See the different types of insurance you need to legally delivery takeaway food to the public
The Food delivery industry has been growing rapidly over the last 10-12 years and was worth around £8.5 million in the UK in 2019, and with things changing rapidly in 2020 with the Covid pandemic this trend has been accelerating towards more and more people ordering food online.
And not only is food delivery associated with the large tech platforms such as Deliveroo or Uber Eats, Food trucks, street food stalls and small independent restaurants are all getting in on the action.
So if you have landed on this article you may be wondering what type of insurance you need to delivery takeaway food?
To deliver food you will need Hire and Reward insurance (also known as courier insurance, C3 business insurance or food delivery insurance) to legally exchange hot or cold food for payment. And depending on your employment status you may also need public liability and product insurance.
In this article, I go into a more in-depth explanation of what hire and reward insurance and public liability insurance covers, along with an innovative short term insurance product called "Pay as you go" insurance.
Hire and reward (courier insurance)
If you are using a vehicle to deliver takeaway food a standard auto policy does cover food delivery's in the UK so you will therefore need a particular type of insurance.
This is where it can get a little confusing as there are a number of different terms used for food delivery insurance.
The main one is known as Hire and Reward insurance, which is also known as Courier insurance, food delivery insurance and Class C(3) business use car insurance.
However, they basically all mean the same thing and allows you to legally exchange hot or cold food products in exchange for cash or card payments.
Whilst hire and reward insurance only offers legal protection for the exchange of food for payment it does not offer any protection from damage or theft of your vehicle or its contents or to that of a customer.
Simply Business is one of the UK’s best insurance brokers, who specialise in working with small businesses and the self-employed. As such they work with a lot of the main insurers so can offer very competitive Hire & Reward insurance quotes.
Public Liability and product insurance
Hire and reward insurance (aka courier or C3 business insurance) covers you to deliver food in exchange for payments.
However, depending on your actual employment status, you may also need additional types of food delivery insurance.
If you are self-employed or delivery food as part of your own small business then you will need Public Liability and Product insurance.
Public liability insurance covers you and your business against any claims that arise from damages as a result of your business. For example, if a customers property was damaged in the process of delivering food.
Product liability insurance on the other hand covers you against any claims resulting from faulty or contaminated products. For example, if a customer was to get food poising.
If you work as a paid employee for a company on a contract then you should need to get public liability insurance. However, it's worth checking with your employer to see what they cover.
Again Simply Business is one of the leading insurance brokers for this type of insurance for small businesses and the self-employed.
Pay as you go food delivery insurance
Another type of insurance that works the same way as hire and reward or courier insurance is "Pay as you go" food delivery insurance.
It works as a kind of bolt on to your traditional social, domestic or pleasure car insurance.
However, the main difference here as the name suggest is instead of a yearly insurance policy you can get cover only for the periods you actually delivery food on a monthly, weekly or even hourly basis.
This is managed through an app and one of the most well-known providers of pay as you go insurance is a company called Zego.
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Related question
How much does food delivery insurance cost?
The cost of food delivery insurance such as hire and reward and public liability insurance will all depend on a wide range of factors such as driving and claims history, the age and type of vehicle you use, drivers age, the area's food is delivered and what time of the day or night you operate,
This is not an exhaustive list and there will likely be many more factors that your insurance company will use to calculate premiums.
Key takeaways
When delivering food to the public the main type of insurance you need is Hire and Reward insurance, which is also known as Courier, C3 business insurance or food delivery insurance.
It can get a bit confusing but they all mean the same thing and enable you to legally deliver food to the public in exchange for cash or card payments.
Depending on your employment status, whether your self-employed, owner of the company or a paid employee, you may also need additional protection.
Additional products include public liability and product insurance which cover any claims as a result of damage to customers property or faulty products.
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