Apply online for Taxi Licences

You will receive email confirmation of your application submission.

To process your application, you must have:

• A full UK driving licence for Category B vehicles, which you have held for at least 12 months. If you have a driving licence issued from outside of the UK, see Exchange a foreign driving licence.
• A completed medical certificate within 4 months of your application date. You can also use templates from Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall. Wolverhampton Council's template is in the 'Downloads' section. From 1 January 2025, all pages of the attached DVLA D4 form must be provided with your application.
• Proof of your right to work in the UK – Here you can find the Right to Work Document Assessment form. You must upload an acceptable image of your Right to Work documentation and produce all original documents for verification prior to your licence being granted.
• A physical copy of all pages of your full enhanced DBS certificate for the position of "other workforce - Taxi licensing" dated within the last 3 months or enrolled on the DBS Update Service.
  • You must also subscribe to the DBS Update Service at a cost of £13 per year. Please note that from 2 December 2024, the Disclosure and Barring Service will be increasing the cost of an enhanced DBS certificate as well as the cost of the DBS update service, which may result in the DBS certificate costing you more. We would advise that you apply for your DBS certificate and subscribe to the DBS Update Service as soon as possible to avoid paying extra. The DBS certificate must be an enhanced check with a position of ‘Other Workforce - Taxi Licensing’. You have 30 days from the issue date on your certificate to apply for the Update Service
  • Manual DBS certificate holders are unable to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will have to provide a new DBS certificate every six months.
  • If you do not have a DBS certificate, you can get one via TaxiPlus Wolverhampton. 
  • You can read more about the DBS Update Service here.
  • If you are an existing licence holder, if you are submitting a new DBS check on renewal, you will be required to either attend our offices to produce the original certificate alternatively you can send this in the post. This can be posted to: Taxi Licensing, Chapel Street, Bilston, WV14 0PH.
  • If you have any questions about obtaining a DBS check then please view TaxiPlus Frequently Asked Questions.
• A completed DVLA Licence check. This will complete at the same time as your DBS, if you apply via TaxiPlus.
  • If your DBS certificate is not via TaxiPlus Wolverhampton, you will need a DVLA Check Code
• Satisfactory completion of our Private Hire Training & Assessment Programme. You need to pass within 3 attempts. If you passed over 12 months ago, you may need to re-sit this. If you need to book this, you can book this here.
• Your own, individual email address.
• If you are a renewal applicant or have held a similar licence within the last 12 months:
  
  You need to evidence your tax status via a Tax Check Code. Please see Complete a tax check for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence.
  • HMRC has powers to get information relating to your Tax status. HMRC can get information from third parties via:
    • Schedule 23 of the Finance Act 2011 (Data Gathering Powers)
    • Schedule 35 of the Finance Act 2008 (Information and Inspection Powers)
  • This includes Licensing authorities providing information about licence applicants/holders. More guidance is below:
    • PAYE information
    • Registering for Self Assessment
    • Corporation Tax information
    • For more guidance, please visit Tax check factsheet
• Where a licence applicant has been outside of the UK for three or more months continuously since the age of 18, a ‘Certificate of Good Character’, ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’ or equivalent is required. Please see here for further information.
  • Please fill in the form in the ‘Downloads’ section and submit this with your application reference number to Driver.Lic@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Once an application has reached the front of the queue, we will process this. If the application is incorrect then it will take longer to process. There is no guaranteed time for application processing; timescales are indicative only.

Licensing Services will send you an email notifying you of how to collect your licence. Or, you may receive an email notifying of any problems with your application.

We are currently processing new private hire driver licence applications received on: 

Please do not contact the Council about your application if you applied after the above date. Your application is in the queue and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. 

Start standard application

When will the process take longer?

We will process your application upon receipt of all correct and complete documents. You can check the status of your application here.

• Please note that your name must match and be spelt the same way on your documents. Your application will not continue until you resolve this.
• If you have any convictions/information on your records:
  
  If there is anything adverse found as part of the checks on your application, you may get an invite for a hearing. You can check our Guidelines (in the Downloads section) to assess this. This may cause delays with your application.

Please avoid contacting Licensing until you have received an email about your application. Your application is in a queue.

You will receive confirmation of your application submission. This may divert to your clutter/junk folder.

We do offer a fast track procedure, please see:-

See Fast Track procedure

To process your application, we need the following:

• An image of the Vehicle Registration Document (V5), it must include all pages and both sides. If you are not the vehicle’s registered keeper, you must also provide proof of vehicle hire. If you have recently purchased the vehicle and are not yet in possession of the full Vehicle Registration Document we will temporarily accept an appropriate invoice or a completed Section 2 (Selling or transferring my vehicle to a new keeper) and Section 6 (New Keepers Slip) of the currently issued Vehicle Registration Document V5.
• An electronic copy of the current Vehicle Insurance Certificate/Cover Note. This must be ready to upload. You can postdate this up to one month in the future. The cover must have commenced on the day of your inspection.
• Unless the vehicle is brand new with delivery miles only, you must have a photograph or scanned copy of a valid MOT certificate issued no more than 10 days before the date of your application.
• The vehicle meets the Council’s Private Hire vehicle licence requirements policy. This can found in the ‘Downloads’ section at Taxi licences.
  • We will only licence a vehicle until it is 12 years old. At the time of application, the vehicle must be no older than 11 years and 6 months. The iApply online system will not allow you to continue with your application if your vehicle is too old. The only exception to this would be for vehicles with emissions <75 CO2g/km. Please contact us on Vehicle.lic@wolverhampton.gov.uk to enquire.
• If you are not a licensed driver, you must provide a Basic DBS certificate from the UK Government. For Companies/Partnerships, all Directors/Partners must provide this. Certificates can be no older than 12 months old for new applicants. For renewal applicants, this needs to be 12 months before the licence expiry. You must provide a photograph/scan of this as part of the application process. The original DBS certificate will also be required to be seen by Licensing Services for any new certificates dated after 10 July 2024, this can be done by post or in person. Existing Private Hire Vehicle Drivers with Wolverhampton Council do not need this.
• LOLER certificate if the vehicle is fitted with a tail lift.
• LPG Certificate if the vehicle has been converted.
  
  If there is anything adverse found as part of the checks on your application, you may get an invite for a hearing. You can check our Guidelines (in the Downloads section) to assess this. This may cause delays with your application.

When you have completed your online application, you will receive an e-mail acknowledgement.

Once an application has reached the front of the queue, we will process this. If the application is incorrect then it will take longer to process. There is no guaranteed time for application processing; timescales are indicative only.

You will then receive an email notifying you of an appointment to collect your plates, or of any problems with your application.

We are currently processing private hire vehicle licence applications received on:

Please do not contact the Council about your application if you applied after the above date. Your application is in the queue and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. 

Start standard application