Employing food delivery drivers

[NewToHere]

Hello,

I am starting a food delivery service from home and need to employ delivery drivers to deliver the food to customers.

I need someone that comes ready-made and has their own bike, sat nav, insurance, CBT etc.

Does anyone have any experience of hiring food delivery drivers please?

What is the going rate of pay?
How do you make sure they don't run off with your takings?
Do you need to pay them per delivery they make?

All responses welcome

Thanks,
NewToHere

 

[David Earle]

When you employ them, get copies of their ID etc. If you want to verify their address, post them a copy of their contract, for them to sign and bring in. If they run off with your money, at least you know where they live. Going rate of pay, not sure about but in my pizza delivery days it was national minimum wage plus about £1 per delivery to cover car running expenses. They will need to be insured for "occasional business use" I think.

I'm no expert but this is just what I know.

 

[NewToHere]

Thanks for this.

Does anyone know of a good website to place my ad up on?
Gumtree or jobisjob seem to be the best places to advertise for the drivers on...

 

[NewToHere]

Any takers?

 

[arcon5]

You'll probably have more luck finding someone if you advertise it as 'own car required' rather than 'bike..'.

Why not advertise locally? Local papers? Advert in newsagents window? That sort of thing

 

[adamcooke]

You mention "running off with takings", I saw a thread on here recently where someone suggested that you make the delivery driver pay for the food before they leave to deliver it and then keep whatever they get from the customer when it's delivered.

 

[Steve Sellers]

OP I do have some experience as my dad has owned a takeaway business for 25 years, and I have delivered for him.

He has had some bad experiences regarding drivers without insurance and stealing takings.

The going rate of pay for delivery drivers is £30 a night plus £1 per delivery after 10 deliveries, plus tips (which should work out to more than NMW, but I think many don't pay that rate).

You don't need to pay them per delivery made, but you do need to ensure they earn NMW.

I would also make them sign a contract which includes a declaration that they have business insurance on their car.

In terms of the theft of money you just have to be trusting to a certain extent. I have seen it happen a couple of times but because as one of the above posters had suggested my dad took copies of ID the thieves were tracked down.

 

[90DC]

I'd advertise the post on Gumtree. Like others have said, check for ID and get an address etc. from them.

The idea of them paying for the food before they go off with it is an interesting one and maybe you could consider doing that.

 

[10032012]

Thanks for this.

Does anyone know of a good website to place my ad up on?
Gumtree or jobisjob seem to be the best places to advertise for the drivers on...

Jobisjob is a job search engine. If you want to be included, simply post the job at the jobcentre. Due to recession its not so much dole-goers who will be looking at the advert... and it has a big reach via other website such as dgjobs, jobhits, jobisjob etc. There probably is hundreds of sites promoting such vacancies.

Alternatively, you can post it as a self-employed vacancy if you are worried about NMW etc.

 

[10032012]

Just to add you MUST get ID to ensure you are legally employing the person (i.e. if they have the right to work in the UK). If you don't check this, and don't retain copies, even a few days of having the person as an employee could result in a big fine. So as you should be doing this as an employer anyway, you will have the name and address etc. on file.

 

[arcon5]

Having them pay for the food upfront isn't likely to attract many employees to be honest. Could you not incorporate a procedure whereby the money from each order is put in the till so all the driver has is a float which they provide?

Drivers are unlikely to want to do work for you if you don't pay them something for each delivery to cover their petrol also.

You can take steps to minimise the risk, but there has to be an element of trust somewhere. The idea of posting the contract to them to verify the address is a good idea.

 

[lockyer]

Here is a cruel twist to the plan.

If you employ drivers to deliver your own goods in your own vehicles, and you don't charge your clients for delivery, then the cars only need to be insured for business use.

If the drivers are self employed, using their own vehicles, or you charge the end customer for delivering the food, then the vehicle need to be insured or hire and reward.

 

[StevensOnln1]

Some takeaways do "free delivery if you spend over £x". That might be a way to get around needing hire and reward cover.

 

[NewToHere]

Some takeaways do "free delivery if you spend over £x". That might be a way to get around needing hire and reward cover.

I plan to have free delivery over a certain amount.
Is there anywhere I can check (a website or something) that tells me what type of insurance I need the drivers to have? I am hoping I can hire them as sel-employed contractors and not have to worry about insurance myself.

Many thanks

 

[roydmoorian]

Some takeaways do "free delivery if you spend over £x". That might be a way to get around needing hire and reward cover.

It might until there is an incident and you then find that you have given the insurance company a way out of paying up

They will seize any irregularity in the vehicle use to not pay out (quite rightly).

And you may end up with a criminal conviction for encouraging & allowing uninsured use of a vehicle.

 

[arcon5]

I plan to have free delivery over a certain amount.
Is there anywhere I can check (a website or something) that tells me what type of insurance I need the drivers to have? I am hoping I can hire them as sel-employed contractors and not have to worry about insurance myself.

Many thanks

If not charging for the delivery service I believe you will require class B business insurance on the vehicle.

Phone any broker or insurance company and i'm betting they can either refer you to a specialist or give you an outright answer.

 

[Steve Sellers]

I am hoping I can hire them as sel-employed contractors and not have to worry about insurance myself.

Many thanks

Make sure that you ensure they tax man etc see them as self employed, you need to look closely at how your relationship with them works in practice to avoid any problems down the line.

 

[lockyer]

If not charging for the delivery service I believe you will require class B business insurance on the vehicle.

Phone any broker or insurance company and i'm betting they can either refer you to a specialist or give you an outright answer.

almost. Its class 2 business use

 

[lockyer]

I plan to have free delivery over a certain amount.
Is there anywhere I can check (a website or something) that tells me what type of insurance I need the drivers to have? I am hoping I can hire them as sel-employed contractors and not have to worry about insurance myself.

Many thanks

option 1

Paying someone else to do the deliveries for you on a sub contract basis . i.e using thier own car and arranging their own insurance.

THEY WILL need "hire and reward" insurance as they are effectively being hired as couriers.

Option 2

If YOU are charging clients in any way for delivery, and your drivers are delivering in YOUR vehicles they need to insured for hire and reward as you are charging for couriering the product.

Option 3

If you give a completely free delivery service, in your own vehicles, you only need class 2 business use insurance.

you will find that the cost Hire and reward insurance may far outweigh what you can get away with charging.

The best option will be probably be 3, and having a minimum order level for delivery.

Get this wrong, and you will find the local plod will be on your case.

 

[lockyer]

To answer your specific question.

1. I dont know of a website, but always consult an insurance broker, at least if they get it wrong you have someone to blame/sue

2. if using sub contract drivers you will need to check they have "hire and reward" insurance". If you dont the plod could potentially charge you with aiding and abetting (worst case)

 

[justintime]

I do a bit of part time pizza delivery driving. When I told the insurance co I would be pizza delivering they said I would need a different class of business use and it was £100 dearer. No mention was made of hire and reward. The company adds a £1 charge for orders under a certain amount or over a certain distance.

 

[NewToHere]

option 1

Paying someone else to do the deliveries for you on a sub contract basis . i.e using thier own car and arranging their own insurance.

THEY WILL need "hire and reward" insurance as they are effectively being hired as couriers.

Option 2

If YOU are charging clients in any way for delivery, and your drivers are delivering in YOUR vehicles they need to insured for hire and reward as you are charging for couriering the product.

Option 3

If you give a completely free delivery service, in your own vehicles, you only need class 2 business use insurance.

you will find that the cost Hire and reward insurance may far outweigh what you can get away with charging.

The best option will be probably be 3, and having a minimum order level for delivery.

Get this wrong, and you will find the local plod will be on your case.

Thanks for replying.

The issue here is, I do not own any vehicles. I do not want the responsibility of paying for a driver's insurance. Therefore, srely Option 1 is the cheapest from my perspective as the drivers would only be employed on the basis that they have their own bike and have hire and reward insurance arranged.

I think the next question is, does 'hire and reward' insurance cover the scenario where I do not charge customers explicitly for delivery, but impose a minmum delivery charge like every other takeaway?

 

[lockyer]

With option 1 you won't get many takers as it ain't cheap for the driver, unless you turned a blind eye to them just using normal insurance. Risky.

Or come to a fixed price deal with a taxi firm.

And yes hire and reard covers the free.

 

[Talay]

If the item you are delivering costs the customer £10 then your driver buys it from you at £7 or whatever and that is it. If pre paid, then it costs him £7.50 to allow for card processing fees. He collects £10 plus any tip.