Family of private hire driver who died during TfL licence renewal delays demand emergency action
- Perry Richardson
- May 30
- 3 min read
The family of a private hire driver who died waiting for his licence renewal has written to Transport for London (TfL) demanding accountability and urgent change.
Robert Dale, 65, suffered a fatal heart attack 13 days after emailing TfL in October last year, expressing frustration over the months-long delay in renewing his private hire licence. In the email, he warned that the hold-up had left him unable to work or support his wife and two sons.
Despite submitting all required documents on time, Mr Dale was left in limbo by TfL’s licensing department. Administrative errors and delays meant he was without income for several months. His family believes the stress of financial hardship significantly contributed to his death.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said thousands of private hire drivers have faced similar issues. Delays have reportedly led to debt, repossessions and evictions among those waiting for licence renewals.
In a letter to TfL Commissioner Andy Lord and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Mr Dale’s family joined IWGB’s call for emergency licence extensions. They are also asking for a formal recognition that the licensing delays played a key role in Mr Dale’s death.
Ben Dale, Rob’s son, said in the letter: “Stop treating this situation as a PR problem and begin treating drivers as human beings. My father’s life—and the lives of so many others—cannot be collateral damage in a broken licensing system.”
On Thursday 29 May, the IWGB held a vigil outside TfL’s Stratford offices in Mr Dale’s memory, calling for urgent reform of the licensing system.
TfL said it was reviewing the handling of Mr Dale’s case and apologised for the distress caused. Helen Chapman, TfL’s Director of Licensing and Regulation, said: “We take the issues raised by his family extremely seriously.”
TfL blamed a cyber security incident in 2024 and the launch of a new licensing system for the delays. The authority said it had since hired more staff and granted short-term licences where appropriate.
Chapman said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Dale’s loved ones following his tragic death last year and we take the issues raised by his family extremely seriously. We're very sorry for any upset caused to Mr Dale's family by our handling of his case. While we cannot comment publicly on the detail of individual cases, we are carrying out a comprehensive review and will be responding to his family's concerns in full.
"We apologise to any drivers who experienced issues that impacted our processing times following last year’s cyber security incident. The safety of people using taxi and private hire services is paramount and when licensing an individual, we must ensure that the applicant meets licensing requirements and is fit to be licensed. Following the incident, we had to adapt our usual processes considerably and we kept drivers informed of these delays via a regulatory notice which was published in October 2024.
"We are aware that some drivers have been further impacted due to the introduction of a new licensing system. We have taken a number of steps to mitigate the impact of these delays by recruiting and training additional staff and granting short-term private hire vehicle driver licences where appropriate. We continue to take every possible step to rectify the delays as quickly as possible and support drivers through the process."
Ben Dale, Robert Dale’s son, said: “My dad loved his job as a driver because he got to meet so many different people and hear all their stories. He was happy, popular, and dedicated to his work. Sadly he was not the man we knew in the months leading up to his passing. The stress caused by being out of work, unable to earn, and kept in the dark about his licensing status consumed him. We will never get our dad back, but we don’t want other families to have to go through this pain, so we are calling on TfL to issue all drivers affected with emergency licenses immediately.”
Alex Marshall, President of the IWGB Union, says: “TfL’s mismanagement of this crisis is nothing short of a national scandal. For over six months, London’s private hire drivers have been unable to pay their bills or feed their families—yet there is still no resolution in sight. Helen Chapman and the other TfL managers responsible have hundreds of drivers’ suffering to answer for. They must take accountability and act today - not next week, not next month - today - by issuing temporary licenses to all affected.”
