The city of Dallas’ requirements for coverage may have been violated by this and other taxi companies.
According to public records, taxi companies owned by Irving Holdings Inc., which include the giant and well recognized Yellow Cab, appear to have auto insurance policies that include a “self-insured retention” which makes the payment on claims of up to $250,000.
However, the law in the city of Dallas was changed back in 1996, and the taxi company may not have conformed.
In 1996, the city law was altered to include a requirement that cab companies use independent providers for taxi auto insurance and added the regulation that none of the employees of the company could have any ownership of those providers.
The reason is that self auto insurance was believed to place victims of injury at a claims disadvantage.
The city of Dallas changed the law because if the auto insurance was provided by the cab companies, there was a risk that an injured individual would be disadvantaged in the claims negotiations process as they would not be dealing with an independent insurer, but would be dealing with employees of the cab company.
Yellow Cab attorney, John Barr explained that he believes that the taxi company is in compliance with the auto insurance requirements of the city. He stated that “This is what we’ve been filing for several years.” He added that “If … [city officials] have a problem with it, and they want us to change, we’ll change.” He also explained that all of the claims payments are handled by an outside administrator and that Irving Holdings currently pays an annual amount of approximately $5 million for its coverage.
The City Council members received a memo from A. C. Gonzalez, the Interim City Manager, which stated that though it looks as though the auto insurance coverage of the company has been questioned, the taxi company’s documentation during the time of annual permitting had been accepted. He noted that the companies that are now believed to have been in violation will receive notice that they will be required to make the necessary changes to comply with the law of the city within 30 days.
