What each app asks for
This is what each platform’s own pages say. Check your app before you start, because requirements change.
| Platform | Car, motorbike or scooter | Bicycle or e-bike | Cover the platform gives you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo | Social, domestic and pleasure cover plus hire and reward or fast food delivery cover | No motor insurance needed by law | Free personal injury and income protection for all riders while online; free public liability for cyclists at all times, and for scooter and car riders when walking to pick up or drop off |
| Uber Eats | A certificate that covers food delivery, or hire and reward not excluding food delivery | Not stated on Uber’s insurance page | Uber mentions “Partner Protection with Allianz” but gives no details on that page |
| Just Eat | Hire and reward for a car, van, motorcycle or scooter; the document must say “Hire and Reward”, “Carriage of Goods” or “Food delivery” | Hire and reward not needed | None stated |
| Amazon Flex | Hire and reward plus at least social, domestic and pleasure cover; partners are Inshur and Zego | Amazon Now e-bike blocks need public liability and personal accident cover | None; Zego says Amazon stopped its own Additional Cover in 2022 |
| Evri | A car or van with business insurance | Not offered | Optional third-party top-up through Marsh at £1.35 a day, charged only on days you deliver |
If you work for more than one app, make sure your certificate covers all of them. Just Eat, for example, says that if your certificate names other companies such as Uber Eats, it must name Just Eat too.
The types of cover, in plain English
- Social, domestic and pleasure (SD&P): normal car or scooter insurance for personal use. It does not cover deliveries.
- Business use: covers driving for work, such as visiting clients. It usually does not cover being paid to carry other people’s goods.
- Hire and reward: covers carrying goods or food for payment. Insurers sell food delivery and parcel courier versions, and they are not always the same. Inshur, for example, says its pay-as-you-go cover is for Uber Eats and Deliveroo and does not cover parcel delivery.
- Public liability: covers claims if you injure someone or damage property while working, for example on foot at a customer’s door.
- Personal accident or income protection: pays you if an accident stops you working. Deliveroo includes a version of this for its riders.
Three ways to pay for hire and reward cover
- Pay as you go. You pay only while you are working, as a top-up to your own SD&P policy. Zego says it charges a minimum of one hour when you accept a job, then by the minute until you finish. Inshur charges by the minute from a wallet you top up, and its Amazon Flex version charges for the minutes you drive on a block, with a £1.49 wallet fee every 30 days.
- 30-day policies. Continuous cover for a month, without a 12-month commitment.
- Annual policies. Continuous cover for a year, usually the lowest cost per hour if you deliver a lot.
What it costs: published starting prices
Insurers rarely publish prices, and what you pay depends on your age, vehicle, postcode, licence and claims history. These are the starting figures Zego publishes for car food delivery cover. Zego says 10% of its customers paid these amounts or less in the six months to 23 July 2025, so most people pay more.
| Zego car food delivery cover | Starting price |
|---|---|
| Pay as you go | up to £3.29 an hour |
| Hire and reward only, 30 days | £138.69 |
| Hire and reward plus SD&P, 30 days | £149.84 |
| Hire and reward plus SD&P, annual | £1,392.69 |
Other published figures vary widely. Zego’s Uber Eats guide quotes pay-as-you-go from 80p an hour and annual cover from £1,023 a year for drivers with a good record. Inshur publishes no prices and quotes each driver individually. Get two or three quotes before you start delivering.
Pay as you go or annual? Work it out
Put your own quotes into the calculator. It adds up a year of each option, and shows the weekly hours at which an annual policy becomes cheaper than paying by the hour.
Your insurance for a year
An annual policy works out cheaper than pay as you go once you deliver more than about 11 hours a week.
Totals include £600 a year for your normal social, domestic and pleasure cover with pay as you go, because it sits on top of that cover. Your 30-day and annual quotes already include it.
Worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or saved.
With the example figures, an annual policy is cheapest for someone delivering 20 hours a week, at £1,393 a year. The break-even is about 11 hours a week. Below that, pay as you go wins: at 8 hours a week the same figures make pay as you go £1,176 a year against £1,393 for the annual policy.
Once you know your insurance cost, add it to the true hourly pay calculator or the calculator for your app to see what you keep per hour.
Before you buy
- Match the cover to the work. Food delivery and parcel delivery are often separate. Check the certificate wording your app needs.
- Tell your normal insurer. Inshur says your SD&P insurer should know you do delivery work, even if a separate policy covers the deliveries.
- Check the excess. A cheap policy with a large excess can cost more after one claim.
- Keep it live. Uber says you must have a valid policy whenever you are on its platform. Driving uninsured can mean a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points, or an unlimited fine and a ban if it goes to court.
PennyPerHour does not sell insurance and is not paid by any insurer. We name Zego and Inshur because the platforms name them as partners and because they publish information we can check.
Questions people ask
Do I need special insurance to deliver food in the UK?
Yes, if you use a car, van, motorbike or scooter. You need hire and reward or food delivery cover as well as normal social, domestic and pleasure insurance. Bicycles and e-bikes do not need motor insurance.
Do Deliveroo riders get free insurance?
Deliveroo gives all riders free personal injury and income protection while online, and free public liability for cyclists at all times. Scooter and car riders still need their own hire and reward cover.
How much is food delivery insurance per hour?
Published pay-as-you-go prices range from about 80p to over £3 an hour depending on the insurer and the driver. Zego publishes “up to £3.29 an hour” as a starting price that 10% of its customers paid or less.
Is pay-as-you-go or annual delivery insurance cheaper?
It depends on your hours. With our example quotes, annual cover is cheaper above about 11 hours a week and pay as you go is cheaper below that. Use the calculator on this page with your own quotes.
What happens if I deliver without hire and reward insurance?
You are driving without valid insurance for that journey. GOV.UK says the police can give a £300 fixed penalty and 6 penalty points, and a court can give an unlimited fine and a driving ban.
Sources
- Deliveroo Rider Support: What insurance do I need?
- Deliveroo Rider Support: What does Deliveroo’s free rider insurance cover?
- Uber UK: Certificate of Motor Insurance and Uber
- Just Eat Couriers: What documents do I need to apply?
- Amazon Flex UK: Requirements
- Evri: Courier FAQ (top-up insurance)
- Zego: How much does food delivery insurance cost?
- Zego: What insurance do I need for Uber Eats?
- Zego: What is pay-as-you-go food delivery insurance?
- Zego: What insurance is needed for Amazon Flex?
- Inshur: Fast food delivery insurance
- Inshur: Pay as you Flex for Amazon Flex
- Inshur: Amazon Pay as you Flex FAQs
- GOV.UK: Driving without insurance
Calculators
- True hourly pay calculatorAny gig or delivery app, after costs and tax
- Evri pay calculatorYour real hourly pay after costs
- Amazon Flex pay calculatorBlock pay after fuel and extra time
- Deliveroo earnings calculatorOrders, tips and logged-in hours
- Uber Eats earnings calculatorFares, boosts and costs per hour