Taxi Fleet Insurance – Guard Against Robbers

Individuals taking out taxi fleet insurance will no doubt have come across many ways in which their vehicles might be abused and used for nefarious means.

And taxi fleet insurance policies are not a panacea for every problem that might come up, but recent stories from the US suggest that owners should guard against being used a means of escape.

A bank robber in Concord, America, was arrested by police after she tried to make a get-away in a taxi. Apparently, she entered a branch of the Wells Fargo Bank early in the morning and demanded money from the cashier – via a note. Police reports are not clear how much she demanded (maybe the price of a taxi), or if she got as much money from the cashier as she wanted. But on exiting the Bank, she jumped into a cab and was quickly apprehended by the police who were responding to the emergency call.

Police arrested the woman and retrieved the money (minus perhaps, the taxi fare). Thankfully, she was not armed with a weapon, nor were there any injuries. Local Concord police and the FBI were said to be investigating the robbery.

The newspaper running the story noted it was the second time that a taxi has been used as a getaway vehicle. A 30-year-old man unsuccessfully tried to rob a petrol station and in his attempt to get away, hailed a cab and told the driver (here the writer is paraphrasing), to not spare the horses. He was quickly caught by the police, who are maybe used to such tactics to evade being caught.

It will please those who have taxi fleet insurance that at no time were the drivers suspected of colluding with the robbers, but it must be a risk of the job that at times, they might be seen as part of the robbery. But spare a thought for the drivers.

There they are, sometimes driving along, innocently trawling for a fare, or maybe sat at the rank, eating their sandwich lunch, when the door opens and in jumps a bank robber. One can only imagine the encounter. A sweating, wide-eyed person, complete with striped t-shirt and swag bag, saying to the driver, just drive, and be quick about it!

Maybe that give’s the game away. Maybe taxi drivers are quite used to such things and have their own personal ways of helping the police. Perhaps the question the passenger, asking deliberately awkward questions as to the destination address, or details about the fare, saying that it’s the law that the swag bag has to a go in the boot of the cab, and not the back seat.

Or perhaps some drivers see it as a good thing, as they know that the passenger can actually pay the fare. Whichever the case, the problem will perplex drivers and those that arrange their taxi fleet insurance.

For more information visit www.titan-insurance.com