Taxi drivers are having another stab at convincing the authorities that significant changes are needed to save their industry – and they have enlisted the help of a man who knows an awful lot about the system.

Insurance rates, which will soon likely be jacked up again, are strangling the industry, as cab drivers have long said. All are automatically placed with the insurer of last resort, Facility Association, and pay the highest rates $12,000-$15,000 a year.

Andy Wells, the former CEO of the Public Utilities Board and former mayor of St. John’s, has been appointed to chair of Taxi NL, a lobby group created to represent cabbies.

Lawyers blame insurance companies for the high rates while insurers say lawyers are, in some cases, inflating court claims. Andy Wells also says lawyers who try to cash in at about 30 per cent commission are the problem.

Wells says the taxi industry is on the verge of collapse. He calls the PUB review a waste of money, saying it had no representation from the taxi drivers or consumers, while the consumer advocate and council were personal injury lawyers, and so in conflict of interest.