FAIR FARE: How much should the ‘SOILING FEE’ cost passengers who are sick in taxis?
There are many plusses and perils to working as a taxi driver. One of the biggest headaches for cabbies, which can destroy any shift, is an unwell passenger.
Customers do not necessarily have to be sick to ‘soil’ a cab. A soiling fee can be charged to any passenger who exits the taxi in such a state that requires it to be taken out of service. Food thrown around the taxi and other uncontrollable body functions have all cost passengers a soiling charge in the past.
In London, licensed taxi drivers can charge passengers up to £60 for loss of earnings and the cost associated with cleaning the cab.
Whilst this figure does usually, just about, cover the cost of what is an unpleasant clean up, sometimes the cab driver can remain massively out of pocket.
Some clean-ups on seat covers that are not waterproof will require a deep clean that can soak the seats and require 24-hours to dry. A wet seat cannot be offered to fare-paying customers, so the remainder of that particular shift is wiped out. This could cost the driver hundreds of pounds in lost income if they are at the start of their shift.
TaxiPoint asked cabbies how much the ‘soiling fee’ should be when passengers are sick in a taxi. The responses were varied, but unsurprisingly some thought the fees in their licensing authority were too low.
Cabbie Kevan Hay said: “£150 no excuses due to how much time it takes to clean and get rid of smell.”
Robert Bason said: “Can take a day for the seats to dry so with rent, loss of earnings at least £150.”
Selby District Council allows taxi drivers to collect a £50 fee. Cabbie Graham Watson said: “Its £50 at my local authority. It should be more but then you try getting £50 off a drunk who doesn't know where they are or who they are.
“I do know a couple of drivers who take soiling charge on all fares picked up after 11pm and then its returned to them after the job is done, but I’m not sure that’s the answer.”
Terry Brown is one of those taxi drivers who requests the soiling charge up front if the passengers are looking drunk. Brown said: “If I feel that someone is looking worse for wear due to drink I always insist on £50 soilage charge upfront. which is returned on completion of the journey if they are not sick. If they refuse I don't take them, they can walk!”
Taxi drivers in Gwynedd can ask for £45, which isn’t enough according to one driver. They said: “It’s only £45 in Gwynedd. Wouldn’t even cover the valet not to mention the loss of earnings. Problem is these charges are set by people who have no idea what it’s like to drive a taxi.”
Taxi drivers in Plymouth can charge a higher level compared to other authorities. Ivor Edmunds said: “Plymouth just put theirs up to £100. All depends what level.”
Bob Waters shared an incident were a passenger vomited in the cab's glove box. Waters said: “I once had a girl open a glove box and spew her kebab up in it! Destroyed a set of wheelchair tie down straps. Her parents had it cleaned, paid for loss of earnings and paid for new straps.”
Overall the fees charged range from a miserly £25 in Chester and Cheshire West to a more healthy £100 in places like Plymouth and Denbighshire North.
Should there be a more standardised nationwide figure that protects drivers against the soiling of cabs? Maybe.