Insurance.
Memphis Code of Ordinances § 6-80-10
in effectSec. 6-80-10. - Insurance.
A. No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall be issued unless the applicant provides to the city treasurer proof of financial responsibility by either a written policy of liability insurance coverage as provided in subsections (A)(1) or (3) of this section, or a self-insurance certificate as provided in subsection (A)(2) of this section. The liability insurance coverage limits as provided in subsections (A)(1) and (2) of this section are the same as that provided by the Tennessee Financial Responsibility Law of 1977, as amended, T.C.A. § 55-12-101 et seq., generally and in particular T.C.A. §§ 55-12-102 and 55-12-111, and shall be automatically increased as of January 1, 1990, as provided by the state statute, and thereafter as the statute is amended.
1. A written policy of liability insurance coverage issued by an insurance carrier duly authorized to do business in the state, covering separately, or in a schedule attached to such policy, each passenger vehicle for hire to be operated under the direction of such applicant, for taxicabs shall be provided by a single-limit policy with a limit of not less than $50,000.00 applicable to one accident or split-limit policy with a limit of not less than $20,000.00 for bodily injury to or death of one person, not less than $40,000.00 for bodily injury or death to two or more persons in any one accident, and not less than $10,000.00 for damage to property in any one accident.
2. A self-insurance certificate issued by the state commissioner of the department of safety, for which documentation from the commissioner shall also be filed with the city treasurer.
3. A written policy of liability insurance coverage issued by an insurance carrier duly authorized to do business in the state, covering separately or in a schedule attached to each policy, each passenger vehicle having a capacity of more than five persons including the driver, shall be provided by a policy with limits of at least $5,000.00 more per each seat capacity beyond five than the minimum single-limit or split-limit requirement for taxicabs, as provided herein, for injuries or death of more than one person in any one accident.
a. A self-insured retention or deductible funding, whether or not in conjunction with automobile liability insurance for taxicabs which achieves the substantial equivalent of the liability insurance set forth in subsection (A)(1) of this section. The applicant or certificate holder shall file a statement of compliance providing that the certificate holder or applicant shall pay within 30 days any final judgment of a court for damages on account of bodily injury, death or property damages resulting from the ownership or negligent use or operation of a taxicab subject to the single-limit liability of subsection (A)(1) of this section and shall deposit collateral for the faithful performance of the statement in a restricted account to insure the liability protection required in subsection (A)(1) of this section as follows: $20,000.00 to be deposited immediately in a commercial bank or other such depository with a branch office located in the city, three deposits of $20,000.00 each every 90 days thereafter, and then 12 deposits of $10,000.00 each every 90 days thereafter until a total amount of $200,000.00 is deposited. Documentation of the deposits shall be filed with the city treasurer. Within 30 days of any withdrawals, as provided for below, the fund shall be replenished to required funding level.
b. The certificate holder or applicant shall file with the city treasurer and the depository, wherein the certificate holder or applicant shall expressly agree that, if any court or the clerk thereof, shall certify to the city treasurer and to the depository that such certificate holder has failed to satisfy within 30 days any final judgment of the court upon which execution has been lawfully issued for damages in a single accident on account of bodily injury, death or property damage resulting from the ownership or negligent use or operation of any taxicab of such certificate holder, such cash or government obligations so deposited shall, to the extent of no more than $50,000.00, be applied by the depository upon the written order of the city treasurer, to the satisfaction of the judgment; and agreeing that, for that purpose, any government obligations so deposited may be sold and converted into cash by the depository at its market price, and that any cash excess from the proceeds of such sale shall remain with the depository as collateral security aforesaid. Nothing herein shall affect the right of the general public to recover damages in excess of the limits stated herein from a source other than the restricted fund. The certificate holder shall reimburse the fund for such judgment so that the fund shall be brought to the required level within 30 days of the withdrawal by the city treasurer. The certificate holder shall not encumber the fund nor shall the fund be encumbered or moneys withdrawn from the fund except as provided herein.
c. The certificate holder shall report claims activities on a quarterly basis to the city treasurer, including the following information per claim: the name(s) and addresses of the claimant(s), the date and location of the accident(s), the name(s) of the taxicab driver(s) involved, and the amount and current status of the claim. Records of the claims maintained by the certificate holder shall be made available for inspection by the city treasurer or his or her representative during regular business hours in the office of the certificate holder for a period of one year of the final disposition of each claim.
d. It is unlawful for a permit holder, or anyone acting on his or her behalf, to commit or perform any of the following in handling of claims:
i. Misrepresent insurance policy provisions relating to coverage at issue;
ii. Fail to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly, considering all the circumstances, upon written or oral communications with respect to claims;
iii. Fail to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the prompt investigation of claims.
e. So long as a depository has received no written notice of default by a certificate holder in the faithful performance of this statement of compliance referred to in subsection (A)(3)(a) of this section, such certificate holder shall be entitled to receive, and the depository shall pay to him or her, if, as and when collected by it, all interest from time to time accruing upon any cash or government obligations deposited as herein provided. All charges made by the depository for such account shall be paid by the certificate holder.
f. In case a certificate holder, after making a deposit of cash or government obligations as provided in subsection (A)(3)(a) of this section shall discontinue the operation of taxicabs or in the event he or she shall, with the consent of the city treasurer, substitute in lieu of such agreement a policy of liability insurance in accordance with subsection A of this section, the certificate holder shall continue to maintain the deposit at the required level for such period of time as shall equal the then applicable statute of limitation for the filing of claims by adult claimants for damages covered by subsection A of this section at which time an appraisal shall be made by the city treasurer and the certificate holder of all outstanding and unpaid claims pending against such person; and a sufficient amount of such cash or government obligations so deposited shall be retained by the depository as, in the reasonable discretion of the city treasurer, shall be reasonably sufficient to guarantee payment of such claims. The balance of such deposit shall thereupon be returned to the person making such deposit by the depository, upon the order of the city treasurer; and thereafter the balance of such fund shall, from time to time as claims are reduced, be returned by the depository to the person making such deposit on the order of the city treasurer, in the proportion to the amount that it shall be shown to the city treasurer that such claims have been paid or satisfied, or have been reduced, dropped or abandoned. In case of dispute over such appraisal between the person making such deposit and the city treasurer, the dispute shall be settled by the chief administrative officer or his or her designee, and the decision of same shall be final and binding upon the parties.
g. Failure by the certificate holder to fully comply with all the provisions of subsection (A)(3) of this section shall result in the immediate suspension of the affected certificate of public convenience and necessity and notification of a revocation hearing.
B. Any insurance policy issued pursuant to this section shall further provide that the insolvency or bankruptcy of the insured shall not relieve the company from the payment of damages for injuries or death sustained or loss occasioned within the provisions of the policy and that the prepayment of any judgment that may be recovered against the insured upon any claim covered by such policy shall not be a condition precedent to any right of action against the company upon the policy, but that the company shall be bound to the extent of its liability under the policy and shall pay and satisfy such judgment, and that action may be maintained upon such judgment by the injured person or his or her heirs or personal representatives, as the case may be, to enforce the liability of the company as therein set forth.
C. Any insurance policy issued pursuant to this section shall further provide that the same may not be canceled or not renewed without at least 30 days' written notice to be sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the city treasurer except that cancellation for nonpayment of premium shall require no more than ten days, properly mailed, written notice of cancellation.
D. If the certificate holder fails to fully and timely comply with all the provisions of subsection (A)(3) of this section, the certificate of public convenience and necessity affected by such fund shall fail within the period specified in such notice of cancellation or nonrenewal of a liability insurance policy or self-insurance certificate to provide a policy or self-insurance certificate meeting the requirements of this section on or before the date of cancellation or nonrenewal, then the certificate of public convenience and necessity affected by such cancellation or nonrenewal shall be immediately suspended. Any such suspended certificate of public convenience and necessity may be revoked after a public hearing to be held following ten days' written notice, sent registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, the date of post and the date of cancellation, nonrenewal, or the date the subsection (A)(3) of this section fund falls below the level provided for in subsection (A)(3)(a) of this section being day one, upon the finding that the policy or self-insurance certificate has not been provided or the subsection (A)(3) of this section fund has not been properly funded. The suspended certificate of public convenience and necessity may be reinstated by the city treasurer before the hearing or at the hearing, upon compliance in full with the provisions of this section, so long as no other cause for suspension or revocation exists. An application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, after revocation, shall be treated as an initial application.
E. No passenger vehicles for hire shall be operated upon the suspension or revocation of a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
(Code 1985, § 39-10; Ord. No. 4227, § 1, 11-2-1993; Ord. No. 4352, § 8, 8-15-1995)
Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT6BULIRE_CH6-80TA_ART4CEPUCONE_S6-80-10INFetched: 10/28/2026