If you are staying in a Hotel in London and you want to order the services of a company providing stretched limousines for hire, the chances are you will enquire at the front desk or, ask the Concierge for a recommendation. It is highly probable that your Hotel will be able to recommend one or two companies, after all, this is not an unusual request! You may also assume that because the Hotel is prepared to recommend these companies, that they have also vetted them. This may be the case, but equally, it may not.

 

Therefore the onus is on you to either ask the Hotel what vetting procedure they have, if any, or to check direct with the company offering the services. No-one should assume that, just because a company is offering limousines for hire and they have been recommended, that they comply with all of the necessary local legislation. In fact, many Hotels may not even understand the obligations these companies are under. So here is some advice for travellers, that may want to hire a stretched limousine during their stay in London.

 

Limousine Operators based in Greater London and operating a hire or reward business must be licensed. In most cases, this will be with the Public Carriage Office, but some may have opted for a Bus Operator’s Licence, which is issued by the Traffic Commissioners. A recent survey of 20 London hotels indicated that 95% of them did not know that the limousine operators had to be licensed. In addition, none of them could be certain that the companies they currently recommended were licensed. Whilst this was an unscientific survey, it does suggest that there is a lack of knowledge within the Hotel industry in London relating to the use of American Stretched Limousines in the capital. The most common form of licensing for limousines is Private Hire, which in London is managed by the Public Carriage Office (PCO).

 

So what are the benefits of using a licensed limousine company?

  • Whether a limousine company is licensed by the Traffic Commissioners or the Public Carriage Office, their business will be subjected to regular checks and scrutiny by the relevant licensing officers.

  • Every limousine will be required to be registered as a Private Hire Vehicle or Passenger Carrying Vehicle and as such, will be required to undergo and pass regular tests. These tests are far more stringent than a standard Ministry of Transport Test.

  • All Chauffeur’s will be obliged to have an appropriate licence. Depending on which licensing authority they come under, they will be required to have either a PCO Licence or an appropriate PCV Licence. To obtain either, the Chauffeur will be required to pass a medical and a criminal records bureau check.

  • The Licensing Officers will check on the validity of the insurance on each licensed vehicle and they will be entitled to check their Public Liability Insurance for suitability.

 

What else does the Hotel need to know?

  • The maximum number of passengers that can be carried in a vehicle licensed by the Public Carriage Office is eight. Irrespective of the actual size of the vehicle.

  • If a limousine company is licensed as a Bus Operator, they may be able to offer limousines that carry more than 8 passengers, but only if the limousine has a Certificate of Initial Fitness. Most limousines cannot meet the requirements, therefore, very few limousine companies will be able to offer a limousine with a seating capacity of more than 8 for hire or reward.

 

How can the Hotel be certain that the limousine company and their vehicles are properly licensed?

  • The Public Carriage Office provide a facility whereby each company, limousine and Chauffeur can be checked to see if they have a valid licence. PCO Office.

  • VOSA provide an online facility to check on the validity and type of bus operators licence and whether a vehicle is licensed using the registration number. VOSA Online.

 

Hotels that book limousines on behalf of their guests and subsequently bill their customers for the service, may also be acting outside the law, because they are in effect, acting as a limousine operator. Therefore, they could need a Bus Operators Licence or a Private Hire Vehicle Operators Licence issued by the PCO. Hotels that are offering this service to their guests would be well advised to check with the local offices of VOSA or the Public Carriage Office to ensure that what they are doing is legal. Failing which, once they have established that the limousine company is correctly licensed, they may prefer to allow the guest to deal direct.

 

Cars for Stars Limited is a well established and experienced, award winning company providing chauffeur cars and limousines through an extensive branch network. Cars for Stars in London is licensed by the Public Carriage Office (PCO) for private hire. Other Cars for Stars branches are franchised and therefore licensed through their respective local authorities. All Cars for Stars offices are obliged to adhere to the high standards and service as the Group.

 

Cars for Stars offer a full complement of chauffeur driven cars and American limousines for hire and all of the vehicles are exempted from the requirement to affix a private hire plate to the vehicle. As a full service chauffeur cars company, Cars for Stars offer a range of services, which include business and leisure travel, tours, wedding cars, transfers to and from airports, long-term hires, tours, European travel via the Eurotunnel other forms of event transportation.