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Cabbies protesting high insurance
CHML
2/19/2013

Local taxi cab drivers are asking the City of Hamilton to help them tackle rising insurance rates.

Spokesperson Ejaz Butt says in some cases, rates are rising by as much as 400 per cent, which makes working in the profession unaffordable.

He says drivers are facing a doubling or tripling of premiums compared to what they paid last year.

Some cabbies have been told they will pay up to 18-thousand dollars for coverage.

About 150 cabs circled around city hall for a noon hour rally today, calling on the city for help.

Councillors say they will ask the province to revisit the insurance rates issue.

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  1. Crazzy Dave posted on 02/19/2013 07:59 AM
    Well they do use there cars 24/7 and I am sure that it is based on their safe driving. It is only fare that if they drive more often than most people it puts cabs more at risk and they should pay more. Now on the other hand how much more seems to be the problem. If you use your car 4 hours a day and have a safe driving record it would cost around 2 to 3 thousand dollars a year. Now if you multiply it by 5 (24 dived by 4) it would be 10 to 15 thousand dollars a year. That is a big difference and I can see both sides of it.
  2. MariaR_6861 posted on 02/19/2013 08:33 AM
    The public have to be prepared to pay more for fares. They have to get their costs back. It is a business like any other business.
  3. Who Cares posted on 02/19/2013 08:52 AM
    I think we should all join in and protest the price of Gas. Crude price drops $1.45 a barrel and gas goes up about $0.10 a litre. We are being gouged there as well. So to take a taxi , now they will have to raise fairs big time to offset higher fuel an insurance costs. The oil companies , banks and insurance companies are raking in record profits, time for the gouging to end.
  4. PatS_0567 posted on 02/19/2013 11:58 AM
    I sympathize with them but what good is it going to do for them to protest in downtown Hamilton? Insurance premiums aren't set by the city. Apparently the main insurer for the industry has shut down and caused the problem. Maybe they should look at self-insuring as an industry.
  5. MariaR_6861 posted on 02/19/2013 03:06 PM
    Insurance companies are terrible. They are rich and they own big buildings. They never go broke they are not regulated like the ones who rent out units. We can go broke because we can not pay the bills, because of rent control and we do have to pay for the other families bills. But, the insurance companies and city's also for taxes they just give us the bill and if we can not do it we have to let go of the things. I believe that the taxis if they stop circulating will paralyze the communities. They are private but they are performing a public service. They should have been looked at like that, and have sort of break. May be from the government. Because deducting the expenses on income tax sometimes is not an option because they do not have enough income to right it off, moreover they will not have any money to take home to live on.
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