Specialist · Food Delivery · Pay As You Go

Pay As You Go Food Delivery Insurance UK 2026

Pay-as-you-go food delivery insurance in the UK starts from around £3.29 an hour in 2026 (Zego), letting you buy the hire-and-reward cover the law requires by the hour instead of by the year. You only pay while the app is switched on, which makes it the cheapest option for occasional and weekend riders — but a full-time courier on pay-as-you-go can pay well over £4,000 a year, so the right cover model depends entirely on your weekly hours. Below: what each option costs, when pay-as-you-go beats an annual policy, and the specialist UK insurers that write this risk.

Compare providers → All specialist cover

£3.29/hr

PAYG car cover, from (Zego 2026)

£300+6pts

penalty for uninsured delivery

~8 hrs/wk

break-even: PAYG vs annual policy

Direct Answer

What pay-as-you-go food delivery insurance is — and why comparison sites can’t price it

Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) food delivery insurance is hire and reward cover sold by the hour rather than by the month or year. In 2026 it starts at roughly £3.29 an hour for a car (Zego), and you only pay while you are logged on and working — switch the app off and the meter stops. That makes it the cheapest way to cover the odd evening or weekend shift, and it is the reason mainstream comparison sites cannot quote it: their panels price annual social, domestic and pleasure policies, not per-hour commercial delivery risk.

The cover exists because paid delivery is a separate legal category. Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, carrying goods that are not yours in return for payment requires hire and reward (H&R) insurance — a standard personal policy, and even Class 1 to 3 business use, expressly exclude it. One hire-and-reward certificate covers the activity of delivering, not a single app, so the same policy lets you work Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat at once. Here is how the annual-equivalent cost compares across the main cover models:

Food delivery insurance: annual-equivalent cost by cover model — UK 2026

Pay-as-you-go wins for occasional shifts, but a full-time rider on PAYG pays well over £4,000 a year — around three times an annual policy.

Sources: Zego published 2026 pricing (pay-as-you-go from £3.29/hour, 30-day hire and reward from £138.69, combined annual from £1,392.69), annualised by Car Insurance Expert. From-prices; individual quotes vary by age, vehicle, postcode and claims history.

Cover model	Headline price	Annual-equivalent	Best for
Pay-as-you-go · 5 hrs/week	£3.29/hr	£855	Occasional / weekend shifts
Pay-as-you-go · 8 hrs/week	£3.29/hr	£1,369	Light part-time (break-even point)
Annual policy (H&R + SD&P)	from £1,393/yr	£1,393	Full-time, one policy
30-day rolling (H&R only)	from £138.69/mo	£1,664	Steady part-time, keeps own SD&P
30-day rolling combo	from £149.84/mo	£1,798	Flexible month-to-month
Pay-as-you-go · 15 hrs/week	£3.29/hr	£2,566	Regular part-time (PAYG loses)
Pay-as-you-go · 25 hrs/week	£3.29/hr	£4,277	Full-time (PAYG most expensive)

Sources: Zego published pay-as-you-go, 30-day and annual pricing (2026); INSHUR and Tempcover 2026 rate guidance. Pay-as-you-go annual-equivalents assume 52 weeks at £3.29/hour for a car and are illustrative; 30-day figures are the monthly from-price multiplied by 12. All are cheapest-available quotes — your price varies with age, vehicle, postcode and claims history. Refresh: November 2026.

Where To Buy

Specialist pay-as-you-go & food delivery insurers (UK 2026)

Because paid delivery is a niche commercial risk, it is written by specialist insurers and brokers rather than the household names on price-comparison panels. These are the main UK providers offering pay-as-you-go, 30-day and annual food-delivery cover in 2026:

Zego — the pay-as-you-go market leader; car cover from £3.29/hour plus 30-day and annual hire-and-reward and combined policies, accepted by Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat.
INSHUR — app-based “all-in-one” policies that bundle personal (SD&P) and delivery cover in one price; suits full-time riders who want a single policy.
Tempcover — short-term hire and reward from one hour to 28 days, useful for one-off shifts or covering a borrowed vehicle.
Veygo (Admiral group) — hourly and daily temporary cover with easy top-ups for occasional delivery.
Collingwood — established annual fast-food delivery and courier policies for regular riders.
Street Cover — specialist courier and food-delivery broker covering cars, vans and mopeds.
Insurance Revolution — budget-focused fast-food delivery and hire-and-reward cover.
Admiral — mainstream insurer offering dedicated food delivery and private-hire products for drivers who want a household name.

Listing is informational, not a recommendation or a quote — Car Insurance Expert does not sell insurance. Always compare the exact cover basis, mileage terms and excess before you buy.

Choosing

When pay-as-you-go beats an annual policy

The whole case for pay-as-you-go is simple: at about £3.29 an hour it is unbeatable when you work few hours, and increasingly expensive as your hours climb. The crossover with a typical £1,393 annual policy lands at roughly eight hours a week — below that, PAYG is cheapest; above it, a 30-day rolling or annual policy wins. Use your real weekly hours to pick a lane:

Add up your real weekly hours. Cover cost tracks hours worked, so an honest weekly figure is the single biggest factor in which model is cheapest.
Under about 8 hours a week — go pay-as-you-go. At £3.29/hour a light rider pays under £1,400 a year and nothing on the weeks they do not work.
8 to 20 hours — consider a 30-day rolling policy. A fixed monthly premium (from about £139) beats hourly billing once you are working most weeks, and you can cancel between months.
20+ hours or full-time — buy an annual combo. From around £1,393 a year it is the cheapest way to be covered every day, and it usually includes your personal (SD&P) use too.
Mind the gap in your personal cover. Hire-and-reward-only policies cover the delivery activity, not your everyday driving — keep your ordinary policy running unless you hold a combined policy.
Declare it. Tell your main insurer you also hold hire and reward cover; non-disclosure can void a claim even on unrelated personal driving.

Common Questions

Pay-as-you-go food delivery insurance: FAQs

Do I legally need hire and reward insurance to deliver food?

Yes. Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, the moment you carry goods that are not yours in return for payment you need hire and reward cover, and that includes every Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat order. A standard social, domestic and pleasure policy, and even Class 1 to 3 business use, specifically exclude paid delivery, so delivering on them leaves you effectively uninsured. Pay-as-you-go is simply hire and reward cover billed by the hour rather than the year.

How much is pay-as-you-go food delivery insurance?

Car-based pay-as-you-go cover starts from around £3.29 an hour in 2026 (Zego), so a five-hour weekend shift costs roughly £16 to £20. Your exact rate depends on your age, postcode, vehicle and claims history, and younger drivers in cities pay more. Mopeds and scooters are usually a little cheaper per hour than cars. You only pay for the hours you switch on, which is what makes pay-as-you-go cheap for occasional riders.

Does my normal car insurance cover food delivery?

No. A standard social, domestic and pleasure policy covers commuting and personal driving, not carrying other people’s goods for money. Business-use Class 1, 2 or 3 does not help either, because it covers your own work travel but expressly excludes hire and reward. If you deliver on a personal policy and have an accident, the insurer can refuse the claim and cancel the policy, and you would face the same penalties as driving with no insurance at all.

Is pay-as-you-go cheaper than an annual delivery policy?

Only if you work a small number of hours. At about £3.29 an hour, pay-as-you-go beats a typical £1,393 annual policy up to roughly eight hours a week; above that an annual or 30-day rolling policy works out cheaper. A rider doing 25 hours a week on pay-as-you-go would pay well over £4,000 a year, nearly three times the annual price. Match the cover model to your real weekly hours.

What happens if I get caught delivering without insurance?

Delivering for payment without hire and reward cover is treated in law as driving with no insurance. The penalty is a £300 fixed fine and six penalty points, and police can seize and even destroy the vehicle. A conviction also pushes up every future premium for years, so the saving from skipping cover is quickly wiped out.

Does one policy cover Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat?

Yes. Hire and reward cover insures the activity of delivering food for payment, not a single app, so one valid certificate lets you work for Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and Stuart at the same time. That is why multi-apping riders do not need a separate policy per platform: one pay-as-you-go, 30-day or annual hire and reward policy covers them all.

Can I get pay-as-you-go insurance on a moped or scooter?

Yes. Most pay-as-you-go providers cover mopeds, scooters and motorcycles as well as cars, and two-wheeler rates are often slightly lower per hour because the vehicles are cheaper to repair. You will still need a valid licence, a CBT as a minimum for a moped, and the same hire and reward basis of cover as a car.

Do I need to tell my insurer if I only deliver occasionally?

Yes, there is no occasional exemption. Even one paid drop needs hire and reward cover in force for that trip, which is exactly what pay-as-you-go is designed for: you buy an hour or a shift when you work and carry your ordinary policy the rest of the time. Never rely on your personal insurer not noticing, because non-disclosure can void the whole policy.

Our sources

Zego (2026) — pay-as-you-go car cover from £3.29/hour, 30-day hire and reward from £138.69, combined 30-day from £149.84 and combined annual from £1,392.69, plus universal acceptance by the major apps. Zego pay-as-you-go guide
INSHUR (2026) — all-in-one food delivery policies bundling personal and hire-and-reward cover. INSHUR fast food delivery insurance
Road Traffic Act 1988, section 143 — the legal requirement to hold insurance covering hire and reward. legislation.gov.uk
gov.uk — driving without insurance — the £300 fixed penalty, six points and vehicle-seizure powers. gov.uk penalties
ABI (2026) — UK motor premium and claims-inflation context that feeds hire-and-reward pricing. ABI Motor Premium Tracker
Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample — 2026 pay-as-you-go and annual from-prices annualised across the specialist food-delivery panel.

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team

Written and fact-checked by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team (specialist motor-insurance research). Methodology: figures are compiled from Zego, INSHUR and Tempcover published 2026 pricing plus gov.uk and Road Traffic Act 1988 guidance, with pay-as-you-go annual-equivalents modelled at £3.29/hour across a 52-week year; we do not sell insurance or take quotes on your behalf. Questions or corrections: editorial@carinsuranceexpert.co.uk.

Last updated: 3 August 2026 · Next scheduled review: 3 November 2026

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