Limo Licensing Advice

Limousines operating in the UK are regulated by passenger laws which state that a maximum of eight passengers are legally allowed to ride in each limousine, regardless of how many seats that limousine has. However, recently there have been some changes to the passenger laws and you need to make sure you know all about the licensing and passenger laws the limo hire company you are using should be following.

A limousine may be granted a Public Service Vehicle license which is in addition to any license obtained from their local authorities and allows a limousine to be operated through England and Wales, but not through Central London.

To operate a limousine through Central London, it must be licensed by the Public Carriage Office, as the rules for operating within London are different from the rest of the country. If a limousine is operated from outside of London, but travels through London as part of a specific hire contract, it must still adhere to the operation rules relevant to the part of the UK they originally came from.

If a limousine has achieved a Certificate of Initial Fitness, it is authorised to carry the number of passengers specified by the plate attached to the limo by the manufacturer. A limousine which has its COIF must only be driven by a licensed Public Service Vehicle driver. However, prior to the 2007 European Limo Show, there were very few limousines operating in the UK which had achieved their COIF.

As such, these limousines were hired out as self drive limousines under the Schedule Six laws. These limousines are the super stretch limos which can carry more than eight passengers but must be driven by a driver independent from the limo hire company, not for hire and reward.