In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 22/04/2016 20:05, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 19:12:08 on Fri, 22 Apr
2016, Mizter T remarked:

The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on
the streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but
uninsured minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured
means they'll lose their licence.

It's not like the good old bad old days when anyone could be a
minicab driver in London, when undoubtedly a fair few weren't
properly insured.

I can't speak for London but the hire car trade outside London has been
subject to licensing since the 1970s but licensed drivers regularly get
caught plying for hire illegally, her in Cambridge at least.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 22/04/2016 22:50, Mizter T wrote:

On 22/04/2016 20:05, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 19:12:08 on Fri, 22 Apr
2016, Mizter T remarked:

The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on the
streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but
uninsured minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured means
they'll lose their licence.

The lack of insurance is automatic (irrespective of any policy paid for)
if (or perhaps when) the driver of the pirate car plies for hire by
approaching or responding to would-be passengers in the street.

It's not like the good old bad old days when anyone could be a minicab
driver in London, when undoubtedly a fair few weren't properly insured.

If (ie, when) they ply for hire, they still aren't. They cannot be.

In article ,
(JNugent) wrote:

On 22/04/2016 22:50, Mizter T wrote:

On 22/04/2016 20:05, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 19:12:08 on Fri, 22 Apr
2016, Mizter T remarked:

The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on the
streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but
uninsured minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured means
they'll lose their licence.

The lack of insurance is automatic (irrespective of any policy paid
for) if (or perhaps when) the driver of the pirate car plies for hire
by approaching or responding to would-be passengers in the street.

Not always so, actually. In a case I dealt with as a member of the Cambridge
licensing committee, one hire car driver caught plying for hire was driving
for a firm that also had hackneys so insured all its vehicles for both
plying for both uses. This is much more unlikely in London where there isn't
the cross-over in fleets that there s in Cambridge.

It's not like the good old bad old days when anyone could be a minicab
driver in London, when undoubtedly a fair few weren't properly insured.

If (ie, when) they ply for hire, they still aren't. They cannot be.

They can as I said above have insurance that covers plying for hire. They
are still guilty of other offences of course but tend to get fewer points on
their licences because the minimum for insurance offences is six points.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 22:50:11 on Fri, 22 Apr
2016, Mizter T remarked:
The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on the
streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but
uninsured minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured means
they'll lose their licence.

No, the complaint is that because Uber has roughly doubled the number of
minicabs in London, the TfL compliance department has been overwhelmed
and can no longer adequately police whether the cabs do have proper
insurance. That's insurance for being a minicab at all, not insurance
for pretending to be a hackney.

There's a secondary gripe, about Uber cars lurking around hot spots like
Kings Cross, blocking the streets as they don't have any ranks to use,
so that they can pick up their fares in seconds. One of the changes
that's being asked for is a period of purdah (5 minutes perhaps) between
someone ordering a Uber and it being allowed to pick them up.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 22:50:11 on Fri, 22 Apr 2016,
Mizter T remarked:
The complaint is they claim minicabs are plying for hire around St
Pancras and KX.

More specifically, uninsured minicabs.

Wrong, that's not the complaint.

Private hire cars (aka minicabs) are not allowed to ply for hire on the
streets, only taxis can do that.

I'd suggest that you'll find very few, if any, TfL-licensed but uninsured
minicabs out on the street in London - being uninsured means they'll lose
their licence.

No, the complaint is that because Uber has roughly doubled the number of
minicabs in London, the TfL compliance department has been overwhelmed and
can no longer adequately police whether the cabs do have proper insurance.
That's insurance for being a minicab at all, not insurance for pretending
to be a hackney.

There's a secondary gripe, about Uber cars lurking around hot spots like
Kings Cross, blocking the streets as they don't have any ranks to use, so
that they can pick up their fares in seconds. One of the changes that's
being asked for is a period of purdah (5 minutes perhaps) between someone
ordering a Uber and it being allowed to pick them up.

I can't see the connection between those two things though.

The 5 minute wait was just a "ruse" to disrupt the business model and ISTM
is unlikely to have any effect on drivers congregating "just around the
corner" from major pick up points. It's so short that they would just wait
there for 5 minutes longer.

tim






--
Roland Perry

George Galloway promises to crack down on Uber if he becomes
Mayor of London. He won't become Mayor of course, but although
I disagree with him on most issues, I'd rather have him as Mayor
than any of the more likely candidates. I'm going to make him my
second choice.