If you’ve ever considered running a taxi firm then there’s plenty that you need to know before making the plunge. One of the most important decisions to make is whether the firm will be public hire or private hire. Before looking at which is safer and easier to insure, let’s first cover the differences between the two types of taxi firms. Public hire Public hire taxis can display a ‘taxi’ sign on the outside of the cab. They can also pick up passengers from the street. Private hire Private hire taxis must be booked in advance from the head office (or increasingly -online). Private hire taxis cannot be hailed from the street. So which is safer? As you might have already guessed, private hire taxis are generally safer – both for operators and drivers. This is because the type of passengers you will get differs quite a lot. Private hire firms get a lot of corporate bookings for example, whereas public hire firms deal with a lot of drunk and unruly passengers. This is of course a simplification and there is in reality a lot of cross-over in the types of passengers that both firms get. However the risks with…