TfL licencing delays a 'matter of life and death', family says
The family of an Uber driver has said they fear the stress caused by a delay in the renewal of his private hire licence may have contributed to his death.Robert Dale was left unable to work because of the delay - which was due to software problems caused by a cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL) last September.Mr Dale died aged 65 after a heart attack in November, three months after he applied for his licence renewal and a month after it expired.His son believes the day-to-day pressure of the situation reduced his father's quality of life and badly affected his health.
The problems caused by the cyber attack meant some drivers were unable to work for months.Some took out loans, and others missed payments on their mortgages.In a recent letter to TfL and the mayor of London, Mr Dale's son Ben Dale said his father wrote numerous emails urging TfL to renew his licence, as its expiry date approached.These emails became increasingly desperate, he said. In his letter, he said it was "a matter of livelihoods, mental health, and in our case, life and death."
He said his father had been "happy, popular and dedicated" but there had been a noticeable change in him when he was left unable to work. "Every single day. That is all he talked about. "We started to really feel like we were losing our dad and my mum, her partner, mainly because of the complete stress that he was just consistently under. "It was relentless".
TfL is now able to issue temporary licences "where it is appropriate to do so" but private hire drivers are still protesting and want compensation for their financial losses.One driver, Kambiz Hemati, said he was still "up to his neck in debt".He waited four months for his renewal, and described that time as "like hell"."I wasn't working and the costs were piling up."He said he had bought an electric car, as requested by TfL, and was beginning to default on the monthly payments for it as well as his mortgage, and he was worried about his young son."I had to borrow from banks and use credit cards. "I have to pay that all back and that means more hours and tiredness. This is not the way drivers should be treated."
The Dale family believes the "failings of TfL" and the "complete lack of communication and acknowledgement of any wrongdoing" led to Mr Dale's mental health deteriorating.His son said it was difficult to say if the stress Mr Dale was under "was the exact reason" his dad died, but he was "certain the quality of life he had up until his death was significantly worse" because of it. "He was great. Everybody loved him. Always making jokes, trying to make people laugh. He loved people. "He was very inquisitive, always wanted to know how people were doing and just wanted the best for people."Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of drivers are going through exactly what my dad went through."
Helen Chapman from TfL said they were "carrying out a comprehensive review" and would respond to the Dale family's concerns in full.She added they "were aware 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."A spokesperson for the mayor of London said his "deepest sympathies and thoughts" were with the Dale family and the concerns raised in their letter "would be looked into".
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