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The Department for Transport reported that in 2024, there were 313,000 taxis and 381,000 private hire vehicles operating in the UK, showing it is a common form of commuting. You may have booked a taxi to take you home, expecting a safe journey. However, taxi accidents do happen, and our guide aims to explore what you could do if you’ve been in one.
We will discuss things like what taxi accident claims are and how you could potentially make a claim with a solicitor from our panel. Taxi accidents, much like any other road traffic accident, can happen to anybody. If this has happened to you, our team are here to help. They have years of experience advocating for passengers, pedestrians, and other victims of negligence.
As with usual compensation claims, you could be eligible for compensation for injuries sustained from your taxi accident.
What You Need To Know
- If you were injured in a taxi accident that wasn’t your fault, you could have a compensation claim
- If an uninsured driver hit you or fled the scene, you can still claim
- Our panel of No Win No Fee experts could help you
- You typically have 3 years from the date of your accident to start a claim
- Taxi accident claims can be made against the taxi driver or the third party, depending on who is liable
Contact Us
If you have any questions about taxi accident claims, you can contact us:
- Call us on 0333 0000729
- Fill out our contact us form
- Use our built in livechat feature
Frequently Asked Questions
- What Is A Taxi Accident Claim?
- Who Can Make Taxi Accident Claims?
- What Can Cause An Accident In A Taxi?
- How Much Taxi Accident Compensation Could You Get?
- What Is Needed To Start A Taxi Accident Claim?
- Can You Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Information
What Is A Taxi Accident Claim?
A taxi accident claim is a type of compensation claim that you could start if you have been involved in an accident in a taxi. This could be an accident caused by your driver, or it may have been caused by the other driver. In either situation, our panel could help you.
Taxi accident claims can arise in a number of situations, which we talk about later in our guide.
Who Can Make Taxi Accident Claims?
In order for you to be eligible to start a taxi accident claim, we must first establish that negligence has occurred.
For us to demonstrate this, three factors must be proven:
- A road user owed you a duty of care
- This duty was breached by the person who owed you the duty of care
- This breach led to your injuries
The duty of care owed to you in this case is that all people using the roads should use them in a way that avoids causing damage or harm to others. This duty of care can be upheld by road users adhering to the regulations outlined in the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988.
An example where a person may breach their duty is if a taxi driver speeds over the limit, causing them to lose control and crash into another vehicle. This would be considered a breach of their duty of care as a road user. Any injuries you suffered as a result, you could potentially claim for.
Contact us today to see how our experts could help you.
What If The Taxi Or Other Driver Were Uninsured?
If you were involved in a collision where either your taxi driver or the third party was uninsured, you might be wondering how to bring a claim, and who you would claim against. Don’t worry, you could still potentially make a claim.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) is an organisation that allows victims of road traffic accidents to make claims against uninsured drivers. In cases where the party liable was uninsured, you aren’t able to claim through the typical insurance route. Instead, starting a claim through the MIB gives you a chance at being compensated.
As part of the services offered, a solicitor from our panel can apply on your behalf to bring a claim through the MIB, so contact us today, and our advisors will be happy to answer any questions you may have about claiming through the MIB.
What Can Cause An Accident In A Taxi?
Taxi accident claims arise mainly from two situations: an accident where another road user is liable, or an accident where your taxi driver is liable. Like most road traffic accidents, these can cause serious injuries to those involved. We will discuss the most common causes of taxi accidents below.
Collisions Where Third Party Is Liable
You may have been involved in an accident where the third party was at fault, and you could be wondering how to make a claim.
If the third party was insured, you can claim against their insurance provider. Examples of cases where the other driver is liable can include:
- If they were speeding and this caused them to lose control and crash into your taxi, causing you to suffer a fractured leg and a whiplash injury.
- The other party was driving under the influence of drugs, and they caused a rear-end collision, resulting in a serious head injury.
- If the third party failed to stop at a red light, and crashed into the side of the taxi causing a crush injury to your arm resulting in an amputation.
Collisions Where Taxi Driver Is Liable
If your taxi driver breached their duty owed to you as a passenger, and this led to your accident and subsequently your injuries, you might have a basis to claim.
Examples where your taxi driver may be liable include:
- They approach a junction without looking for oncoming traffic, and causes a third party to crash into the side of the taxi which results in you suffering a back injury
- Your taxi driver was using their phone and not paying attention to the road and crashed into a parked car, causing a spinal injury resulting in nerve damage
- Your taxi driver was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, when they lose control and crash into a pole, causing you to suffer multiple injuries.
Injuries Caused By Passengers Not Wearing Seatbelts
If you were injured in a taxi accident and you were not wearing a seatbelt, this could be considered contributory negligence. What this means is that you have contributed to your own injuries, as the injuries you experienced may not have been as bad if you had been wearing your seatbelt.
Sections 99 to 102 of the Highway Code state explicitly that adults and children over 14 years old must wear a seatbelt unless they have a valid health exemption. Therefore, if you fail to wear a seatbelt, you are breaching the duty of care owed to yourself and, consequently, contributing to your own injuries.
Contributory negligence can affect the amount of compensation you could receive. The higher the level of contributory negligence, the more of an impact this will have on your compensation.
Passengers Injured By Sudden Movements
Taxi accidents can occur through sudden movements, such as emergency braking or skidding. Both of these examples of sudden movements can result in a number of injuries.
Skidding can happen as a result of poorly maintained roads, or if your taxi driver was speeding and immediately had to slow down. If the condition of the roads caused the sudden movement, this may become a split liability claim.
A split liability claim places levels of responsibility on more than one party. What we mean here is that it is your local council’s responsibility to upkeep the roads and prevent accidents. It is also your taxi driver’s responsibility to ensure they do not cause harm on the roads. So, in this particular example, both the local council and your taxi driver could share the liability, depending on their level of involvement in the accident.
An example of injuries caused by sudden movements could be whiplash. The NHS describes whiplash as a neck injury caused by sudden movement of the head.
If you want to claim for any whiplash injuries, our section below discusses how the new tariff system may affect your claim.
How Much Taxi Accident Compensation Could You Get?
Compensation in taxi accident claims is split into two heads, general and special damages. Your general damages will consider things like pain, suffering and any loss of amenity (e.g. a loss of ability to engage in sports). Whereas, your special damages will account for financial losses incurred from your accident.
The amount of compensation you could get from a taxi accident depends on things like:
- The injuries you sustained from the accident
- The severity of your injuries
- Your projected recovery period
When determining your compensation amount, professionals may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a framework offering brackets of compensation for specific injury types. The table below shows figures for injuries sustained in taxi accidents. Please note that the first entry has not been taken from the JCG, and these are just suggestive compensation amounts.
The last two entries are from the fixed whiplash tariff, which we will discuss below.
| Injury | Notes | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries + Special Damages | Cases will include multiple severe injuries such as serious neck injury and back injury, plus financial losses. Financial losses will include things like loss of earnings. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Tetraplegia (also known as Quadriplegia) | Cases at the top of this bracket will show permanent pain, and significant difficulty in communicating, and serious damage to senses. | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia | An award in this bracket will be effected by things like level of ongoing pain and impact on sexual function. | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Very Severe Brain Injury | Cases within this bracket will have little to no language function, and the level of compensation will consider things like any behavioural problems and impact on life expectancy. | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderately Severe Brain Injury | Cases which will fall into this bracket will show very serious disability, and will consider other factors like the ability to communicate, and the extent of physical limitations. | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Severe (i) Back Injury | Cases will involve damage to spinal cord and nerve damage as well as impaired bladder, bowel and sexual function. | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Severe (ii) Back Injury | An award in this bracket will show root damage as well as impaired mobility. | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Severe (iii) Back Injury | Fractures of discs or disc lesions will fall into this bracket. Cases will usually show continuing pain, depression and impaired agility. | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Severe (i) Neck Injury | Applies to neck injuries with incomplete paraplegia or permanent spastic quadriparesis. | In the region of £181,020 |
| Moderate (i) Neck Injury | This bracket will include chronic conditions, with impaired function and increased vulnerability to further injury. | £30,500 to £46,970 |
| Whiplash Tariff | Cases in this tariff will have whiplash injuries and psychological injuries lasting more than 18 months, but not more than 24 months. | £4,345 |
| Whiplash Tariff | Applies to cases which relate to one or more whiplash injuries lasting more than 18 months, but not more than 24 months | £4,215 |
Can I Claim For Financial Losses?
As mentioned earlier, special damages aim to compensate you for financial losses resulting from your accident. This includes things such as:
- Loss of earnings
- Travel costs
- Medical expenses
- Care costs
- Rehabilitation fees
- Childcare costs
- Prescription medication costs
- Home or vehicle adjustments
In order for you to claim special damages, you must hold evidence which demonstrates how your injuries have caused these financial losses. This could be evidence like:
- Payslips
- Travel receipts
- Medical invoices or receipts
As a part of the services on offer, our expert panel can help you obtain this supporting evidence. Contact us today to learn how we can assist you.
The Whiplash Reforms
The Whiplash Reform Programme has changed the way that low-value whiplash claims can be made. It will impact the following claimants:
- Drivers or passengers who were under 18 at the time of the accident, including taxi passengers
- Individuals whose injuries are valued at £5000 or less
- People involved in an accident that happened in either England or Wales
If, as part of your claim, you wish to claim for whiplash, your specific compensation for whiplash will be valued from a fixed tariff provided by the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021.
To learn whether the Whiplash Reform Programme applies to your claim, contact our advisors.
What Is Needed To Start A Taxi Accident Claim?
In order for you to start a taxi accident claim, you must have evidence that demonstrates how the negligence occurred. For road traffic accidents, evidence could be things like:
- Medical evidence, such as GP records
- Time and date of the accident
- The details of the taxi you were in, or another driver’s details, such as number plate, address and phone number (if they provide you with this information)
- Contact details of anyone happy to provide a witness statement
- Footage of the accident, such as dashcam or CCTV footage
All road traffic accident claims are also subject to a time limit. You must start your claim within 3 years of the date of the accident. This is set out in the Limitation Act 1980. There are, however, exceptions to this time limit.
As part of our services, our expert panel can help you collate this supporting evidence and ensure that your claim is started within the time limit. To learn more about the exceptions to the time limits or if you have any questions about evidence, call us today, and our advisors will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Can You Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Our panel of solicitors works on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement. What this means is that if your claim were unsuccessful, you would not be required to pay for their services. This also means that:
- You would not pay for legal services at the beginning
- or during your claims process.
Instead, a success fee will be taken from your compensation. The percentage of this fee is capped and in accordance with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
Our panel could help you with a range of different things during your claim, such as:
- Explaining legal language and the claims process
- Ensuring your claim is begun within the time limit
- Advocate on your behalf, and communicate with the third party
- Apply for a claim through the MIB for you
Contact Legal Helpline
Hopefully, our taxi accident claims guide has been useful today. If you have any questions or would prefer to talk with one of team, you can contact us by:
- Calling us on 0333 0000729
- Filling out our online contact form
- Using our built in livechat feature
More Information
Read our other articles on:
- How to claim if you have been involved in an HGV or Lorry accident
- How to claim against a motorist as a cyclist
- How to know whether you have a valid whiplash claim
Useful External Resources
- Advice for road users from the Department of Transport’s campaign, THINK!
- How to check if a driver is insured – from the Motor Insurance Database
- When to call 999 – from the NHS
Thank you for reading our guide on taxi accident claims.
