Couriers, don’t let the wrong cover become your nightmare before Christmas

It’s predicted that £30bn of Christmas shopping will be ordered online in 2022! Whilst this is down from the pandemic high of £35m, it still equates to more than 36% of the anticipated total spend.

That online spend leads to a huge number of parcels needing to be delivered by an ever-growing army of couriers. So, parcel delivery businesses like Yodel have recently bolstered their delivery capabilities, by recruiting an additional 4,000 workers to cope with this extra demand*.

One in 12 people have a side hustle to ‘make ends meet’

With the rising cost of living, 1 in 12 people have a side hustle to make ends meet, so many people may choose to capitalise on this increased demand for couriers by becoming either a part time or full-time courier to make additional income, or to help with their work life balance.

The average courier can be required to deliver anything between 80 and 150 parcels a day. So, whilst you will probably need a comfy pair of shoes, here are a few of the many benefits of being a courier driver.

Be your own boss

Sure, you must provide a great level of service to your customers, but apart from that you’re self-employed with nobody to tell you what to do. You can even decide when you work in some instances giving you the ultimate work-life balance opportunity.

Explore your local area

With the average courier driving between 70 and 100 miles per day*, delivering parcels may well take you to areas you haven’t been before, making every day different and more of an adventure. This may seem better to some than being stuck behind a desk.

You meet new people daily

If you like meeting new people, then this could be the job for you.

Sure, like in any job you may meet the occasional awkward customer, but most people will be pleased to see you, after all you are technically delivering their Christmas.

You don’t need much to get started

Unlike many other business ventures, you won’t need to rent an office or invest in stock or materials. In fact, there are only a few things you need to start your self-employed journey:

- A reliable vehicle big enough to cope with the number of parcels you are required to deliver

- A Smart phone

- To work for a delivery network such as AMAZON, EVRI, DPD etc, you must have goods in transit and public liability insurance

Whilst the barrier to entry to becoming a courier is low, there is a certain responsibility to delivering the nation’s parcels.

‘In Christmas 2020 one in five parcels were damaged.'

An article by consumer watchdog group “Which?” reported that half of Christmas 2020 deliveries didn’t go to plan, with one in five parcels damaged. Whilst this is potentially stressful for the recipient, for a self-employed courier it could be even worse.

Additionally, DeliveryX.net reported that global parcel theft rose by more than 2% between May 2021 to April 2022 compared with the previous year, with the UK the worst-affected market seeing a rise of 5% – costing an estimated £320m in missing goods.

At FTSE 100 insurer Admiral Group’s insure tech Admiral Business, before we launched our goods in transit insurance product, our customer research identified that a real pain point for couriers, was the worry that they might lose packages or cause damage. That’s why we designed our product with several distinct features:

- Cover for both cars and vans, as we know couriers use both

- No fees for mid-term adjustments to the policy as we know the way you work can change

- No interest fees for paying monthly designed to benefit couriers faced with changing business demands during the cost-of-living crisis

- No fees for cancelling the policy, in case you decide to take a new career or take a break

Admiral Business’s new cover is one of eight small business insurance covers on offer, including Public Liability.

Like all of our insurance covers, goods in transit cover will be flexible and fit for purpose. The cover allows customers to make an unlimited number of claims within a policy term and covers the handheld scanner that we know couriers rely on.

‘Our aim is to make goods in transit insurance as simple as possible for our customers and provide exactly the cover that they need, with no strings attached,’ said Admiral Business CEO Simon Flynn.

We want to make sure that if you choose the more flexible life of becoming a courier, whether full time or as a Christmas side hustle, you can relax by knowing you have the right, fee free insurance cover for you. Click here for a quick and easy quote today.

Amazon, evri, DPD, Yodel I would love to hear how we can partner together to benefit your self-employed drivers by offering flexible insurance that meets all their needs at sign up stage.

Get in touch by messaging me on LinkedIn or by sending a message to partnershipenquiries@admiralpioneer.com

*Info from Statista.com, commercialfleet.org, The Independent, getcircuit.com, Which, DeliveryX.net. Correct as of December 2022.

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