Becoming An Uber Driver

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

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Joined
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Barnet, London
Does anyone have experience of this? I'm considering it to help tick things over when my redundancy kicks in next year. I like the idea of working when I want and as much as I want.

It looks like I need a specific license (don't know how simple this is?) and proper insurance, but then pretty much off you go!?
 
So you wil need what that call a PCO license - Public Carriage Office License

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/apply-for-a-taxi-driver-licence

This will entail a DBS check , a map test and a basic English test . Last I heard when I left the industry in March was it was taking 3 months , applications are through TFL .

Once you have a license I would strongly suggest you rent a car from a licensed firm like Addison Lee or the like to get some experience under your belt . Buying a car and it being wrong for you can be very costly . Uber has its peaks and troughs for working hours - generally both rush hours , late nights and weekend .

If you do go down the route of your own car you will need Hire and Rewards insurance ( new driver your looking 3k premium), 2x Mot’s a year ( £100 ) and an annual PCO inspection ( £100 ) servicing and tyres ( £1000) . In addition to this cars that have been used as taxis now have to be declared as used as private hire vehicles and residuals are in the toilet , unless quite new . No vehicles older than 10 years old .

Sort your sat Nav out and off you go.

I’ve crunched so many numbers working in private hire for drivers( 24 years ) and unless you are happy working serious hours or have regular high net worth clients then steer clear- all you will earn is minimum wage and your car paid for .
 
Some interesting info, thanks.

Bald-Eagle22 said:
Buying a car and it being wrong for you can be very costly .
Click to expand...

I'm looking to buy a diesel estate car for my own needs and was thinking to use that?

Bald-Eagle22 said:
you will need Hire and Rewards insurance ( new driver your looking 3k premium)
Click to expand...

When you say 'new driver' are you saying 'new to hire car driving'? Obviously I have 30 years of driving behind me with 20 or so years of no claims. Really my insurance would be £3k?
 
AndyCr15 said:
Some interesting info, thanks.



I'm looking to buy a diesel estate car for my own needs and was thinking to use that?



When you say 'new driver' are you saying 'new to hire car driving'? Obviously I have 30 years of driving behind me with 20 or so years of no claims. Really my insurance would be £3k?
Click to expand...
Have you ever been in a taxi? It is normally the number 1 thing they whinge about once you get chatting. Cost of insurance is very high because you are carrying up to 4 members of the public for potentially every waking (busy) hour!
 
Both you and the vehicle have to be licensed, to make the money back on that initial investment you have to be doing a lot of ubering. Unlike in the states, you can’t just slap a sticker on the car and go, all the same regs as a minicab driver apply.

As others suggested, you may be better off renting a Prius for a few weeks and see how you get on. Plus you’ll want to be on all the apps and not just Uber which means you’ll need 2-3 phones to have them all visible at once.

Aren’t fares also low at the moment due to COVID with few tourists, loads of people still working from home and very few business trips/face to face meetings happening?
 
AndyCr15 said:
Some interesting info, thanks.



I'm looking to buy a diesel estate car for my own needs and was thinking to use that?



When you say 'new driver' are you saying 'new to hire car driving'? Obviously I have 30 years of driving behind me with 20 or so years of no claims. Really my insurance would be £3k?
Click to expand...

Yes , you can’t transfer over normal no Claims to H & R insurance.

Find a Prius reg number and get a quote , might be cheaper because of your age but it won’t be cheap.
 
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