By Jodie Yettram

Copyright jerseyeveningpost

PROSECUTIONS against drivers offering paid lifts through social media remain “very difficult” to secure – the Home Affairs Minister has admitted as she warned passengers that insurance may not cover them if there is a crash.

Deputy Mary Le Hegarat told the Assembly during question time on Tuesday that the States police “routinely stop, engage with, and where offences are identified, investigate individuals operating outside regulation,” but recent prosecutions “have not resulted in successful convictions”.

Asked why, she said it is hard to prove a commercial service rather than friends sharing fuel costs.

She said: “It’s very difficult to be able to establish that the people are known to each other and they’re not just having a lift home… whether they’re just giving some money for petrol.”

The minister added: “It is not advisable for any member of the public to take a lift with somebody who is not regulated and has no DBS check.”

She warned that insurance “is not likely to be valid should an accident occur” and said that, as far as she was aware, there have been “no successful prosecutions”.

The comments follow repeated warnings from the Jersey Taxi Drivers Association that Islanders offering unlicensed transport for cash are becoming increasingly “brazen”.

In December 2024, JTDA secretary Mick Tostevin told the JEP he feared it would take a serious accident or crime before the authorities cracked down.

Taxi drivers have long raised concerns over online groups such as Jersey Lifts, where Islanders without licences, background checks or insurance offer transport for payment.

One driver, speaking anonymously, estimated the illegal lifts trade could be worth as much as £1 million a year.

In June 2024, a man who used the Jersey Lifts Facebook group to pick up passengers was cleared of operating an illegal taxi service following a one-day trial.