Executive travel and chauffeur licences

If you are planning on running a private hire business from your home or a commercial unit, you may need to obtain planning permission for this, particularly if you intend to run multiple vehicles. You may also be liable for business rates at your property.

Your drivers and vehicles will need to be covered by special 'private hire' motor insurance policies, which cover them while carrying paying passengers. Ordinary motor insurance policies do not allow this.

Under the conditions of our private hire operator licences, you will need to keep records of all bookings you receive and of every driver and vehicle working for you. Smaller companies may be able to satisfy this requirement with a paper-based system but bigger companies will typically need a specialist computer system.

As your business grows, you may need a public liability insurance policy to provide security against any damages claims made against you. If you employ any other drivers or staff, you are also likely to need employer's liability insurance.

You will be responsible for your own income tax and National Insurance assessments and payments; therefore, you may wish to consider engaging the services of an accountant to assist you with this.

Some operators, particularly stretch limo and party vehicle operators, may wish to supply alcohol as part of their hire agreements. In order to do this, you will need to obtain alcohol licences from the licensing authority, who can be contacted by email.

If you decide to use larger vehicles (9+ passengers) in your business, these cannot be licensed by local councils and instead must be licensed as public service vehicles by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.