UK cities
45+
Direct coverage
TfL-licensed London private hire
PCO Car Accident Claims
Non-fault accident support built for PCO drivers. We put you in a licensed, plated replacement car so you keep earning, recover your loss of earnings, and handle recovery, storage and repairs. £0 upfront.
- Licensed plated replacement
- Hire & reward literate
- Loss of earnings recovered
- ULEZ / ZEC screened
24/7
UK response
Recovery dispatch and live claim handlers, 365 days a year.
Response
<60m
First contact SLA
Cost
£0
Upfront to driver
Can a PCO driver claim after a non-fault accident in London?
Yes. A TfL-licensed private hire (PCO) driver can claim against the at-fault driver's insurer for vehicle damage, recovery, storage, repairs and loss of earnings, at no upfront cost. The critical difference from an ordinary claim is the replacement vehicle: an ordinary courtesy car cannot lawfully be used for private hire work, so the replacement must itself be a licensed and plated PHV insured on hire and reward terms. If you rent your PCO car, the damage claim belongs to the owner while your loss of earnings, ongoing rental and excess remain your own claim.
What a PCO accident claim actually is
PCO stands for the Public Carriage Office, the body that licensed London's taxis and private hire trade for well over a century. Licensing passed to Transport for London's Taxi and Private Hire directorate, but the name stuck, and London drivers still say PCO licence, PCO car and PCO driver. If you hold a TfL private hire driver licence and work through Uber, Bolt, Addison Lee, FreeNow or a local operator, this page is written for you.
London private hire runs on three separate licences under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998: the driver licence, the vehicle licence, and the operator licence held by the firm or platform that takes the booking. All three have to be valid for a journey to be lawful private hire work. That structure is the reason a PCO accident claim behaves differently from an ordinary motor claim, because a collision can interrupt any of the three, and losing access to a licensed vehicle stops you earning even when your own licence is untouched.
The practical consequence is that the vehicle is not just property to a PCO driver, it is the tool the income depends on. A claim handled as though it were an ordinary private motorist's claim tends to under-serve you in two specific places: the replacement vehicle, and the loss of earnings schedule. Those are the two areas we build the file around from the first call.
Why an ordinary courtesy car is no use to a PCO driver
The most common and most expensive mistake in a PCO claim happens in the first 48 hours, when the at-fault driver's insurer calls and offers a courtesy car. It sounds helpful and it is quick, but a standard courtesy car is not a licensed private hire vehicle, does not carry a TfL vehicle licence or discs, and is not insured for hire and reward. You cannot lawfully accept bookings in it. Drivers who take the courtesy car often discover a week later that they have a car on the drive and no income.
A replacement that actually works for a PCO driver has to clear several tests at once. It must hold a current TfL private hire vehicle licence and display the discs, it must be insured on a hire and reward basis rather than social, domestic and pleasure, it must satisfy the emissions position that applies to the licence it is running on, and it needs to be a vehicle your platform will accept for the categories you normally drive. We screen on those terms rather than sending whatever is on the forecourt.
Emissions are where this gets technical, and it is worth knowing the rule rather than guessing. A private hire vehicle licensed for the first time on or after 1 January 2023 must be Zero Emission Capable. TfL treats a vehicle as ZEC if it is fully electric or hydrogen fuel cell, or a plug-in hybrid on one of two routes: no more than 50g/km CO2 with at least 10 miles of zero emission range, or no more than 75g/km CO2 with at least 20 miles. A vehicle that already held a PHV licence before that date does not have to be ZEC, but at re-licensing it must be no more than 10 years old. Every part of Greater London also sits inside the ULEZ, so the zone is screened as standard.
PCO DRIVERS
03
Section 3 of the walkthrough.
Your income is usually the biggest part of the claim
For most PCO drivers the vehicle damage is not the largest loss, the lost income is. Private hire drivers are typically self-employed, so there is no employer paying you while the car is off the road, and every day without a licensed vehicle is a day of earnings gone. That loss is recoverable from the at-fault driver's insurer where liability is established, but only to the extent you can evidence it, and insurers scrutinise self-employed earnings claims closely.
The evidence that carries weight is documentary and contemporaneous. Platform earnings statements are the backbone: download your full history from Uber, Bolt, Addison Lee or FreeNow straight away, because access can become difficult if an account is later suspended or deactivated. Around that we assemble bank statements showing the money actually landing, your accounts or SA302 tax calculations to establish a normal earnings pattern, and the rental, finance or rent-to-buy agreement if you do not own the vehicle outright.
There is also a duty to mitigate, which cuts both ways. You are expected to take reasonable steps to get back on the road rather than let losses run, which is exactly why arranging a licensed replacement quickly matters: it protects your income and it strengthens the claim. Equally, a claim that simply asserts a daily figure without documents invites a challenge. We build the schedule from the paperwork so it survives scrutiny.
If you rent your PCO car, who claims for what
A large share of London PCO drivers do not own the car they drive. They rent it weekly, or run it on a rent-to-buy or flexi-own plan from one of the PCO hire companies that serve the London trade. That arrangement is convenient, and it is also the part of a PCO claim that most often goes wrong, because two different parties hold two different sets of losses arising from the same collision.
The claim for damage to the vehicle belongs to the legal owner, which is the hire or rent-to-buy company, and their agreement governs how that is dealt with and whether an excess falls on you. What remains yours is everything that is personally your loss: the earnings you could not make, the rental payments you are still contractually obliged to pay while the car sits off the road, any excess you are liable for under the agreement, and injury where relevant. Drivers frequently assume the hire company is handling all of it and quietly absorb losses that were recoverable.
Bring the rental or finance agreement to the first call. We read it, identify which losses sit with you and which sit with the owner, and make sure your side is claimed rather than lost in the gap between you and the hire company.
The 48 hour TfL notification rule and your licence
A non-fault accident is not in itself a licensing matter, and drivers should not panic that a collision automatically threatens their PCO licence. The real risk sits in what can follow the accident, and in a deadline that a lot of drivers do not know about.
Private hire driver licences granted on or after 1 July 2024 carry a condition requiring the driver to notify TfL within 48 hours of any arrest and release, charge, caution or conviction. That duty extends to points added to your DVLA licence and to fixed penalty notices. It is a short window, it runs from the event rather than from when the claim concludes, and failing to notify is itself a licensing problem that can put the licence at risk quite separately from whatever the original incident was.
Our approach is simple: keep the claim file clean and evidenced so the record shows what actually happened, and treat anything with a notification duty as urgent and separate from the vehicle claim. If you are unsure whether something is notifiable, the safe course is to notify. We do not provide legal advice, and where an incident carries a prosecution risk we will tell you plainly that you need a solicitor rather than an accident management company.
Step by step
What to do after a PCO accident in London
- 1Make the scene safe and gather evidence. Stop, exchange details under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, photograph both vehicles, the road layout and your TfL discs, and note whether you were on a booking. Ask any passenger for their details as a witness.
- 2Call us before the third-party insurer calls you. Third-party insurers often ring first and offer a standard courtesy car. That car is not licensed for private hire, so accepting it can leave you off the road. Call us and we screen a licensed plated replacement instead.
- 3Recovery and secure storage. If the vehicle is undriveable we recover it to a CCTV-monitored partner yard and log storage daily with a photographic record, so charges are evidenced if the insurer challenges them later.
- 4Licensed replacement vehicle so you keep earning. We arrange a private hire licensed and plated replacement on hire and reward terms, screened for the emissions rules that apply to your licence and for the ULEZ, subject to eligibility.
- 5Evidence your loss of earnings. Download your platform earnings statements immediately and gather bank statements, accounts or SA302s and your rental or finance agreement. This is the largest head of loss for most PCO drivers and it is won or lost on documents.
- 6Deal with any TfL notification duty. If the incident produces an arrest and release, charge, caution, conviction, penalty points or a fixed penalty notice, notify TfL within 48 hours as your licence condition requires.
Related PCO and private hire pages
Minicab & PHV hub →
The full UK private hire vertical in one place.
Loss of earnings →How self-employed driver income is evidenced and recovered.
Replacement PHV →Licensed, plated and hire-and-reward insured replacements.
TfL licence & accidents →Notification duties and licence risk after an incident.
Uber drivers →Platform-specific cover, deactivation and earnings evidence.
Bolt drivers →Bolt-specific insurance position and claim routing.
Addison Lee →Fleet and owner-driver arrangements after a collision.
Hire & reward cover →Why standard policies do not respond on a booking.
Licence suspension →What to do if your licence is challenged after an incident.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a PCO car accident claim?
- It is a non-fault accident claim brought by a TfL-licensed private hire driver in London. PCO stands for the Public Carriage Office, the historic licensing body whose name London drivers still use, although private hire licensing is now handled by Transport for London's Taxi and Private Hire directorate. The claim differs from an ordinary car accident claim in three ways: the replacement vehicle must itself be a licensed and plated private hire vehicle on hire and reward terms or you cannot legally work, loss of earnings is usually the largest head of loss because most PCO drivers are self-employed, and the vehicle may be rented rather than owned, which changes who claims for the damage.
- Can I get a replacement PCO car after a non-fault accident?
- Yes, subject to liability and eligibility. The important point is that an ordinary courtesy car is no use to you. To keep accepting bookings, the replacement must be a licensed private hire vehicle displaying valid TfL discs, insured on a hire and reward basis and compliant with the emissions rules that apply to your licence. We screen replacements on exactly those terms rather than sending out a standard hire car that would leave you unable to work or working unlawfully.
- Does a replacement PCO car have to be electric or ZEC?
- It depends on the vehicle's licensing history, not on your preference. Private hire vehicles licensed for the first time on or after 1 January 2023 must be Zero Emission Capable. TfL treats a vehicle as ZEC if it is fully electric or hydrogen fuel cell, or a plug-in hybrid meeting one of two routes: no more than 50g/km CO2 with at least 10 miles of zero emission range, or no more than 75g/km CO2 with at least 20 miles. A vehicle that already held a PHV licence before that date does not have to be ZEC, but it must be no more than 10 years old when it is re-licensed. All of Greater London is inside the ULEZ, so any replacement we arrange is screened for the zone as well.
- Can I claim loss of earnings as a PCO driver?
- Yes. Where another driver was at fault, your lost income while off the road is a recoverable head of loss. Because most PCO drivers are self-employed, the claim stands or falls on evidence: platform earnings statements from Uber, Bolt, Addison Lee or FreeNow, bank statements, your accounts or SA302 tax calculations, and the rental or finance agreement if you hire your car. We tell drivers to download their platform earnings history immediately, because access can be restricted if an account is later deactivated.
- My PCO car is rented from a hire company. Who claims for the damage?
- The vehicle damage claim belongs to whoever owns the car, which is the rental or rent-to-buy company, and their agreement will set out how that is handled and whether an excess applies. Your own claim is for the losses that are personally yours: loss of earnings, ongoing rental payments you still have to make while the car is off the road, any excess you are contractually liable for, and injury where relevant. This split is the single most misunderstood part of PCO claims, and getting it wrong costs drivers money. Bring the rental agreement to the first call and we will identify which losses sit with you and which sit with the owner.
- Do I have to tell TfL about the accident?
- An accident by itself is not automatically notifiable, but anything arising from it that involves the police or your licence very likely is. Private hire driver licences granted on or after 1 July 2024 carry a condition requiring you to notify TfL within 48 hours of any arrest and release, charge, caution or conviction, and that includes points added to your DVLA licence and fixed penalty notices. Failing to notify can put your licence at risk, which is a far more serious outcome than the vehicle damage. If you are unsure whether something is notifiable, treat it as notifiable and tell TfL.
- Will a non-fault accident affect my PCO licence?
- A non-fault accident on its own is not a licensing matter. The risk comes from what sits alongside it: a prosecution, a caution, penalty points or a conviction arising from the incident, or a failure to notify TfL within the 48 hour window where notification is required. We keep the claim file clean and evidenced so the record shows what actually happened, and we deal separately and promptly with anything that carries a notification duty.
- What does a PCO accident claim cost me?
- Nothing upfront. Recovery, secure storage, repair coordination and a licensed replacement vehicle are arranged at no cost to you and recovered from the at-fault driver's insurer as reasonable mitigation costs, subject to liability and eligibility. We keep our fees low and transparent so more of the settlement reaches you. We do not handle personal injury in-house: injury enquiries are referred, only with your separate written consent, to authorised legal partners.
Important notice for PCO drivers
Liability remains subject to the at-fault driver's insurer's assessment and the available evidence. Replacement vehicle, credit hire, recovery, storage, repair and loss of earnings support are subject to eligibility, the evidential record and reasonable need. We do not provide legal advice and we do not handle personal injury in-house: injury enquiries are referred only with your separate written consent to authorised legal or regulated partners. Licensing information on this page about TfL private hire requirements, Zero Emission Capable standards, vehicle age limits and notification duties is general guidance, not legal or licensing advice, and the position that applies to your own licence at the relevant date will govern. Check your licence conditions and the current TfL guidance for your circumstances.
Talk to a real person
Start your PCO accident claimWe handle it end-to-end.
The fastest way is to call. Or start the digital accident form and our team will pick it up. Available across England, Scotland & Wales.
Calls may be recorded for quality and compliance. We do not provide legal advice. Personal injury enquiries are referred only with your consent to authorised partners.
Visit our team
London office
124 City Road
London, EC1V 2NX
Coverage
- Phone & accident form24 / 7
- Recovery dispatch24 / 7
- Repair coordinationMon-Sat 8:00 - 18:00
- SundaysEmergency only
45+UK cities
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Tip: submit the accident form first - our team will call back with a reference and next steps.