Law firm claims Wigan taxi drivers owed thousands of pounds in compensation

Leigh Day is acting on behalf of drivers working for taxi operator Veezu – the owner of Britannia Taxis, which operates in Wigan, and a number of other taxi brands across England and Wales.

It says Veezu treats its drivers as self-employed contractors, but they should be considered to be workers and given the appropriate rights and protection under employment law.

Employment lawyers at Leigh Day argue the way Veezu operates – including allocating drivers’ jobs, fixing their rates and penalising them for declining jobs – means drivers qualify as workers.

The claim against Veezu is similar to Leigh Day’s ongoing worker status claim against taxi company Bolt and follows success in the Supreme Court for Uber drivers, also represented by Leigh Day, who won a similar claim. The court ruled drivers working for Uber should be classified as workers and given workers’ rights.

Solicitor Gabriel Morrison said: “We strongly believe that Veezu drivers should be treated as workers for the company and given the appropriate rights and protection under employment law. As with other similar claims, we are confident that we will ultimately be able to help Veezu drivers achieve workers’ rights. All taxi and delivery companies using this type of business model should be aware that they cannot continue to short-change their hard-working drivers.”

A spokesman for Veezu said: “We have not received any formal notice about these claims and we are confident that our position on the status of the driver partners operating via Veezu is lawful.”

Leigh Day is acting under a "no win, no fee” agreement, which means drivers do not pay anything unless their claim is successful.

If they are successful, Veezu will only be legally required to compensate those who have brought a claim.

The legal action is open to all drivers working for Veezu and its partner taxi companies in the last 10 weeks.

To find out more about the claim, visit Leigh Day’s website.