Private Hire Terms and Conditions

By booking a ride with Kelpies Cabs you agree to these terms. They cover every licensed private hire journey we accept, whether you book online, by phone, by email, or through your account. That includes local taxi bookings in Falkirk, 24 hour private hire, airport taxi transfers to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Day Highlights visits to The Kelpies, and corporate account travel.

Please read these terms with our Privacy Policy and Payment Policy. Together they form the contract for your booking. They are written for passengers in the United Kingdom and follow Scots law, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and the licensing rules for private hire cars in Scotland.

These pages explain how we work. They are not a substitute for independent legal advice. For personal advice you can contact Citizens Advice Scotland.

1. Who we are

Kelpies Cabs is a licensed private hire operator based in Falkirk, Scotland. We arrange pre-booked passenger transport across Falkirk, Grangemouth, Larbert, Polmont, Denny, Bo’ness, Stirling, Linlithgow and onwards to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Central Scotland.

Questions about a booking, these terms, or a complaint should go through our contact page. Use the phone number and email published there. Do not board a vehicle that has not been assigned to your booking.

2. Licensed private hire, not a taxi rank

In Scotland a hackney taxi may ply for hire from a rank or a street hail. A private hire car must be booked in advance through a licensed operator, and the driver must be assigned to that job before the journey starts. That rule comes from the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the conditions attached to operator, driver and vehicle licences issued by the relevant council, usually Falkirk Council for private hire in this area.

Kelpies Cabs is licensed private hire. You cannot hail us in the street. Getting into a private hire car that was not pre-booked can invalidate insurance. Book online or by phone so there is a record of the job, the quoted price and the assigned driver.

Drivers and vehicles used on our work are licensed and insured for private hire. Drivers should display their council-issued identification. If you are unsure, ask to see the badge before you travel.

3. Booking a ride

A booking request is an offer. A contract is formed when we accept the job and confirm it (usually by email or SMS). Until we confirm, we may decline the request, for example if no licensed vehicle is free, the details are incomplete, or the journey cannot be carried out safely or lawfully.

Public online bookings normally need at least 60 minutes’ notice. Short-notice and ASAP requests depend on a driver being available. Airport taxi from Falkirk is more reliable with at least 24 hours’ notice so we can assign the vehicle and monitor the flight.

You must give accurate pickup and drop-off addresses, date and time, passenger numbers, luggage, child-seat needs, accessibility needs, and (for airport taxi) the flight number and terminal where you have them. Wrong details are the most common cause of a missed pickup.

Book a taxi in Falkirk online on our booking page, or request a Day Highlights visit on the Kelpies tour booking form. Airport routes are explained on airport transfers.

4. Quoted prices

Private hire fares in Falkirk are not set by a council taxi meter in the way hackney tariffs are. We quote a price from the details you give. The quoted price is the price for that ride unless we agree a change with you before extra work is done.

“From” prices on the website (for example Falkirk to Edinburgh Airport) are starting guides for a standard saloon on a typical route. The price we confirm on your booking is the contractual fare.

The quoted price can change if you add stops, change the destination, wait beyond a reasonable period, need a larger vehicle than booked, or travel with extra passengers or luggage that will not fit the assigned car. We will tell you the extra cost and wait for you to agree before continuing, except where you are not present at the booked pickup and the driver has already waited a reasonable time (see cancellation and waiting below).

Tolls, parking, congestion charges, drop-off fees at an airport or station, and similar third-party charges are added only if they apply to your journey. We will include them in the quote where we know about them at booking, or agree them with you if they arise on the day.

5. Airport taxi and flight monitoring

For an airport taxi pickup you must provide an accurate flight number. Where flight data is available we monitor the service and adjust the pickup to the notified landing time. We cannot control air traffic, baggage, immigration, or airport road closures, and we do not guarantee against delays outside our control.

Meet and greet inside the terminal is included only if we confirm it on the booking. Otherwise the pickup point is the location we specify (for example a designated private hire waiting area).

If you cannot find the driver, use the contact details on your confirmation before booking another car. If you leave in another vehicle without telling us, that is a no-show (see below).

More detail on Edinburgh and Glasgow routes sits on our airport taxi pages.

6. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for being ready at the agreed pickup, for the conduct of everyone travelling on your booking, and for any child or vulnerable passenger you bring. Seatbelts must be worn where required by UK law.

You must not ask the driver to break the law, including speeding, using a bus lane unlawfully, or carrying more passengers than the vehicle is licensed for. The driver may refuse that instruction. If the journey cannot continue safely or lawfully, we may end it and charge for the portion already provided plus a reasonable abort cost.

Smoking, vaping, and the use of illegal drugs in the vehicle are not allowed. Food and drink are at the driver’s reasonable discretion.

If the vehicle is soiled (including by vomit, food, drink or smoking residue) we may charge a reasonable cleaning and out-of-service fee that reflects the actual cost and time the car cannot take other bookings. We will tell you the amount and why.

7. Cancellation, no-shows and waiting

Passenger transport booked for a specific pickup time does not carry the 14-day cooling-off right that applies to many other distance contracts. That exemption is in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (see regulations 7(3) and 27(2)(c) on legislation.gov.uk). Cancellation of a taxi booking or airport taxi is therefore governed by this section, not by that cooling-off period.

You may cancel free of charge until we have assigned a driver to the job, unless we confirm a different free-cancellation window on your booking. Cancel through the same channel you used to book, or via the contact page, as early as you can.

If you cancel after a driver has been dispatched, or you are not at the pickup after the driver has waited a reasonable time, we may charge a reasonable abort or no-show fee up to the quoted fare. That reflects the cost of sending a licensed vehicle that cannot take other work. We will not charge more than the agreed fare for that ride.

For airport arrivals, a reasonable wait after the notified landing time is included so you can clear the aircraft and collect bags. Extra waiting after that, or a change of plan at the kerb, is charged only if we agree the extra cost with you, unless you cannot be contacted and the driver has already waited a reasonable time.

If we cancel because we cannot fulfil the booking, we will tell you as soon as we can and refund any fare already paid for that journey. We are not liable for onward tickets, hotels or other costs beyond the fare, except where the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires otherwise (for example if we failed to provide the service with reasonable care and skill).

8. Payment

Payment is normally made to the driver by cash or card at the end of the ride, unless we confirm another method: a full online payment, a deposit with the balance in the car, or a monthly corporate invoice. We do not add a surcharge for paying by consumer debit or credit card.

Full rules for card, cash, Stripe pay links, deposits, invoices and refunds are in our Payment Policy.

9. Vehicles, passengers and conduct

We assign a vehicle that matches the passenger and luggage details you give. Standard cars take up to four passengers. Estate, executive and 6–8 seater options are available when you ask at booking and we confirm them.

Drivers may refuse to carry a passenger who is abusive, violent, or so intoxicated that the journey cannot be completed safely. They may also refuse items that are illegal, unsafe, or likely to damage the vehicle.

Animals travel only if agreed at booking, except assistance dogs (see below).

10. Accessibility, assistance dogs and child seats

We will not refuse a booking because you are disabled where we can carry out the journey with the vehicles we have. Tell us at booking if you use a wheelchair, need extra time, or travel with an assistance dog so we send a suitable car.

Assistance dogs must be carried under the Equality Act 2010 unless the driver holds a valid medical exemption and shows it. We do not charge extra for an assistance dog.

UK child car-seat rules apply. Tell us at booking if you need a child seat. We only provide one if we confirm it on the booking. Otherwise you must supply an appropriate restraint. Some licensed taxi and private hire journeys have limited exemptions in law; we still ask you to use a suitable seat wherever one can be fitted safely.

11. Luggage and lost property

Bring luggage that fits the vehicle you booked. Oversized items may need an estate or minibus. We are not obliged to carry goods that make the vehicle unsafe or unlicensed for the load.

If you leave property in the car, contact us promptly. We will hold items we recover for a reasonable period, then dispose of or donate them if they are unclaimed. Perishable or unsafe items may be disposed of sooner. We may charge reasonable storage or postage if you ask us to return an item.

12. Complaints

Contact us first with the booking reference, date, pickup and what went wrong. We will look into it. If you are not satisfied you may complain to the licensing authority that licensed the operator, driver or vehicle (for Falkirk work, Falkirk Council’s transport licensing team). You also have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, including that the service must be provided with reasonable care and skill.

13. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that Scots law or the Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not allow us to exclude.

We are not liable for delays or failure caused by events outside our reasonable control (including severe weather, road closures, accidents on the route, airport disruption, or a passenger not being ready). We will still take reasonable steps to complete the journey or to tell you if we cannot.

For other loss, our liability for a booking is limited to the fare paid or payable for that ride, except where that limit would be unfair or unlawful. We are not liable for indirect loss such as missed flights, missed connections, or lost business, unless that loss was caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill and was reasonably foreseeable, and even then only to the extent the law requires.

You remain responsible for your own travel insurance, flight times and onward bookings.

14. Privacy

We use personal data to run bookings as described in our Privacy Policy. By booking you confirm the details you give are accurate and that you have permission to give us any passenger data that is not your own (for example a colleague’s pickup).

15. Changes

We may update these terms. The version on this page when we accept your booking applies to that ride. Material changes will be dated at the top of the page.

16. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Scotland. If you are a consumer, you may bring a claim in the Scottish courts or in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom where you live. If you book as a business, the courts of Scotland have exclusive jurisdiction.

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.