Hire and Reward Insurance

Hire and reward insurance is a specialist type of motor insurance required for any driver who carries passengers or goods in exchange for payment. Standard private car insurance specifically excludes this activity. Without it, you are not legally covered to operate.

Taxi insurance is a form of hire and reward insurance, but hire and reward is a broader category. It covers private hire drivers, hackney carriage drivers, couriers, and others who use their vehicle commercially. The specific policy type depends on your licence and usage.

Yes. To drive for Uber, Bolt, or any private hire platform in the UK, you must hold a valid private hire vehicle (PHV) licence and appropriate hire and reward insurance. Uber provides third-party cover while the app is active, but you need your own policy for all other times.

Costs vary significantly based on your vehicle, driving history, area of operation, and the level of cover required. As a specialist broker, we search multiple markets to find competitive options. Call us on 01733 263311 for a tailored quote.

The common optional extras on a UK hire and reward policy are public liability cover, a replacement vehicle or courtesy car, breakdown assistance, windscreen cover and legal expenses cover. None of them are standard — each one is offered at the insurer's discretion, with its own limits, excesses and price, and some are arranged as separate policies rather than as motor add-ons. For taxi work, check that any replacement vehicle offered is licensed for the plate you hold, because an ordinary courtesy car cannot legally carry fares.

Yes, in many cases. We work with specialist insurers who understand the taxi trade and can consider drivers with previous claims or convictions. Each case is assessed individually. Contact our team to discuss your specific circumstances.

Social, domestic, and pleasure (SDP) insurance covers personal use of your vehicle only. It does not cover any commercial activity. If you carry passengers or goods for payment without hire and reward cover, your insurance is invalid and you are driving illegally.

Yes. Delivering food or parcels for payment — for Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Amazon Flex or a courier firm — is carrying goods for hire and reward, and standard car insurance excludes it. Food delivery and parcel courier work are usually rated differently, so check you are buying the right one for the work you actually do. We arrange parcel and multi-drop courier cover, and fast food delivery on a fleet basis, but not single-vehicle fast food delivery.

No, and they are often confused. Hire and reward covers the use of your vehicle to carry goods for payment. Goods in transit cover protects the items themselves if they are lost, stolen or damaged while you are carrying them. Couriers frequently need both, and neither one includes the other automatically.

Yes. We arrange courier and van hire and reward cover for parcel and multi-drop drivers, man-and-van and removals work, and courier fleets, alongside our taxi and private hire products. The one exception is single-vehicle fast food delivery, which is outside our appetite — we can consider fast food delivery as a fleet, but not for a single driver. For short-term courier cover we can introduce you to our partner GoShorty; we act as an introducer only and do not arrange, advise on or administer those policies.