Uber drivers in New York strike to protest lower pay...

Botttom line: Drivers net wages are $7 - $12 an hour in NY
I cannot say I am surprised to hear that a driver is earning ~ minimum wage.

 

Not to mention the wear and tear, gas, and insurance on their vehicles.

I don't think your regular insurance works when you're using your car as a business item. That kind of insurance is a bit more costly, unless the driver is lying about the use of their vehicle.

While I don't have need for that service, I can see why it would be appealing to people and drivers. But lets see what happens when the government starts to crack down on this, because of regulations on using cars as taxis, bust mostly because they want their piece of the pie, aka taxes.

 

New York City has this ridiculous system that charges a king's ransom for a license ("medallion.")
The medallion owner gets very rich, the drivers are serfs, and the customers are screwed.

Uber & Lyft etc are too sane a replacement to turn back the clock.

 

We had all this here years ago and regulation was improved. Just wait until the first passenger to be raped or attacked by some nut job who wouldn't pass the Police check for a normal taxi licence.

I had to spend a fortune on police checks, medicals, licences and correct insurance. It's dead easy to uncut me if you bend the rules and don't pay these. Sure let it be the drivers responsibility to get correct insurance, but what happens when they don't? That might not bother you until a friend or family member ends up in a wheel chair after an unlicenced and uninsured drivers has a prang.

And yes, taxi insurance is horrifically more expensive. I'm sure it'll be the same in the US but here there were only a handful of insurers because the claims are so high. That's not just bad driving, but nudge the curb in the snow and you have 4 idiots trying a dodgy whiplash claim. Even if the insurers reject it it still costs them time and processing.

 

I was thinking of using The ChuggyPig to earn some $$ by working for Uber but my insurance broker advised me to avoid Uber like the plague, for all those reasons described above!

 

Listen to your broker.

I've since read that Uber provide top up insurance for the 'taxi' use and they say your normal insurance would be fine for non Uber use. I don't know how that would work in the US but your insurers here wouldn't accept that. You have a duty to tell them of any use and I'm sure as soon as you mention the Uber usage they'd run a mile. Does Uber just pay passenger liability? What happens to the damage of your car if it was your fault? What if Uber refuse to pay? Do the injured parties then seek recompense from you? It sounds a minefield and one where I fear the driver and not Uber would lose out.

There's no short cut to it all. A private insurance quote for me can be as low as £200 a year (I actually pay £300 with many extras and low deductible) and in the taxi job you could easily add an extra zero to the cost.

 

I went through it with my broker, asking all the questions you mentioned (well, actually they went through a list which just about covered all your points) and their advice was to BEWARE! and stay well clear! which seemed to me to be sensible advice! I'd be interested to learn about any cases in real life of any of the circumstances you mentioned. - Wil

PS: Are you in based in London, and did you have to do The Knowledge Test? (…nosey folk want to pry! )

 

No and not really.

I'm 200 miles away from London. Each main city or large town has it's own rules and regulations with quite a bit of commonality - there are about 400 different areas. There are mainly 2 types of cab; taxi and private hire (aka minicab). One can be hailed on the street, the other must be prebooked (phoned in and then dispatched by computer to the car). I was private hire. The rules and regs for these are virtually identical in most areas with the exception of london which is tigher for taxi regs and slacker for minicabs. My town insisted on the driver paying for a full police check, medical every 3 years, the car had to be safety checked annually upto 3 years old and every 6 month for cars over 3 years old. All cabs had to have the relevant licence stickers on the front doors and an additional taxi licence plate on the rear. Some towns insisted on a plate on the front too. Pretty much they try to make the car look like a cab so there is no mistaking them by the public. The minimum liability required was £2m ($3.2m), but I held £5m ($8m) because of certain contracts I did. My town also insisted on a locality test but this was no where near as comprehensive as the London Knowledge. With SatNav that is probably no longer as important.

Taxicabs of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With all these requirements you can see why official taxis are cheesed that Uber are undercutting them. It's not a level playing field. As shown with my insurance coverage. £2,000 is £166/$267 per month. That's an expense an Uber driver doesn't have, but it's an expense for important protection.

One could draw many regulation analogies with Uber and taxi drivers with lawyers, accountants, doctors or plastic surgeons.