Courier insurance
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Based on 39,376 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Insurance for couriers – why is it important?
If you’re in the delivery business, courier insurance can provide that extra layer of reassurance. For example, if disaster hits and your schedule gets disrupted, or you’re served with an expensive employee claim, would you have the funds ready to set things right? Start with public liability insurance, and add any specifics you need.
Remember, goods in transit and public liability insurance are different things. Standard insurance for couriers won’t cover the items you’re transporting, so if you need cover for these.
- courier liability insurance (public) starting at £1 million
- UK-based claims team, award-winning and available 24/7
- claims paid in 24 hours for 80% of settled claims
What does courier business insurance cover?
We’ll start with courier public liability insurance, for injuries or property damage blamed on your business – for example, if you injure someone’s foot with your delivery trolley. From there, you can add insurance for business equipment and your employees, along with personal accident cover in case you or someone on the policy gets signed off work.
Courier public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your courier business.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your courier business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
Courier public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage caused as a result of moving items, while on someone’s property
- an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
- accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees
If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
For example:
- while carrying a heavy box into a customer’s property, you accidentally drop it on the foot, causing a fracture
- the package you’re delivering leaks onto a customer’s carpet, causing a permanent stain
What you’ll need additional cover for
- road accidents, and claims related to your van or vehicle – separate motor contingent liability policy for these
- goods in transit – jump to our insurance for transport and logistics to view covers available for your business which includes the items you're transporting
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your courier business.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
- an employee trips down your office premises steps, breaking their arm
- you hire a new driver for the busy Christmas season and they drop an incorrectly packed box on their foot, breaking two bones
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft of the equipment you use to operate, from your laptop to your phone system
- loss of your equipment
- flood, fire, or accidental damage
For example:
- while you’re out for lunch, someone steals your work laptop from your business premises
- you leave your tablet in a motorway services, and lose all the bookings info you haven’t yet uploaded
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your specialist tools used for delivery jobs
- your tools while they’re on a client’s premises or in transit in the UK, in any vehicle you own or lease
For example:
- two new parcel cage trolleys you’ve ordered are damaged by a contractor’s van
- your mail room box trolleys are left behind at a client’s premises, and returned to the wrong company
Read more about tools insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your courier business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your courier business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass and associated legal costs
- HMRC, tax, and compliance issues, if they come up
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a highly-rated courier business
For example:
- your client disputes their contract with you and you need to pay legal costs as a result
- an employee you’ve dismissed raises a claim against you, and you need to hire legal representation
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- your business partner breaks their arm while covering a delivery, and won’t be able to drive for several weeks
- a Christmas temp you’ve hired injures their back while playing football, and needs six weeks away from work
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does couriers insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £6.50 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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How we work out example prices We take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 January - 31 August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example courier insurance quotes, real prices
£6.61 /month
£46.08 /month
A self-employed courier who works in the local area
- 1-2 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Sale
Public liability
££1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Contents & business equipment
Not included
£16.95 /month
£149.49 /month
A small courier business that works nationally with 1 worker that only does office work
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in Sunderland
Public liability
££1,000,000
Employers’ liability
££10,000,000
Contents & business equipment
££5,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 23/09/2020). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
| Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
| Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
| Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
| Tools | £60 | £500 |
| Stock | £100 | £500 |
| Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
How it works
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Does courier insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about employers liability and tools insurance.
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.
You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.
Does courier insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider taxi driver insurance or haulier insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
Example claim
Having courier insurance through Simply Business has saved delivery businesses thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Olly saved more than £5,000
While loading deliveries into his van, Olly (not his real name) threw a package for his employee to catch which was heavier than he realised, and dislocated his employee’s finger. The employers’ liability cover in his courier business insurance policy covered Olly’s liability costs.
Insurance payout
£5,050.00
Covering the cost of employers’ liability
Olly’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Olly’s policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses and landlords
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Courier insurance FAQ
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about courier public liability insurance in the UK, and other popular covers. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
No, these are known as ‘goods in transit’, which standard courier business insurance policies don’t usually cover (our policies can include things like your equipment, portable electrics, tools, and any office supplies, however). If you’d like to arrange protection for goods in transit, you’ll need to get it through a third-party such as your van insurance provider.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 043 8527 to update your policy before you take on this new work.
If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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