Supermarket and online shops are already gearing up for a busy food delivery Christmas season. If you are transporting perishable or valuable goods, you need to make sure your business is protected. From goods in transit insurance to public liability and professional indemnity, there are many ways to make certain you are covered.
The last five years has seen a dramatic effect on the UK’s highways with delivery vans and food couriers becoming a commonplace sight. The COVID pandemic has also placed the food and beverage industry centre stage with a growing number of households opting to order their groceries online and fast-food deliveries direct to their door.
And it’s a lucrative enterprise too. News organisation Bloomberg reported that food delivery service Deliveroo was valued at more than $2 billion three years ago. Launched in 2013 Deliveroo has reported that sales from its food delivery business grew 72 percent in 2018, reaching £476 million for the year. And this year Deliveroo took on 11,000 more restaurant partners and their delivery riders quota doubled from 25,000 to more than 50,000. Rivals Just Eat Takeaway home delivery UK food sales surged 43% as Covid-19 boosted demand.
Statista Global No.1 Business Data Platform recently issued its Food Delivery and Takeaway Market Report showing that the market value of food service delivery increased from £8.1 billion to £8.5 billion between 2018 and 2019.
Insurance Protection for Food Delivery
For anyone entering this growing market, it’s good to be aware of the liabilities associated with food delivery. If you’re thinking of becoming a self-employed food delivery courier, there are some vital insurance cover issues that you need to be aware of. Together with your courier insurance or business van insurance, you’ll need cover for:
- Goods in transit
- Public liability
- Employers’ liability
Courier insurance is designed to protect you personally, as well as the vehicle you drive and the cargo you transport. Obtaining the right type of courier insurance for you depends on the type of business you run. There are particular risks associated with this type of work where your cargo (in this case food) could be lost, stolen or damaged in transit.
Whether you work as a part-time courier with your own vehicle, run several vehicles or even own haulage fleet, you’ll need to tailor your policies to cater for you.
Goods in Transit Insurance
If you drive for a living and regularly deliver goods to customers or employ drivers who do, it’s essential you’re covered by business van insurance or courier insurance so that you can keep your business moving. As a courier, it’s not just the vehicles you drive that have value. Any policy should also protect you against the risks you pose to other road users as well as their vehicles, property and persons.
Together with protection for the road risks you face, your insurer should provide policies that come with goods in transit cover included as standard up to a value of £10,000. You can also add public and employers’ liability insurance as well as other business insurances that may be required to create a single policy that meets all your needs.
Goods in transit insurance covers items from theft, loss or damage while they are being transported by your vehicle from one place to another in the course of business. Remember that some van or courier insurance policies can include an element of goods in transit cover, but only up to a certain value. The standard £10,000 may seem adequate but at busy times like Christmas you need to ensure you will not be out of pocket should damage or loss occur.