What Insurance Do I Need To Drive With Hermes?

It’s probably fair to say 2020 was a good year for Hermes. They sold 75% of their business to global Private Equity firm Advent and announced turnover of £860M, up from £749.5M the year prior.

Hermes also offers its drivers the unique opportunity to become “Self-Employed Plus”, which guarantees them at least £8.55 per hour, removing any risk of earning less than the national minimum wage on any shift.

As the online delivery and eCommerce markets continue to grow, you may be wondering what you’ll need to get started with Hermes insurance-wise—we’ve got you covered.

What insurances do I need to drive for Hermes?

You will require at least 3rd party vehicle insurance in order to drive with Hermes. Hermes are then able to provide you with “Top-Up” coverage through their partner Marsh Insurance which is charged at £1 per day for each day you work with Hermes. Alternatively, you’re welcome to sort out your own Hire and Reward or Courier Insurance policy.

If you do sort coverage out yourself, you’ll need to inform them you’re “opting out” of their automatic insurance coverage—not a difficult process, but worth remembering if you’ve signed up for your own policy. And keep in mind that their insurance only covers you while you’re working for Hermes, and not for other courier work, so if you’re considering driving for other businesses (as many do) then you’ll still need to sort out your own policy.

Hermes providing you with this coverage is actually fairly unique on the market. Other courier businesses like CitySprint or Amazon don't offer anything comparable, and our research indicated drivers generally speak favourably of the coverage and claims process.

Be careful, however, you’ll need to declare your work for Hermes to the car insurer company that provides your main personal vehicle insurance, and get approval for this work and to use Hermes’ top-up cover. Many insurers will not accept Hermes top-up coverage as valid, so you must always check with your insurer before signing up, and if there are any issues it’ll give you a chance to discuss them before you begin delivering.

Do you need public liability insurance to deliver with Hermes?

Public liability isn’t a pre-requirement in order to drive with Hermes, however a policy can be very helpful in case of certain accidents. Public liability insurance can protect you if you’re at fault for an accident (not while you're driving—that'd be covered by vehicle insurance) that causes damages to your clients or other third parties.

Hermes doesn’t provide you with any form of public liability, so you’d need to arrange this yourself. Policies usually cost less than £100 per year, so definitely a worthwhile investment, and if you’re going down the route of taking out your own full-time courier insurance policy then it’s likely your provider will include a form of public liability within this, so you know you’ll be covered in the event of an incident.

Smaller, local logistics companies may also operate out of depots and locations they share with Hermes. If you’re considering signing up with any of these (to broaden the number of opportunities you have locally, as many drivers do) then they may require you to have a public liability policy—worth considering if you don’t see Hermes as your sole source of work.

Remember that public liability won't cover any damages to yours or other people's vehicles—this should be covered by your courier insurance/hire & reward.

Do you need goods in transit to deliver with Hermes?

Hermes protects the goods you’re carrying, so you’re not required to hold a goods-in-transit policy. This means if the packages you’re delivering for Hermes are lost, stolen or damaged you won’t be liable—assuming you haven’t intentionally caused the incident yourself.

Goods in transit can be useful if you’re using your vehicle for other purposes, however, such as if you want to use your vehicle for furniture removal or offer yourself as a "man with a van". And similarly, while less common, some smaller businesses may require you to hold a goods in transit policy before they’ll let you deliver for them—think small stores or specialist product designers (windows, vases etc.)

What do drivers say about working for Hermes?

Reviews of working at Hermes are mixed. We summarised the most common themes from reviews on Indeed.

Positive comments often mention meeting new people and the autonomous nature of the work:

“I loved working there…. always nice in the morning”

“Driving around the Stirlingshire area… taking in the beautiful scenery… working at my own pace”

Negative comments regularly focused on being overworked and under-compensated:

“They didn’t pay me for my first day of work… typical”

“Bad management, very low pay for parcels… no bonuses”

How can I save money on my Hermes Insurance?

Saving on Hermes Insurance isn’t complicated at all—methods you apply to keeping costs low on other vehicle coverages will still apply here: