Compliance
UK Fleet Compliance Checklist for Couriers
A UK fleet compliance checklist for courier depots: drivers, vans, tax, right to work and the dates that lapse first. Work through it before the next audit.
18 January 2025 · Zerity editorial team
A UK fleet compliance checklist is the dated list a courier depot works through before an audit: each driver, each van, the tax paperwork, and the date each item expires. This page is that list for 2026. The legal detail sits on the linked guides. A checklist that is not dated is a poster.
Updated 25 September 2026. Figures and dates below are taken from GOV.UK, DVSA, HMRC, TfL and the Home Office commencement instrument. Where a rule is still settling, the row says so and links the official page.
The checklist
Work the expiry view every week. Work the full list before a carrier audit, an insurance renewal, or a peak recruitment week. The owner is the person who can produce the evidence, not the person who filed the PDF.
| Check | Owner | Evidence to produce | Official source | Where to go next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driving licence record | Depot manager | Categories, endorsements, the checker's name, the date of the DVLA view, and the next due date your insurer or carrier contract sets | View or share a driving licence | Driver licence check |
| Right to work | Depot manager | The prescribed check, the date, and the checker's name. A self-employed label on an invoice is not the evidence | Home Office employer guidance | Right to work checks for couriers |
| MOT | Workshop or fleet lead | Certificate and expiry. In Great Britain a van needs an MOT by the third anniversary of registration, then every year. GOV.UK states a fine of up to £1,000 for driving without a valid MOT | Driving a van | Fleet service reminders, kept as a separate date from vehicle tax |
| Vehicle tax and insurance | Finance | Tax status and the hire-and-reward certificate, as separate dates. A taxed van can sit on an expired MOT | Vehicle tax and vehicle insurance | Same vehicle file as the MOT row |
| Walkaround and open defects | Driver, then the depot | A check before use, a nil-defect or a defect, the time, and the clearance before the van is sent out | Guide to maintaining roadworthiness | Vehicle walkaround check app |
| Drivers' hours, only if the van is in scope | Transport manager | Which rule applies: GB domestic, or assimilated rules with a tachograph | Drivers' hours: goods vehicles | Van driver hours rules |
| Operator licence, only if the van is in scope | Transport manager | The licence, the operating centre, and the maintenance plan | Goods vehicle operator licensing guide | Operator licence for vans over 2.5 tonnes |
| Status and self-billing | Finance | The status decision and its date, and the self-billing agreement if you raise the driver's invoice | Check employment status for tax and VAT Notice 700/62 | Employment status and HMRC self-billing |
There is no statute that sets one licence-check interval for every van driver. The interval comes from the insurance schedule or the carrier contract. Record it, and alert before it lapses.
What changed in 2026
Five points, and then stop. The spoke guides carry the detail.
- 1 July 2026, international light goods vehicles. GOV.UK states that assimilated drivers' hours rules apply from this date to light goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes on international transport operations, including cabotage, within the UK and the EU. From the same date, a smart tachograph 2 is required for goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes used internationally for hire or reward. An own-account international journey where driving is not the driver's main activity does not require a tachograph. Vans over 2.5 tonnes and under 3.5 tonnes used only in the UK still do not need one. Read section 4 of the drivers' hours guidance and the van hours guide linked above.
- 1 October 2026, right to work. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026 bring section 48 into force on 1 October 2026. That section extends the illegal working scheme beyond contracts of employment. The Home Office employer's guide sets who is in scope. Calling a courier self-employed does not decide it. Do not treat every contractor invoice as automatically in, or automatically out.
- DVS permits. TfL's operator guidance says HGV safety permits granted under the Progressive Safe System run until 28 October 2030. The scheme covers HGVs over 12 tonnes gross vehicle weight in most of Greater London. It is not a 3.5 tonne courier van scheme. Zero, one and two star vehicles, and unrated vehicles, need the Progressive Safe System. Apply on TfL's service.
- VAT threshold. HMRC's published registration threshold is still £90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12 months, the figure in force from 1 April 2024. Confirm it on GOV.UK's VAT thresholds before you rely on it. This checklist does not explain VAT for couriers.
- DVLA. Nothing here changes the split. The DVLA check is a source you look at, with a share code or through a bureau if your insurer requires Access to Driver Data. Zerity stores the record. Zerity does not query DVLA.
Rows that are easy to overbuild
DVSA. For vehicles the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness covers, a driver or responsible person carries out a walkaround before use, at least once in every 24-hour period the vehicle is in service, and records defects, including a nil result. Safety-inspection frequency, where an operator's licence makes the guide bite, is set by the operator from use and risk. The guide describes a normal range of 4 to 13 weeks. It is not a mileage rule. The walkaround row above is the place to start.
IR35 and employment status. IR35 decides tax where a courier works through an intermediary. Holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage are a different test. Keep the status decision on the driver file and follow the employment status guide. Do not paste a status determination statement into this checklist.
Driver data. Keep licence and right-to-work data for as long as the legal and contract need lasts, then delete it. Do not use it for marketing. The control list is on the security page.
A carrier such as Amazon will add its own document list and scorecard evidence. Those rows sit on top of this list. They do not replace it. The dated rows belong on the driver file once the checklist leaves the spreadsheet.
Frequently asked questions
What should a UK fleet compliance checklist include?
Drivers (licence, right to work, points), vehicles (MOT, insurance, walkaround, defects), tax paperwork (status, self-billing), and the dates each item expires.
How often should a depot run the checklist?
Run the expiry view every week. Run the full list before a carrier audit, an insurance renewal, or a peak recruitment week. A checklist that is not dated is a poster.
Does the checklist differ for an Amazon DSP?
The legal rows do not. The contract rows do. Add the carrier's own document list and scorecard evidence on top of the legal list. Do not treat the carrier list as a substitute for the law.
Written by
Zerity editorial team
The Zerity team writes about fleet management, compliance, and scaling logistics businesses, drawing from hands-on experience helping UK courier companies streamline operations.
