Insurance for couriers and delivery drivers

Courier work is repetitive lifting combined with driving. Hundreds of parcels a day, in and out of a vehicle, up steps, in weather, under time pressure. The acute injuries are lifting strains, slips, dog bites and road crashes; the chronic ones are backs, shoulders and knees. All of the acute list is ACC territory. Much of the chronic list is not, because gradual degeneration is usually treated as wear rather than injury.

What sets couriers apart from other drivers is the employment model. A large share of the New Zealand courier network runs on contractors and franchisees who own or lease their vehicle, buy into a run or territory, and are paid per delivery. That has three consequences: there is no sick leave, there is no employer-provided cover, and there are fixed costs — vehicle finance, insurance, franchise fees, relief driver wages — that keep running when the deliveries stop.

The third consequence is the one people miss. If you are self-employed, your ACC entitlement is calculated from your last filed liable earnings unless you have chosen otherwise. A courier in a first year of trading, or one whose accountant has been efficient, can find the weekly compensation figure is a fraction of what the household actually needs.

For a self-employed courier, four decisions determine whether an illness or injury is an inconvenience or a crisis.

1. 1Waiting period. With no sick leave behind you, the gap between stopping work and the first payment is funded entirely from savings. Shorter costs more, and is usually worth it here.
2. 2ACC setting. Decide between standard CoverPlus, calculated from filed earnings, and CoverPlus Extra, where you agree the amount in advance.
3. 3Fixed costs. List what still has to be paid if you do not work for two months — vehicle finance, insurance, franchise fees, a relief driver. That is what business expenses cover is for.
4. 4Illness cover. ACC will not pay for a cancer diagnosis or a cardiac event. Income protection and trauma cover are the only things that will.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• Whether you are treated as employed or self-employed by the insurer, which affects both eligibility and how income is proved.
• Minimum hours requirements, especially if you run a part-time or weekend route.
• Whether the waiting period matches your actual cash reserve rather than a default.
• Whether the policy covers illness as well as accident — accident-only cover largely duplicates ACC.
• Vehicle finance and franchise obligations, and whether anything covers them if you are off for months.
• Whether you also ride a motorcycle or e-bike for work, which is rated separately by some insurers.

Every New Zealand insurer writes cover for courier contractors to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• Courier work is coded inconsistently across insurers — some treat it as light manual, others group it with heavier driving occupations.
• For a contractor, an adviser will look at the ACC setting and the private policy together rather than selling one in isolation.
• Business expenses cover is inexpensive relative to the fixed costs a courier franchise carries, and it is almost never bought.
• Where a run is bought with borrowed money, the debt should be reflected in life and TPD sums insured — most are not.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.