Professional Driver Magazine July 2023

New Zego survey reveals UK’s most expensive cities for taxi drivers

A new study has revealed the UK towns and cities where it is most expensive to be a taxi driver.

The survey, by taxi insurance company Zego, examined several administration costs that are required when setting up as a taxi driver in each UK city.

Start-up factors include the average cost of taxi insurance, initial cost of a DBS certificate, average cost of a taxi licensing fee (for three years) and the average cost of petrol per litre.

London tops the study as the most expensive UK city for taxi drivers, with an average set-up price of £1,856, which doesn’t include any actual vehicle costs.

The average annual cost of taxi insurance in London is £1,542 –which is the cheapest quote the experts found. A licensing fee for a taxi driver for three years in London is around £261.55.

Wakefield is the second most expensive city in the study, with a total start-up cost of around £1,828 and a cost of around £642 for a three-year taxi licensing fee. The average price of petrol per litre in Wakefield is £1.40.

In third place is Bradford, costing a total £1,714 to start up as a registered taxi driver. The cheapest taxi insurance quote found in Bradford for a taxi driver is £1,471, and a three-year licensing fee is £199.

The top ten is rounded out by Coventry, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Luton, Southampton, Manchester and Wigan.

Sten Saar, CEO of Zego, said: “It is no surprise that London tops the study, being the capital city of the UK and even declared the fourth most expensive city in the world.”

The cheapest UK city to become a taxi driver is Inverness in Scotland, with an average total startup cost of around £853. Hereford is also amongst the cheapest cities for setting up, with an annual taxi insurance cost of around £708.