Accessibility and Mobility Assistance on a Chauffeur Booking

What the law requires of licensed drivers

The Equality Act 2010, strengthened by the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022, places specific duties on licensed drivers towards disabled passengers. They must not refuse carriage because of a disability, must provide reasonable mobility assistance, and must not charge more for doing so. Those duties apply whether or not the vehicle itself is wheelchair accessible.

Separate provisions govern designated wheelchair-accessible vehicles, which licensing authorities list, and the duties attached to carrying a wheelchair user in one. It is worth knowing the framework exists, because it means assistance is an entitlement rather than a favour. Knowing that also makes the request easier to make, because you are not asking anybody to do you a kindness.

The checkbox, and why it is only a start

Step four of the journey planner carries a single tick box marked as requiring accessibility assistance. Ticking it is a signal, not a specification. It tells the person reviewing your enquiry to think about the collection differently, and it prompts the conversation that follows. Nothing about the box on its own tells anybody what would actually help you on the day.

The detail belongs in the notes box. Accessibility covers an enormous range of needs, and the arrangements that suit one passenger are irrelevant to another, so a sentence describing what would actually help is worth more than any box. Write it as you would explain it to a friend, in ordinary language, rather than trying to compress it into a category.

Describing what would genuinely help

Think in terms of the moments rather than the diagnosis. Getting from a front door to a car. Getting into and out of a seat. Step height. Whether a walking aid travels too, and whether it folds. How long you can comfortably stand while luggage is loaded. Those are the details that shape a collection.

Say also whether you are travelling with a companion, and whether they will be assisting. That changes what is needed at the kerb, and it changes how much time to allow at each end. A companion who can help with a transfer changes the arrangement considerably, and so does one who cannot.

• Step height and how you prefer to enter the vehicle
• Whether a wheelchair, walker or stick travels with you
• Whether that equipment folds, and its rough size
• How much time you would like at the collection point

Wheelchairs, and being honest about vehicles

A folding manual wheelchair generally travels in the boot of an executive vehicle without difficulty, and the passenger transfers into a seat. A powered chair, or a passenger who needs to remain seated in their chair, requires a wheelchair-accessible vehicle with a ramp or lift, which is a different class of vehicle entirely.

Say which situation applies at the enquiry stage. What can be arranged for your journey is confirmed on the WhatsApp thread rather than assumed here, and a clear description early prevents an impossible situation on the day. Nobody wants to discover at a front door that the vehicle sent cannot do what the journey actually requires of it.

Time, which is the quietest accessibility measure

The single most useful adjustment is often not equipment. It is minutes. A collection that allows an unhurried transfer, a chauffeur already parked rather than being called forward, and an arrival with time in hand at the other end all remove pressure that no amount of assistance can compensate for.

Ask for it explicitly. Writing that you would like the vehicle in place ten minutes early and no rush at either end is a completely reasonable request, and it is invisible unless you say it. Nobody will assume you want extra time, because a great many passengers want precisely the opposite.

Airports, hospitals and the places that need most thought

Large sites are where accessibility planning matters most. Airport terminals involve long walks, hospital campuses have multiple entrances and a specific accessible drop-off, and many venues have a step-free route that differs from the main door. Naming the entrance rather than the postcode is what makes those journeys work.

If assistance is booked through the airport or venue itself, mention it. Coordinating the car with an arranged wheelchair service is easier when both sides know the other exists. Airport assistance in particular runs to its own timings, and a car that knows about it can be positioned accordingly rather than waiting blind.

Plan your chauffeur journey

London Chauffeurs provides itinerary-led private travel for airport transfers, executive travel, private aviation, events and long-distance UK journeys. Availability and pricing are confirmed for the requested itinerary.

Frequently asked questions