Subcontractor onboarding checklist for UK couriers

A carrier here means the firm. The person at the wheel is still a driver, and they need the same delivery driver onboarding checklist as someone you engage directly. Courier compliance software is where those files sit once the checks are done.

Checks on the firm

• A contract that names who employs or engages the driver, who holds hire-and-reward insurance, and who your customer calls when a parcel fails.
• The firm's motor and goods-in-transit schedules, with expiry dates, before the first round. Read the wording. Do not accept a social, domestic and pleasure policy for paid carriage.
• Who at the firm approves a substitute driver, and how quickly they send you that person's file.
• A named approver at your depot. Their signature, not the subcontractor's, is what lets the round leave your site.

Checks on each driver they send

Use the same rows as the driver checklist: identity, right to work, a DVLA share code you have viewed, endorsements, insurance, vehicle documents if it is their van, and pay details if you pay the driver rather than the firm. The document verification guide is the reference for how to file what you see. Zerity stores the copies and the expiry dates. It does not query DVLA, and it does not complete a Home Office check.

If the person is an employee of the subcontractor, the Home Office employer guide still matters to whoever employs them. If they are self-employed, read the Home Office employer guide and your carrier contract before you treat the check as optional. Your customer will not make that distinction at the roadside.

Sharing the file between depots

Several sites can use one subcontractor file when each site sees the same expiry dates. That operating pattern is the multi-depot courier operations guide. Sharing identity documents is still personal data. The ICO's UK GDPR guidance is the source for lawful basis, security and retention. Zerity keeps data in the UK or EU, with AES-256 at rest and TLS in transit. Agree in the contract what you will share, with whom, and when you will delete it. Do not paste a clause from this page into a contract and treat it as legal advice.

Subcontractor driver management is the product page for keeping those files once the firm is approved.

Questions

Is onboarding a subcontractor the same as onboarding a driver?

No. You still need a file on every person who drives your parcels, plus a contract with the firm that sends them.

Who is responsible if their driver has no hire-and-reward cover?

Your customer will call you. Set the document standard in the contract and check it before the first round.

Can several depots share one subcontractor file?

Yes, if each depot can see the same expiry dates. That is the multi-depot guide.