top-up food delivery insurance

You want to deliver food, perhaps by applying for a job with a company like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat or Dominos. You know that you need special insurance for this ' but you already have an existing insurance policy. What do you do?

Can you buy a separate top-up policy just for food deliveries? Or do you need to take out a new policy entirely?

Your Insurance Options

Most of us have standard social, domestic and pleasure (SDP) cover for the vehicles. This covers us for day-to-day use of the cars, excluding anything which is work related.

Some of us have added commuter cover. This is essential if we use the car to drive to work, or even to drive to a train or railway station where we park it up and then travel the rest of the way to work by public transport. None of these will cover you for making deliveries. so do you:

• Ask your current insurer to add a clause to your policy to include food delivery
• Buy a separate, top-up policy just for food deliveries
• Cancel your existing policy and take out a new one which includes food delivery cover.

These are important questions and the answers depend on the attitude of your current insurer, as well as the exact terms and conditions of your existing policy; which is why qualified, expert advice from a insurance provider specialising in food delivery insurance is so vital.

Getting food delivery cover from your existing insurer

In theory you should be able to ring up your current insurer and ask if they would add fast food delivery insurance to your existing policy; but you are likely to be disappointed. The top car insurance companies do not like fast food cover because the accident rate amongst food delivery drivers is a lot higher than the average. As you have probably found out already most of them will refuse to cover you or will quote an outrageous extra premium.

Buying a separate top-up policy to cover just food deliveries

You may already have an existing, and perhaps expensive, policy for your vehicle so you are naturally reluctant to cancel it and perhaps have to pay cancellation charges in order to take out a new policy, so perhaps you can get a separate policy that covers you just for the times when you are out making deliveries.

This seems like a simple answer, but it is not. Your existing insurer may well specifically prohibit you from making deliveries at all; this could mean that even if you had top up cover, by working as a delivery driver you could invalidate your entire policy. This could mean that even if you are not making deliveries, but just using your vehicle for social, domestic and pleasure purposes, you could be uninsured.

Whether or not this would be a serious issue for you would depend upon the precise details in your current policy, which is yet another reason why you would be well advised to get professional advice.

Cancelling your existing policy to take out a new one

This would be an ideal solution since your new policy could be designed to keep you driving within the law, and cover all the risks that you are likely to face as a delivery driver. The drawback of course would be that this could mean accepting cancellation charges on an existing policy with a company that you are happy to stay with.

A good professional adviser should be able to explain all your options, and carry out any necessary negotiations with insurance companies on your behalf, as well as search for affordable policies for you to compare.