The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.
Deliveroo Insurance - what do you need?
- Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars on Reviews.co.uk
- Fill out only one form
- Note: Inexperienced food delivery drivers with 0 years of no claims may have difficulty getting a quote in the current market.
If you're considering driving for Deliveroo, you probably have questions about what insurance you'll need. Below we explain what insurance is provided by Deliveroo and what additional insurance you need to buy. Also, Deliveroo has made a helpful video about this that you can find here.
What insurance does Deliveroo provide for its drivers?
Deliveroo provides its drivers with a few forms of cover: public liability, personal/medical coverage for accidents while you're online and accepting deliveries for Deliveroo, earnings support for illness, and even a new child payment. Of the popular UK food delivery apps in the UK, Deliveroo’s insurance policy is one of the most comprehensive on the market. You can read more on the Deliveroo site here.
Public Liability Insurance
Unlike some other delivery companies, Deliveroo provides £1,000,000 of cover for all of its delivery people while they're walking or cycling. This includes motorcyclists and car drivers who accidentally cause injury or damage to a third party while they're "off-vehicle", for example walking from their vehicle to a property to make a delivery. Competitors like JustEat don't offer this type of cover.
Personal Accident Insurance
Deliveroo accident insurances will protect you if you are involved in an accident whilst working for Deliveroo, and are unable to work as a result of the injury. The policy will cover you in the event that you:
- Are temporarily unable to work
- Need to stay in hospital
- Suffer any facial or dental disfigurement
- Are permanently disabled or killed
- And more
You can find out more about the specifics of the policy here, but some key sections for delivery drivers are:
Serious Injury
- Accidental death: £50,000 **
- Permanent Total Disablement: **£50,000 **
- Permanent Partial Disablement: **up to £30,000
Disfigurement & Scarring of the Face
- up to £750
Hospital Stay following Accident
- £50 per night (max. £3,000)
Temporary Total Disablement
- £50 per day up to 23 days: if you have been contracted by Deliveroo for at least two calendar months at the date of the Accident
- £25 per day for up to 6 days: if you have been contracted by Deliveroo for less than two calendar months at the date of the Accident
Recovery
- £20 per day up to £280
Most cyclists/walkers don’t require any additional insurances on top of those provided by Deliveroo, but it’s worth being aware of the limitations of the Deliveroo personal accident coverage (e.g. maximum of 14 days of recovery payment) and considering additional protection.
However, that doesn’t mean that Deliveroo fully covers you after signing up. If you’re going to be using a car, scooter or motorbike you’ll need to make sure you have vehicle insurance that covers you for commercial use (as in, food delivery).
What Insurance Do I Need For Deliveroo?
You'll require, at minimum, a form of commercial hire & reward coverage for food delivery drivers (in other words, delivery driver insurance) in order to drive for Deliveroo. Annual delivery driver policies can be purchased that cover both your personal and delivery driving, or you can keep your existing social, domestic & pleasure driving and add top-up/PAYG hire & reward coverage (if your SD&P provider is ok with this). Both have their benefits and disadvantages, which we will explore here.
Vehicle cover
As a delivery driver you have two options for insuring your vehicle: switching to a commercial courier policy that will cover both your work and personal driving or keeping your personal vehicle insurance that you supplement with a PAYG/top-up hire & reward policy.
Compare Deliveroo Insurance
Only one form to fill out. Find the insurance you need. Note: Inexperienced delivery drivers with 0 years of no claims may have difficulty getting a quote in the current market.
Commercial delivery driving insurance with personal driving included
As a Deliveroo driver, you’ll need a hire & reward insurance policy that protects you for using your vehicle for delivery purposes. Some insurers offer this type of commercial insurance, but you may need to find a specialist insurer to cover this type of driving. However, it's worth checking in with your current provider to see what a policy might look like and if they would also cover your delivery driving.
Having hire & reward insurance is required due to the nature of courier work—the often long distances and unfamiliar roads and destinations means you need to pay extra for coverage to protect you against a larger number of potential issues than traditional SD&P policies (or a Class 1/2/3 business vehicle insurance).
Your commercial coverage typically also gives you full coverage while you're driving for social, domestic or personal purposes, so you'll be protected at all times with this style of policy.
Pay-As-You-Go/Top-Up Hire & Reward Insurance
Alternatively, hire and reward is available as a top-up/pay-as-you-go policy that works alongside your existing personal car insurance. It's a separate policy that goes 'on top' of your existing SD&P coverage and protects you while you're using your vehicle for Deliveroo/courier service work. Compared to commercial insurance, some H&R insurers offer pay-as-you-go (hourly)/pay monthly no contract policies, meaning you only need to pay for the coverage you use.
These policies can be an excellent option to consider for those who see courier work as a short-term employment solution. Our research indicates that the pay-as-you-go options are generally cost-efficient until you've worked for around 20 hours in a week. Past this point, the monthly policy is typically better value—but prices are subject to change at all times so see for yourself.
However, you'll need to be careful, as some SD&P providers will void your SD&P coverage if you take additional/part-time coverage alongside theirs—even if your accident occurs while you're not working, due to the additional risk you've exposed yourself to by working as a courier (additional wear and tear on vehicle, long hours of driving continuously). Make sure to discuss with your provider before undertaking any courier work to confirm your protection still applies.
Also, be aware that providers like Zego PAYG top-up will only cover you for as much coverage as your existing car insurance—therefore if you currently have a Third Party Only policy for your personal car insurance, then you'll be only be covered for damages to third parties in the event of an accident while working.
Personal Accident Insurance
While Deliveroo does provide coverage for its couriers in the event of an accident, the protections offered are fairly limited, e.g. illness earnings cover for up to 15 days, and 14 days of recovery protection. If you were out of work for a longer time period, you’d no longer be covered by Deliveroo’s insurance.
Independent personal accident insurance policies start as low as £35 per year for non-smokers, and typically cover you for between 55-70% of your pre-tax earnings for up to one year. Each policy has its own individual duration and payout amount, so do some research and find the best policy for you at a price that makes sense if you'd like additional cover.
How much will it cost me to get insured to be a Deliveroo delivery driver?
The total cost of your Deliveroo driver insurance depends on the standard variables as traditional car insurance—what car you drive, what level of coverage you opt for, your driving history, etc. That being said, our research indicated that for a typical driver commercial insurance started at around £1,850 annually (c. £155 per month). This is around 4X the average cost to insure your vehicle in the UK on an SD&P policy.
Insurances are more expensive for Deliveroo delivery drivers for a number of reasons:
- Much higher annual mileage
- Driving/riding in areas you’re not familiar with
- Rushing
- Working later, less sociable hours.
How can I save money on Deliveroo delivery insurance?
If you’re going to be working less than 20 hours per week, it’s worth considering a pay-as-you-go/pay monthly coverage—with the rise of the gig economy and courier work more and more providers are offering these (as opposed to locking you in to a 12 month contract), so if you see Deliveroo driving as a short-term employment solution then these are worth considering. Here are a couple of providers offering short-term/pay-as-you-go coverage policies:
Apart from that, traditional methods of saving money on your vehicle insurance still apply:
- History of no-claims
- Less powerful/smaller vehicles known for being cheap to insure
- Paying annually
- Gathering quotes from multiple providers
- Using a blackbox to allow insurers to track your driving
What Next?
Our guide to delivery driver insurance is a great resource for anybody considering starting work as a delivery driver in the UK.
We've also got insurance guides for some of the UK's largest app-based businesses—take a look to compare between them and see which will work best for you:
And finally, a lot of the UK's leading vehicle insurers do not accept top-up coverage (from the likes of Zego). You can find out which of the UK's top insurers do/don't cover couriers and which will/won't accept top-up cover here.
Commercial vehicle and public liability quotes were gathered based from a 30-year-old driver, with 5+ years of personal no claims bonus, driving a 2015 1.8L Toyota Prius, one of the most popular cars for Uber drivers. The price of your policy may vary with the variables mentioned above.