Anguish of cabbies caught in support scheme catch-22
Desperate drivers who let insurance lapse due to lack of work ineligible for payouts
TAXI drivers who have been driven to the brink of financial and mental breakdown due to loss of earnings during the pandemic have called on the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) to urgently provide more support.
Cabbies have said that many colleagues have experienced severe mental health issues since the coronavirus crisis began.
Thousands of drivers have been forced to borrow money and go on benefits after work dried up virtually overnight.
Andy Tomlinson from north Belfast, a taxi driver for 14 years, has not been able to work since March as he has multiple sclerosis, making him more vulnerable to Covid-19.
The 44-year-old received a shielding letter from the Department of Health at the beginning of the pandemic.
He has been forced to borrow money and go on benefits as a result.
“I have spoken to drivers who are in absolute tears,” he said.
“We have had to do whiprounds for guys to get their mortgage payments done. They are sitting out there and they are making two, three pounds an hour. It is scary.
“In taxiing, if it was bad during the week, you could rely on the weekend to pull you out. That is not there anymore. There are guys out there risking everything for so little — and it is because they have no choice.
“That is one of the reasons why we went to the Df I for the hardship fund, and now they have written it in a way where there is going to be guys who are being excluded because they had paused their insurance during the pandemic when they were not working.
“Now the department is insisting that the insurance was valid for the six months, even though there was no work for at least three of them.
“Some of these guys are at breaking point. I dread to think of their mental health and what the outworking of some of this could be.”
Mr Tomlinson said that the traditionally busy time of Christmas not going ahead this year will also be tough on drivers.
“It has been a struggle. I have been really low at points, really low,” he added.
“Talking to other drivers has been the best way to keep myself going because I can see I am not the only one in this position.”
Johnny Mckeown (43) from east Belfast has been a driver for eight years.
He said: “I was a public hire taxi driver then (at the beginning of the pandemic). I worked nights in Belfast, so obviously the night-time economy disappeared overnight and so did all the work.
“For the first lockdown my car was off the road because there was no economy for me whatsoever.
“My insurance renewal came up in June and at that stage they (Executive) were umming and ahing about the lockdown but nobody knew any specific dates or anything.
“I couldn’t afford to renew my insurance, it was over £200 to renew.”
Mr Mckeown, who has two children, went back to work in August, before tighter restrictions returned in October.
He has been forced to go on universal credit and receive self-employment support.
He said: “I have had a couple of close bereavements in the last few years and my mental health has not been good as a result. I am just on my own and trying to get by as best I can. It is getting harder and harder day by day.”
Mr Mckeown said he too has borrowed money from family and friends.
“The public think taxi drivers earn a fortune, they don’t realise the amount of background overheads that go on,” he added.
Mr Mckeown said the Df I should have responded to drivers’ concerns during the first lockdown.
Some have been unable to access support because they have to have proof of a significant loss in earnings and have had valid insurance for six months during the pandemic.
However, because some drivers could not afford their insurance, they are not eligible for support.
DFI told the Belfast Telegraph that Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon initially did not have the powers to provide financial assistance to taxi drivers but as a regulator she provided more than £1m in support with a 12-month free of charge renewal of taxi licences.
However, when new powers were finally granted on November 3 the taxi scheme was opened for applications.
More than 5,000 applications have been received from taxi drivers and DFI is processing applications as quickly as possible.
The scheme offers drivers £1,500 to cover overheads related to the pandemic.
Df I said it required drivers to show continuous taxi insurance to prove availability to work and to provide value for money assurance for use of public funds.
‘Some guys are at breaking point. I dread to think of their mental health and what the outworking of some of this could be’