconvenience. Every minute spent stranded on the roadside means lost income, frustrated passengers, and potential reputational damage.

Taxi and private hire breakdown cover is designed specifically for these situations. It helps you get back on the road quickly and keep your business going.

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about taxi and private hire breakdown cover—including the benefits of breakdown cover, coverage levels and types, and some of the leading providers of this type of cover in the UK.

Taxis, also known as hackney carriages or black cabs, are vehicles that can be hailed directly from the street or at a designated taxi rank.

Private hire vehicles, on the other hand, can’t be hailed from the street. They must be booked in advance through an operator or service, such as a taxi company, a ride-hailing platform like Uber, or a chauffeur service.

When it comes to breakdown cover, some providers don’t distinguish between the two. This means that if you take out a taxi breakdown cover, you’ll be covered for both taxis and private hire vehicles. However, this isn’t always the case. Certain providers offer separate policies for each type of vehicle. So, check the fine print to make sure you have the right coverage for your business vehicle type.

Taxi breakdown cover is a specialised type of car insurance designed for licensed taxi drivers to ensure they can get back on the road quickly if their vehicle breaks down.

Similar to standard breakdown policies, taxi breakdown cover offers assistance for a wide range of issues, including:

Most taxi breakdown coverage includes roadside assistance and recovery to a local garage as standard.

Depending on the provider, you might be able to customise your cover with additional services such as nationwide recovery, European recovery, and home assist (also known as home start), which provides assistance if your taxi breaks down within a close range to your home (usually a ¼ mile).

Some providers also offer onward travel options, which cover alternative travel expenses so you and your passengers can continue your journey.

Taxi breakdown cover can give you:

Private hire breakdown cover is a specialised insurance option for drivers who operate pre-booked transport services, such as chauffeurs and rideshare drivers (e.g., Uber, Lyft).

Like taxi breakdown cover, it covers many common issues that can lead to breakdowns (such as flat batteries, punctures, and engine issues) and offers different coverage levels depending on your needs. These include roadside assistance, national recovery, home start, and onward travel.

Private hire breakdown cover offers more or less the same benefits as taxi breakdown cover. It minimises downtime and lost earnings, protects your reputation, and provides peace of mind.

Fleet breakdown cover is a specialised type of breakdown insurance for businesses that operate multiple vehicles, including taxis, private hire vehicles, or a combination of both. It provides coverage for all vehicles within the fleet under a single policy.

Advantages of fleet breakdown cover include:

Here are some of the best UK breakdown cover providers that protect taxis and private hire vehicles:

With more than 100 years of industry experience, the RAC is one of the UK’s most experienced breakdown cover providers. It provides two levels of taxi breakdown cover: Roadside and At Home and Roadside, At Home, and Recovery. The latter includes recovery for the vehicle plus you and your passengers to anywhere in the UK. The RAC’s taxi breakdown policies cover both taxis and private hire vehicles.

The company also prides itself on its quick response times. It claims to reach most stranded motorists within an hour and fix four of every five vehicles on the spot.

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Emergency Assist offers an affordable taxi breakdown policy that starts at £57.09 per year. Drivers can lower their premiums even further (up to 20%) by selecting an optional excess.

Its taxi breakdown cover includes roadside assistance, home start, local recovery, and national recovery as standard, with onward travel as an optional extra. The company boasts a network of 3,000 recovery agents across the UK and offers unlimited callouts during the policy year, making it a reliable and budget-friendly choice for taxi drivers.

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Driver Guardian offers a comprehensive breakdown cover policy for taxis that includes roadside assistance, home start, national recovery, and onward travel.

The company’s breakdown cover is vehicle-based, meaning anyone insured to drive the taxi will get assistance if they break down.

Coverage starts at just £12.31 a month. Driver Guardian company claims to have over 3,300 recovery vehicles and operators in its network and responds to 95% of callouts within 35 minutes.

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CBC taxi breakdown cover includes roadside assistance and local recovery as standard. National Recovery, Home Assist, and Onward Travel are available as optional extras. The onward travel option is particularly valuable, offering a replacement hire vehicle or overnight accommodation worth up to £500 for you and your passengers.

CBC policies allow up to six callouts per year, ensuring drivers have ample support throughout their coverage period.

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Start Rescue offers taxi breakdown cover as part of its business fleet breakdown cover. This cover includes both taxis and private hire vehicles and comes with features like roadside assistance, local recovery, home start, and misfuel cover as standard.

For those looking for more extensive coverage, optional add-ons like national recovery and European cover are available. Each vehicle covered under the policy is entitled to up to four callouts per year.

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No. However, it’s essential for protecting your vehicle, passengers, and business. Without adequate cover, a breakdown could result in costly repairs, lost income, and dissatisfied customers.

Yes, standard breakdown cover usually doesn’t cover taxis and private hire cars. To be fully protected, you’ll need specialist breakdown cover for these types of vehicles.

Most taxi and private hire breakdown cover policies include provisions for onward travel for passengers. This means that if your vehicle breaks down and can’t be fixed immediately, the provider will arrange alternative transportation for your passengers to their destination.

Yes, several providers offer breakdown cover for older vehicles. However, some may impose restrictions or charge higher premiums for vehicles above a certain age or mileage.