Pay-As-You-Go/Top-Up Delivery Insurance

Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up insurance

Top up insurance, or Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Delivery Insurance is a form of vehicle insurance designed to cover you for Hire and Reward. It sits “on-top” of your existing Social, Domestic & Pleasure (SD&P) insurance, and usually matches the level of coverage of your existing policy. It's often referred to as "top-up" insurance, and the two are often used interchangeably.

It can be an interesting option for any couriers or delivery drivers looking for flexible, reasonably priced insurance, offering protection in the event of accidents without the commitment of often expensive annual policies—a year-long Courier Insurance policy starts from just under £2,000 per year, which is no small commitment at a cost close to 4X as much as the average cost of SD&P insurance.

However, many SD&P insurers will not accept pay-as-you-go/top-up coverage as valid, and therefore you risk losing your coverage if you’re with one of these providers and they find out you’re doing delivery work with PAYG cover. Learn more about this useful but sometimes-difficult-to-arrange cover for delivery drivers in this in-depth guide.

• What is Pay As You Go Delivery Insurance?
• What does Pay As You Go Delivery cover?
• How much is Pay As You Go Delivery Insurance?
  • Where to Get Cheap Pay As You Go Delivery Insurance
• FAQ's

What is Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up Insurance?

Pay-As-You-Go (or Top-Up) Delivery Insurance is designed to protect your vehicle while you’re driving in return for payment (“Hire and Reward”). It’s designed to only cover you while you’re working, when you wouldn’t be insured by your traditional Social, Domestic & Pleasure policy, meaning drivers can avoid signing up to expensive annual policies.

It’s exceptionally popular with drivers working with some of the UK’s leading delivery apps, who enjoy the flexible, low-cost protection and its synergy with their apps—drivers with the likes of Deliveroo or UberEats are automatically covered as soon as they log-in (provided the top-up cover is from an approved insurance partner such as Zego), so they don’t even need to tell their insurer when they do/don’t need it.

What Does Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up Insurance cover?

As it’s designed to work alongside your SD&P policy, it’ll often match the level of your regular vehicle insurance—so you’ll always know what you’re covered for whether an accident happens while you’re driving for work or otherwise.

Types of Vehicle Insurance	Third Party Only	Third Party, Fire and Theft	Comprehensive
Repair if your vehicle is damaged in an accident
Repairs if your vehicle is damaged in a fire or stolen
Compensation if other people are injured in an accident
Damage to other people’s property

The coverage kicks in from the moment you sign in to your app of choice and make yourself available to accept deliveries, and ends whenever you complete your final delivery—do keep in mind you will need to be online on your app of choice for it to apply. Your safest bet is to log in when you get into your vehicle to start your shift, as Nimblefins research indicated there can be some murky waters for insurers if you’re driving to a shift but aren’t online.

It won’t cover you for anything above the level of coverage you’ve already got, so if you’re worried that the long hours, unfamiliar roads and busy parking locations might make you more liable to an accident or theft then you’ll want to chat to your SD&P provider about upgrading your policy to a higher level.

What’s Not Covered By Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up Insurance?

The best answer to this will always come from your insurance provider themselves, but here’s a few things most PAYG policies won’t cover:

How Much Does Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up Insurance Cost?

You can expect to pay between £1-£2.50 per hour for your Pay-As-You-Go/Top-Up Delivery Insurance. The amount you pay will depend on the same variables that effect that cost of your traditional vehicle insurance, which might include:

While you can’t control your age (and it probably isn’t convenient to move for the sake of saving a few pence per hour on your coverage), you can try to pick less powerful vehicles that are cheaper to repair and popular with other couriers to reduce your risk profile and save money in the long run.

Where To Get Cheap Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance/Top Up Insurance

The UK’s largest insurers are yet to offer pay-as-you-go coverage (and some won’t even cover couriers at all), which is to say your options are fairly limited.

Nimblefins research and interviews with drivers have Zego as the UK’s top Pay-As-You-Go Delivery Insurance business, and their partnerships with many of the UK’s top delivery and courier apps make getting signed up a fairly simple process (they'll even upload your insurance documentation to UberEats or Deliveroo for you, saving you the hassle).

Some insurers will offer you monthly policies, but these are few and far between (and could prove expensive if you’re working less than 20 hours a week), so if you’re looking for a PAYG insurance solution then Zego is probably your best bet.

FAQ’s

Do Amazon/Deliveroo/JustEat/Uber/UberEats Drivers Need Hire & Reward?

Absolutely—we’ve put together guides for each to give you a more in-depth view of what insurances each company provides its drivers and what you’ll require to get signed up.