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How to get delivery driver and food delivery insurance
Regardless of the type of vehicle you driver, you'll need to secure a form of Hire & Reward insurance if you want to work as a delivery driver. But where can you get it?
It's relatively straightforward to get delivery driver insurance for a van or motorcycle (it's quite common so many providers offer it), but insuring your car for delivery driving is trickier—especially if you want pay-as-you-go cover for short-term work.
- 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.
Three options for buying delivery driver and food delivery insurance
Assuming your vehicle is already insured under a social, domestic & pleasure (SD&P) policy for your personal driving, there are three options for getting covered to make deliveries with your vehicle:
- Contact current SD&P insurer and ask if they'll cover delivery driving (this is unlikely as most major insurers won't cover Hire & Reward)
- Buy top-up Hire & Reward cover like Zego (and keep existing cover for SD&P, but this may not be possible depending on your insurer)
- Get new all-in-one insurance from a delivery specialist to cover SD&P driving and deliveries (and cancel your existing SD&P insurance)
Option 1. is unlikely because most large vehicle insurers don't offer delivery driving insurance. Delivery driving must be covered by Hire & Reward, which is viewed as a high-risk specialist type of cover. While your existing SD&P insurer is unlikely to cover delivery drivers, it doesn't hurt to ask. So first, call up your existing social, domestic & pleasure (SD&P) vehicle insurer and ask if they'll expand your coverage to include your delivery driving. If not, try the next options.
Option 2. is only possible if your existing vehicle insurer permits its policyholders to buy top-up cover. Many do not. Read about which ones accept it here. If your insurer does allow this, you MUST inform them of your delivery work and that you've taken out top-up cover. This option can work best for motorists doing delivery work on a part-time or short-term, temporary basis.
Option 3. is the fall back for drivers unable to use the first two options, or those who will be doing a significant amount of delivery work. If your existing insurer won't cover your delivery driving and also won't cover your SD&P if you get top-up hire & reward cover, then you'll need to get alternative vehicle insurance from a specialist to cover both your SD&P and your delivery driving. This also might be more cost effective for drivers expecting to do a lot of delivery driving. You can either go direct to one or use a comparison search engine to enable you to more quotes in a shorter period of time, with fewer forms to fill out. For example, you can get quotes by clicking below and filling out a short form with our comparison partner QuoteZone. It works for vans, cars and motorbikes needing insurance for making deliveries.
- 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.
You MUST do this if you use a top-up cover like Zego
If you go with option 2 and get top-up H&R cover, you B contact your existing SD&P insurer in order to inform them of your plan and ensure they will continue to cover your SD&P driving. Many insurers will not accept this and could invalidate your cover if you do. If your existing SD&P insurer won't work with top-up cover and won't cover delivery driving themselves, you could be driving uninsured.
Top-up hire & reward insurance for delivery drivers essentially sits on top of your underlying car insurance (which you have for driving to the shops or to see family and friends) and covers your delivery driving work. Using top-up cover means you have vehicle insurance from two insurers—one for SD&P driving and another for delivery driving. If you go this route, you MUST confirm with your SD&P insurer that they find this scenario acceptable—if they say no, you can't go with this option.
To get a quote from a delivery driver specialist, click here to fill out a short quote form. Up to three insurance providers will contact you to proceed with the quote and answer any questions you still have.