Angry brokers have slammed a taxi franchising scheme promoted by a company wrongly claiming to be a member of the GISC.
In the past two weeks, brokers have received flyers from Taxiplan Franchise D ...
Angry brokers have slammed a taxi franchising scheme promoted by a company wrongly claiming to be a member of the GISC.
In the past two weeks, brokers have received flyers from Taxiplan Franchise Developments, listing the company as a division of Taxiplan Insurance Services.
Taxiplan Insurance Services, incorporated on 30 January as a non-trading company, shares with Servico the same registered company address in Northampton. Servico director Stephen Arnold can be contacted on the number on the Taxiplan flyer.
Taxiplan has been hit by the same criticism meted out to Servico, of offering overpriced franchises to the hard fleet and public and private hire market.
Taxiplan quoted one broker £100,000 to buy the franchise for Cardiff and £97,000 for Swansea.
"A clean risk with Zenith is £840 average premium so my 10% commission is £84," the broker said.
"I'd have to produce over 1,166 cars with less premium than Zenith, just to pay the franchise fee.
"I doubt if there is even that number of taxis in Swansea."
The Taxiplan flyers carry the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) members' logo, but a GISC spokeswoman said Taxiplan was not and had never been a member.
The flyers say Taxiplan represents a "major European insurer", but representatives have refused to reveal the insurer's identity to brokers, in a breach of GISC rules.
Servico had a troubled 18 months, with the Association of Insurance Intermediaries and Brokers warning brokers off the company.
It dropped its controversial £60,000 franchise scheme after broker outcry and became embroiled in a legal battle with one broker over non-payment and loss of business.
Servico served a £100,000 writ on its former underwriter CNA Insur-ance, demanding the return of unpaid commission.
Another business called First Easy Franchise Developments, a division of First Easy Insurance Services, is also listed at Servico's Northampton address. Its flyer, identical to that of Taxiplan, offers young driver, car and van fleet, light haulage, heavy goods and van and man schemes, also with a "major European insurer".
The GISC spokeswoman confirmed First Easy belonged to the GISC.
