Hire and reward insurance

Compare hire and reward insurance quotes

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¹Correct as of October 2024

What is hire and reward insurance?

Hire and reward insurance, otherwise known as courier insurance, is a type of business van insurance.

You’ll need it if you use your van to make deliveries.

It’s different to standard van insurance, which only covers you for everyday, social driving or commuting.

With hire and reward insurance, you’re covered if your van is damaged or stolen while you’re using it to deliver things too.

We compare quotes for three levels of hire and reward insurance:

Third-party only is the lowest level available. It covers you for any damage you do to someone else’s vehicle or property, but doesn’t cover any damage done to your van.
Third-party, fire and theft covers the above and allows you to make a claim if your van is damaged in a fire or is stolen.
Comprehensive covers all of the above, and adds in full cover for your van if it’s damaged in an accident, even if you’re at fault.

Will it cover what I'm carrying in my van?

No, hire and reward insurance only covers your van. It doesn’t cover the items you’re carrying in it.

To cover any items you’re delivering, you’ll need goods in transit insurance. This is sometimes included with hire and reward policies, but in most cases it’s offered as an add-on when you take out courier insurance.

Our goods in transit insurance is provided by Quote Me Today, a specialist broker for commercial driving insurers. Their policies give you up to £10m of cover for the items you’re delivering.

Without goods in transit cover in place, you could be held liable for the cost of the items you’re delivering if they’re lost, damaged or stolen.

Explore goods in transit insurance

How much is hire and reward insurance?

Average hire and reward insurance prices⁽²⁾:

Third party only

£2,653

Third party, fire and theft

£2,325

Fully comprehensive

£2,012

⁽²⁾Confused.com data November 2023 to April 2024.

A fully comprehensive policy with cover for hire and reward costs £2,012⁽²⁾ on average.

This is higher than a comprehensive policy for social use only, which costs an average of £692⁽²⁾.

Courier insurance is more expensive than other types of van because:

Couriers spend more time on the road than most drivers, putting them at a higher risk of being involved in an accident.

Couriers may drive later into the evening than social drivers as some companies offer late delivery slots. Insurers see nighttime driving as risky.

Couriers carry valuables in their vans, which can make them a target for thieves.

⁽²⁾Confused.com data November 2023 to April 2024

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How to claim

How to get cheaper hire and reward insurance

What you pay for your insurance is based on your risk profile. This is how much of a risk insurers judge covering you to be. Anything you can do to lower your risk profile could help bring your insurance costs down.

For couriers, this includes:

Choosing comprehensive cover

Going for a fully comprehensive policy is a quick way to save as comprehensive cover tends to be cheaper than third party, despite it covering you for more. According to our data, comprehensive courier policies are £641⁽²⁾ cheaper on average than third party ones.

Changing your excess amount

Opting to pay more, or sometimes less, towards the cost of a claim can be another easy way to save. Most of our customers choose to pay £250⁽²⁾ excess for their courier insurance. But you may get cheaper cover by paying a little more or less.

Improving your van's security

Fitting your van with an alarm, immobiliser or tracker cuts its risk of being stolen, broken into and vandalised. According to our data, even a basic factory installed immobiliser can bring the average cost of courier van insurance down by £74⁽²⁾.

Installing internal racking

Racking can help keep your parcels in place, reducing the number of distractions you have to deal with when you're on the road. Fewer distractions equals safer driving, and a lower risk profile as a result. The lower your risk profile, the lower the cost of your policy could be.

Want more tips on getting cheaper van insurance?

⁽²⁾Confused.com data November 2023 to April 2024

How to get a quote

Getting a courier insurance quote is easy and only takes a few minutes:

Click ‘get a quote’ and fill in the quote form with your details. We’ll need your name, age, address, licence number and your van's make and model.
When asked which class of use you need, choose ‘haulage use - delivering goods for hire and reward’.
Tell us how many deliveries you usually make in a day
Quote me Today will then show you the best courier insurance quotes it can find for you, all in one place.

Image showing classes of use selection panel in Confused.com's business van isurance journey

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***Must be a like-for-like policy. T&Cs apply.

What other types of cover do couriers need?

Public liability insurance

While it's not a legal requirement, certain companies will insist you have this in place as part of your contract before you can drive for them. It gives you cover for any legal expenses you're held liabile for if you injure someone or damage their property while you’re making deliveries, which could cost a lot.

Some hire and reward policies include it, but others may ask you to pay extra to add it on.

Explore public liabilty insurance

Breakdown cover

This can help you get back up and running if your van breaks down on the job. Some policies will cover the cost of towing your van to a local garage if it can’t be fixed. Others will cover the cost of towing your van to any location in the UK, whether that's your home or a garage you trust.

This can be especially handy if you’re making long-distance deliveries and don’t want to be stranded far from home.

Explore van breakdown cover

We compare up to 61 van insurance companies¹ to save you money

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We’re 100% independent, so we’ll always show you the best prices we can find for you, not the ones we’re told to show you.

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What our van insurance expert says

"If you’re making deliveries, you’ll need hire and reward insurance. But bear in mind that it only covers the van you’re driving, not the items you’re carrying. If you want cover for those, you’ll need goods in transit insurance. We compare quotes for that too, so you’ll be able to find all the cover you need right here."

Louise Thomas Motor Insurance Expert

Our customers say:

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based on 11915 reviews as of 10/05/2024

Need more help?

Will I be covered to drive my van outside of work?

Yes, if you have hire and reward insurance, you’ll still be covered to drive your van outside of work. If you’re involved in a collision, or your van is stolen while you’re not working, you’ll still be able to claim on your policy.

It doesn’t work the other way around though. If you only have private van insurance, but are using your van for hire and reward purposes, any claims you need to make for incidents that happen while you’re working won’t be covered. This is why getting the right type of insurance is crucial.

Can I get short term hire and reward insurance?

Yes, courier insurance is available as a temporary policy.

The temporary courier policies we compare quotes for can last for anything from 1 hour all the way up to 28 days, and come with a range of benefits like personal belongings cover for any of your own items you carry with you in your van, and legal expenses cover.

See our temporary van insurance page for more information.

Can I cover multiple vans on the same policy?

Yes, you can cover more than one van for courier use with a fleet insurance policy. This is a type os specialist policy that allows you to cover anywhere from 2 to a few thousand vans on the same policy, which can be handy for businesses with a fleet of vehicles to cover.

Is my courier insurance valid for delivering abroad?

This depends on the specific wording of your policy. Even if your policy offers European cover, that might be for non-work purposes only. If this cover is important to you, it’s vital you check before you buy, or failing that, before you set off on a foreign trip.