A coalition of Hartford County, Conn., luxury transportation operators gathered recently to confront a threat that has been quickly eroding the competitive landscape across Connecticut: the proliferation of uninsured car services operating alongside—and undercutting—fully licensed and insured professionals.
The group's findings are stark. A single March social media thread turned up twenty-one airport service providers—81% of whom appear to carry insurance that expressly excludes for-hire use. The real-world consequences were brought into sharp focus when one operator in attendance described a collision involving his bus, struck by a car service whose insurer denied the claim because the at-fault driver was misusing a personal auto policy.
NELA Board Member Charles Wisniewski of Teddy’s Transportation System
For-hire insurance runs roughly five times the cost of personal coverage, giving unlicensed operators an unsafe and unfair competitive edge over the operators who play by the rules.
“One of the biggest disconnects is that consumers assume that if a limo company exists, then the State of Connecticut is protecting them from such huge safety shortfalls. But the Connecticut Department of Transportation has always been clear that they do not have police powers. And, while DMV has a robust, uniformed department for keeping us safe from less-safe tow-truck companies, nobody has ever charged them, or funded them, to investigate unlicensed livery providers,” says New England Livery Association Board Member Charles Wisniewski of Teddy’s Transportation System.
The group plans to petition the Connecticut Airport Authority and state legislators to post consumer alerts—along the lines of "No livery plate? No for-hire insurance"—mirroring signage already found at airports nationwide.
“For 20 years, DMV and State Police patrolled Connecticut prom venues and removed ‘regular passenger plates’ from limousines, charging the operators with ‘misuse of plates.’ Fleet managers would have to get their limo towed home. Such marker plates are now allowed, but only if the chauffeur can produce a trip ticket on his Uber or Lyft app,” continues Wisniewski.
Visit nelivery.org for more information.
[06.18.26]
