It depends on the type of licence you hold. Private hire drivers can generally carry out pre-booked journeys outside their licensed area, as long as the booking goes through a licensed operator. Hackney carriage drivers have stricter limits. They can drop passengers off anywhere, but can only pick up passengers freely within their own licensed area. Here’s a clear explanation of where the rules sit and what you need to know before working outside your patch.
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The difference between hackney carriages and private hire vehicles
Your licensing type is the starting point for everything else in this topic. The two work very differently.
A hackney carriage — the traditional black cab or street taxi — can be hailed on the street or pick up from a taxi rank without a prior booking. It’s licensed to a specific local authority and that licensing is tied to where it can operate.
A private hire vehicle must have all journeys booked in advance through a licensed operator. It can’t pick up passengers on the street or from a rank regardless of where it is. This distinction shapes the rules on where each type of driver can work.
For a fuller breakdown of how the two differ, read our guide to public hire vs private hire insurance.
What are the rules for hackney carriage drivers?
Hackney carriage drivers are licensed by a specific local authority and their street-working rights apply within that authority’s area. This means:
You can drop passengers off anywhere — once you’ve accepted a fare and you’re carrying a passenger, you can complete that journey regardless of where the destination is. Driving a passenger from Leeds to Manchester and dropping them off there is perfectly legal.
You cannot pick up passengers freely outside your licensed area. Hailing on the street, picking up from a rank, or taking immediate fares are rights that apply within your licensed authority’s boundaries only. Doing this in another area without a proper booking arrangement in place is an offence.
In short: you can take passengers out of your area, but you can’t work as a hackney carriage in another area once you get there.
What are the rules for private hire drivers?
Private hire drivers have considerably more flexibility when it comes to working outside their licensed area. The key requirement is that every journey must be booked through a licensed operator. But, that operator doesn’t have to be based in the area where the journey takes place.
This means a private hire driver licensed in Manchester can legally pick up and drop off in Liverpool, Birmingham, or anywhere else in England. As long as the job was properly pre-booked through their licensed operator. The journey can cross local authority boundaries without any issue.
This is sometimes called cross-border hiring. It’s the framework that allows national app-based platforms and larger private hire operators to function across multiple cities and regions.
What is cross-border hiring?
Cross-border hiring is when a booking is made through an operator in one licensing area but the driver carries out the journey in another. It sounds technical but it’s a common part of day-to-day PHV work — any time a driver picks up a passenger outside their local authority area, they’re effectively carrying out a cross-border hire.
The rules around this were significantly clarified by the Deregulation Act 2015. Before that Act, there was genuine legal uncertainty about whether a PHV operator licensed in one area could lawfully take bookings for journeys in another area. The Act made clear that a licensed PHV operator can accept bookings for journeys anywhere in England, and drivers and vehicles licensed by their own authority can carry out those journeys lawfully.
One important point the Act didn’t change: the driver and vehicle still need to hold valid licences from their own local authority. The operator’s ability to dispatch a driver across boundaries doesn’t remove the driver’s obligation to be properly licensed in their own right.
Can you hold more than one taxi licence?
Yes. Some drivers choose to hold licences from more than one local authority — particularly those who operate in border areas between two council regions, or those who want to work on platforms or with operators in a second city. There’s no legal barrier to holding multiple licences as long as you meet each authority’s requirements.
Whether it’s worth doing depends on how you work. If the bulk of your work already comes through an operator and involves cross-border journeys, a single licence and a properly licensed operator may be all you need. If you want the flexibility to pick up street work in more than one area as a hackney carriage driver, holding dual licences is the route to do that.
How does working outside your area affect your taxi insurance?
This is where drivers sometimes run into trouble, and it’s worth understanding clearly.
Your taxi insurance policy covers you for the type of work you do and the way you operate. If you’re working within the rules — completing pre-booked journeys through your licensed operator — your cover remains valid regardless of where those journeys take you. The physical location of a job doesn’t itself affect your insurance.
The risk comes if you’re operating outside the licensing rules. If you’re a hackney carriage driver picking up passengers in an area where you’re not licensed to do so, or a private hire driver accepting jobs without a proper operator booking, you’re in breach of your licensing conditions. That breach can affect a claim. Insurers are entitled to investigate the circumstances of any incident to check whether licensing requirements were being followed at the time.
In simple terms: following the booking and licensing rules protects both your licence and your insurance. Cutting corners on either can cost you both.
If you’re unsure whether your current policy covers the way you work, it’s always better to ask your insurer before the issue arises rather than after a claim. Get a taxi insurance quote from insurd and make sure your policy matches how you actually operate.
What about Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland?
The Deregulation Act 2015 applies to England only. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each have their own legislative frameworks for taxi and private hire licensing. The rules around cross-border hiring are not identical to England.
If you operate across the border between England and Scotland, or within Wales and Scotland. The applicable rules will depend on which jurisdiction you’re in at the time. Some Scottish and Welsh local authorities have taken different approaches to out-of-area working. If you regularly work across these borders, it’s worth checking with your local licensing authority for guidance specific to your situation.
Before you accept that job
A quick checklist before taking a job outside your usual area:
- Are you a hackney carriage or private hire driver? The rules differ significantly between the two.
- If you’re PHV — was the job pre-booked through your licensed operator? This is the essential requirement.
- Are you a hackney carriage driver? If so, are you dropping off or picking up? Dropping off outside your area is fine. Picking up is not, unless it’s a pre-arranged booking through a licensed operator in that area.
- Does your insurance policy reflect how you actually work? If you regularly cover journeys across a wide area, make sure your insurer knows.
If you’re ever uncertain about whether a specific job or operating arrangement is within the rules, your local licensing authority is the right place to ask. You can also read more about the licensing process itself in our guides on how to become a taxi driver and PHV licence renewal.
