Claim Culture

  One of the biggest things effecting drivers and so in turn operators (in rents they receive/number of drivers) then customers (higher prices/poorer service) is the current claim culture of the UK.
  As taxi & private hire drivers are on the road more than your average driver they have a far greater chance of been involved in an accident.  A number of accident management companies (ambulance chasers) have sprung up out of this and make huge profits out of doing pretty much nothing. Their involvment means the payouts by insurance companies are higher and unfortunatly these are passed on to the policy holders in the way of higher premiums. Remember these increased premiums are not just for the bad/accident prone drivers but apply to everyone.
  Now we're not saying people aren't entitled to claim for injury, damages, etc when they're unfortunate to be in an accident, and likewise we don't want drivers out there with vehicles that are unsafe to drive because they got a cash in hand settlement and got some dodgy back street garage repair.
  We do however want to encourage people to take the sensible option.

Drivers:

1. Don't admit fault at the roadside
2. Take pictures at the scene - be sure to get a good picture of vehicle registrations and damage, do this even if it's only scratches cover yourself and still do it. We have heard of countless cases where a minor collision has occurred at minimum speeds then two weeks later a claim goes in because the other party now has a massive dint in their car door.
3. Report it to your insurers. If it's only minor still report it and make sure to mention that it is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY". This doesn't effect your claim history (correct us if we're wrong) and remember your insurers don't want to pay out if they can avoid it. Early reporting gives your insurers the best opportuntiy to defend a claim.
4. If it is worthy of a claim use your insurers, the goverment have already started to take steps to make this the only way to do it, cut out the middle men, it will save us all money in the long run

Passengers:

1. Get all the proper details at the time, like the drivers take photo's at the scene of the crime
2. If your not injured don't go trying to make a claim, it will only end up costing everyone more money in the long run
3. Use a reputable claim company or better still contact the insurers of one of the parties involved this cuts out admin costs and saves everyone money while at the same time gets appropriate payout for genine incidents.