What Insurance Do I Need To Drive With Gophr?

Gophr is quickly making a name for itself as one of the UK’s favourite same-day delivery networks. Holding an exceptionally strong 4.5-star rating on Trustpilot, reviews focus on excellent communication, polite drivers and a useful app to track deliveries.

In February 2017 they began delivering for HelloFresh, and since then have slowly taken over more and more of HelloFresh’s delivery requirements. There may be no better time to deliver for Gophr, with HelloFresh announcing it had doubled its revenue as a result of people staying at home during the pandemic.

Here’s everything you need to know about getting covered properly to drive for them.

What insurances do I need to drive for Gophr?

Gophr doesn’t offer any insurance coverage for its drivers, so you’ll need to sort all of this out yourself. Gophr’s courier job application lists all of the insurances you’ll need before getting signed up:

Hire and Reward/Courier Insurance

In order to use your vehicle in return for payment (“hire and reward”) you’ll require a specialised car/van insurance. While different insurers occasionally use different definitions, "courier insurance" generally refers to a more well-rounded policy, which often includes additional coverages like goods-in-transit or public liability within it, and like traditional vehicle insurance typically lasts for a full year before you need to renew.

Hire and reward policies are available with Pay-As-You-Go/top-up payment options from some providers, allowing you to only pay for what you use. These policies generally sit “on top” of your existing Social, Domestic & Pleasure coverage, matching its level, and only covering you while you’re working—your SD&P policy covers you while you’re not.

“Matching the level” of your SD&P insurance usually means that, to avoid confusion, your hire and reward will only cover you for the same incidents that your SD&P does, so if you hold a Third Party Only vehicle policy then your hire & reward will only cover you for third party damages too.

While hire & reward can be a cost-effective option (policies start from just £1 per hour), you do need to be careful. Many of the UK’s largest car insurers don’t accept top-up hire & reward coverage as valid, so you risk voiding your SD&P policy by taking one out. You’ll need to contact your insurer before beginning any form of courier work in order to avoid any unnecessary risks.

Public Liability Insurance

Unlike other courier businesses, such as CitySprint or Amazon, Gophr require you to hold a Public liability insurance policy before taking to the road with them.

£1,000,000 of public liability coverage in the UK costs £106 on average, so it isn’t cheap—worth keeping in mind if you only see working for Gophr as a short-term option, especially as most other delivery companies (in our experience) don’t require you to hold a policy.

While it is an expensive upfront cost, public liability is useful if you’re looking to work with other courier organisations—especially smaller companies, who often require drivers to have their own coverage. So if you’re considering being on the books with multiple companies (as many drivers do) it’s absolutely worth having a policy.

Public liability will only cover you for incidents that happen “off-vehicle” (your courier/hire & reward insurance should cover you while you’re driving). The combination of the two should mean you’re always covered while you’re working.

Goods-in-Transit

Similarly to public liability, Gophr (rather uniquely) requires you to hold a goods-in-transit policy. Most courier businesses, in our experience, protect the parcels you’re delivering (or offer customers the option to purchase their own coverage), so Gophr asking drivers to take financial responsibility for the protection of goods in their possession while on the move is interesting to see.

Goods-in-transit is designed to cover the items you’re delivering from damages, theft or accidental loss, up to a certain amount (Gophr specifies you must have at least £5,000 worth of coverage).

While it is surprising that Gophr doesn’t offer protection or take responsibility for the packages it delivers, thankfully for drivers policies aren’t too expensive, starting from around £4 per week. Keep in mind the cost can vary if you’re in busier/more dangerous locations (city centres) or if you want more than the standard amount of cover.

What do drivers say about working for Gophr?

Gophr hasn’t been around a very long time, so there aren’t many reviews online about drivers experience. However, of the reviews we read, most were positive. Customer reviews make an interesting read too—many people rave about the ease of using Gophr, the politeness of drivers and how cost-effective Gophr are compared to other courier businesses.

Driver reviews focus on the general benefits of being a self-employed courier:

“Flexible working patterns and shifts”

“Great experience and [company] culture”

Customer reviews from TrustPilot paint an overwhelmingly positive picture of Gophr’s service quality:

“First time user - won’t be the last!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever received such amazing customer service”

How can I save money on my Gophr Insurance?

Saving on courier insurance is similar to saving on your traditional car insurance, and we’ve got a more in-depth guide here, but the key points can be fairly easily summarised.

The cost of public liability is generally worked out based on your industry, and therefore the likelihood of you ever needing to make a claim—for example, a dog walker (£54 p/a) would be expected to pay less than a self-employed builder (£80 p/a).

And finally, goods-in-transit is generally costed based on the amount of cover you require, so £10,000 of cover would naturally cost more than £5,000—although keep in mind that insurers tend to discount higher levels of coverage quite considerably, so you wouldn’t be expected to pay twice as much for twice the coverage.