Sadiq Khan urges Rishi Sunak to extend vehicle payment deferrals for taxi drivers
Sadiq Khan has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of tomorrow’s Budget to urge him to extend payment deferral for motor finance agreements so that private hire and taxi drivers can keep their vehicles.
Many drivers lease or purchase their cars using financing options. When the pandemic struck, a six month deferral for payments was put in place, ending in September.
Since then, drivers have been forced to make repayments even though business remains heavily suppressed due to pandemic-related restrictions.
As of the end of January, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ended its ban on the repossession of vehicles, meaning thousands of drivers could now lose their cars.
London Mayor Khan urged the Chancellor to accept a proposal from the Finance and Leasing Association to extend full or partial payment deferrals until drivers started recouping income.
“I and the undersigned industry leaders urge you to consider this proposal. The taxi and
private hire trade plays an important role in our transport network and services will be
necessary as Londoners begin to emerge from lockdown and travel becomes more
frequent in due course”, he wrote.
“In London we have also made significant progress in growing the size of our low- and zero-emission fleet, which is at risk of being seriously eroded if drivers do not have the financial support needed to see them past these final hurdles.”
The letter was also signed by Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, union GMB, and a number of other trade bodies.
GMB said that due to the pandemic demand for taxis had plummeted, with many operators reporting an 80 per cent drop in bookings month upon month.
Steve Garelick, GMB organiser, said: “There has never been a time drivers need help as much as they do now.
“Our private hire sector – the largest transport sector in the country and provides vital transport for the NHS, schools, as well as vulnerable and disabled people – is on the verge of collapse.
“Through no fault of their own, drivers are set to lose their cars, their very livelihoods that they’ve worked so hard to own.”
Morning Wire has contacted the Treasury for comment.