Private vehicles

In light of our social distancing guidelines and temporary restrictions on van sharing, colleagues who wish to, can now use their private vehicles to reach their delivery points and meet their van share partner.

We have extended the Royal Mail insurance, which means that third party cover has been extended for private vehicles on delivery and any travel expenses incurred will be reimbursed (less home to office mileage).

We have worked for a number of years with the CWU to remove private vehicles from delivery, however, in the current environment, this will help keep colleagues safe and enable us to continue to deliver a vital service to our communities. We have been consulting with the CWU around this change in approach.

• This is a temporary measure for three months only and can be withdrawn at any time.
• Mail should not be carried in private vehicles and should still be collected from Royal Mail vans.
• The private vehicle must be in a roadworthy condition and fit for purpose – if it is not, it must not be used on delivery.
• The daily/pre-use vehicle checks required when using a Royal Mail vehicle must be undertaken - this must be monitored by managers in line with current processes. Where managers can’t see colleagues undertake pre-use checks (for example where they are undertaken at the colleague’s home), they should check with the colleague at least once a week that the pre-use checks are being undertaken and that the colleague’s private car remains in a roadworthy condition. These conversations should be documented.
• The employee should be an existing driver within Royal Mail (and must not have been removed from driving duties).
• Private vehicles must only be used to drive to and from the delivery office to the first point of delivery and if the car needs to be moved along the delivery route.
• No-one else should be travelling in the private vehicle while the colleague is on duty.
• If the colleague’s personal car insurance provider is a member of the Association of British Insurers’ (which can be checked online), then no further action is required by the colleague with respect to insurance. If it is not, the colleague must call their insurer and confirm how the vehicle will be used, otherwise their policy may be invalidated. They do not need to extend cover to business use.

The declaration document ‘use of private vehicles on delivery’ must be read and signed by colleagues prior to use of their private vehicle on delivery. T&S will be paid for colleagues’ mileage while on duty (less home to office mileage if they normally bring their car to work) – a copy of the process for doing this is here.