Delivery is where a food business stops being a set of premises and becomes a transport operation. The vehicles are usually small, often owned by the riders, and almost never insured for what they are actually doing.
Social and domestic use does not cover delivery
A rider's own moped, scooter or car is typically insured for social, domestic and pleasure use, sometimes with commuting. Carrying goods for payment is hire and reward, a different class of use, and a policy without it will not respond to a collision made on a delivery run. Riders frequently do not know this and restaurants frequently do not ask, which is how an uninsured vehicle ends up carrying a business's food on a Friday night.
Employed riders and the employers' liability duty
A rider who works to the restaurant's instructions, on its shifts, is normally an employee for insurance purposes, so employers' liability is compulsory and rates the two wheeled road exposure rather than the kitchen. Insurers ask about age and experience, about whether helmets and high visibility equipment are provided, and about the vehicle check arrangements. A restaurant using riders without declaring them has an employers' liability policy rated for a kitchen.
Platform delivery, and what comes back to the restaurant
Where delivery is handled by an aggregator whose riders are self employed, the transport exposure largely moves to the platform and its riders. What stays with the restaurant is the food: a products liability claim follows the meal regardless of who carried it, and allergen information passed through a platform's interface is still the restaurant's information. The contract with the platform is the document that shows what else has been pushed back.
Cars, thermal boxes and the vehicle the business owns
A business running its own delivery vehicles needs commercial motor cover for hire and reward carriage, with any driver or named driver arrangements that reflect how shifts actually work. Thermal boxes, top boxes and signage are modifications the insurer should know about. And delivery to residential addresses produces its own small but steady stream of public liability claims for damage on driveways and in communal entrances.
Questions people ask about fast food delivery insurance
Can a rider deliver on their own car insurance?
Not on social, domestic and pleasure cover. Carrying goods for payment is hire and reward, and a policy without it will not respond to a delivery collision.
Does the restaurant need employers' liability for riders?
If the riders work for the restaurant rather than for a platform as self employed contractors, yes, and they are rated on the road exposure.
If a platform delivers, is the restaurant still liable for the food?
Yes. A products liability claim follows the meal, and allergen information provided through the platform remains the restaurant's information.