Amazon Flex is the way Amazon gets some of its parcels delivered by people in their own cars rather than by a courier company or one of its van partners. You pick a block of time in an app, drive to a station, load up, follow the route and get paid a fee you saw before you said yes. Amazon's own UK site says most drivers earn up to £14 to £18 an hour doing it.
That sentence is accurate and it is also the source of most of the wrong assumptions about Flex, so this guide takes it apart: what a block actually involves, what "up to £14 to £18" means once insurance and fuel come out, what you need to qualify, and who the work suits. It is written for the UK. The American programme has different rules on vehicles, insurance and pay, and our US guide to Amazon Flex against DoorDash covers that market.
What Amazon Flex is, and what it is not
Amazon Flex is a self-employed arrangement. You are a delivery partner, not an employee. Amazon provides the parcels, the app and the route; you provide the vehicle, the fuel, the insurance and the time. You choose when to work by choosing which blocks to reserve, and there is no minimum number of hours.
It is not the same as driving an Amazon van. The blue-branded vans on a nine or ten hour round belong to delivery service partners, independent companies that employ their drivers, pay a day rate and provide the van, the fuel and the insurance. Our guide to Amazon delivery driver jobs in the UK sets the two side by side. Flex is the one where you can start on Tuesday and stop on Friday without telling anyone.
How a delivery block works
A block is a scheduled window with a start time, a pickup location, a delivery area and an estimated earnings figure, all shown in the offer before you accept. Amazon's UK site lists three kinds:
| Delivery type | Typical block length | Where you collect | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon standard delivery | Up to 5 hours | Amazon delivery station | Car or van |
| Amazon grocery delivery | Up to 2 hours | Amazon Fresh delivery station | Car or van |
| Amazon Now delivery | Up to 4 hours | Amazon Now pickup location | E-bike only |
A block runs like this:
- Reserve it. Offers appear in the app for your area. Amazon's own advice is to schedule early, because popular blocks go quickly, and to turn on notifications so you see new offers as they are released. If Flex is not taking new drivers where you live, you join an interest list instead.
- Check in. You arrive at the pickup location by the block's start time and check in through the app.
- Load and scan. You scan each parcel into your vehicle. The app builds the route.
- Deliver. You follow the app's navigation stop by stop, taking photos and handling access codes or safe places as the app asks. Undeliverable parcels go back to the station.
- Get paid the block fee. The amount you saw in the offer is what you are paid, and Amazon's earnings guide says you keep the full amount even if you finish early.
Two details from Amazon's own guidance are worth knowing before your first block. Earnings for a block are based on the estimated time it will take, your city or region, and other factors, and during periods of high customer demand Amazon says the minimum earnings for a block may increase, which is where the top of the range comes from. And Flex lets you nominate a substitute to drive a block you have reserved: Amazon still pays you for the completed block, and paying your substitute is your responsibility.
What Amazon Flex pays in the UK
Amazon Flex's UK site says that most drivers earn up to £14 to £18 per hour delivering in a standard motorised vehicle, with the caveat that earnings per hour may vary and that different rates may apply to scooters and other alternative vehicles. That is a company-published figure, which is rarer than it should be in this industry, and it is a ceiling described as such.
In block terms, at those rates:
| Block | At £14 an hour | At £18 an hour |
|---|---|---|
| 2-hour grocery block | £28 | £36 |
| 3-hour block | £42 | £54 |
| 4-hour block | £56 | £72 |
| 5-hour standard block | £70 | £90 |
You do not have to do the arithmetic yourself: every offer shows the estimated earnings for that block, and that number is the one you are paid. If a block finishes in three hours instead of four, you still receive the four-hour fee. If it runs over, Amazon does not add to it, which is the flip side of the same rule and the reason experienced drivers learn which stations and areas run long.
Payment is by bank transfer, weekly, and the Earnings tab in the app shows your balance, pending payments and the scheduled payment date. Tips are technically possible on some orders but UK drivers describe them as rare, so they are not something to plan around.
The National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour is the floor for employed work, and Flex is not employed work. Nothing tops up a week in which the blocks you wanted were gone before you could reserve them.
What comes out of it
The block fee is revenue. Four things come out before it becomes income.
Insurance
The largest fixed cost. Amazon Flex's UK requirements page lists two policies for car drivers: hire and reward insurance, and at least standard Social, Domestic and Pleasure cover. It names Inshur, which offers hourly, monthly and annual policies, and Zego, which offers monthly and annual, as partner insurers, though you can use any insurer that provides hire and reward cover. Amazon does not insure you during blocks in the UK; that is the American programme, and plenty of guides copy the rule across without noticing.
An annual hire and reward policy for a car runs £800 to £1,500 a year, which works out at roughly £3 to £6 for every day you work. If you plan to do two blocks a week, an hourly or monthly pay-as-you-go policy changes that arithmetic considerably, and it is worth pricing both before you decide how much Flex you want to do.
E-bike riders on Amazon Now need public liability and personal accident insurance instead. Amazon names Superscript as a partner and says you are free to choose your own provider.
Fuel and the car
A five-hour parcel block covers real mileage, and fuel is yours. So is wear on tyres, brakes and servicing, which is easy to forget on a car you already own. HMRC's simplified mileage rate for the 2026 to 2027 tax year is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car and 25p after that, and it exists to cover exactly these costs; a mileage log from your first block is what lets you claim it. Amazon's Resource Portal in the app lists partner discounts on fuel through Onsi and on EV charging through bp pulse, which help at the margin.
Tax
You register with HMRC as self-employed and report your Flex income through self-assessment, paying income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit after costs. Set aside a share of every payment from the start. The online filing deadline is 31 January after the tax year ends.
What is left
On our estimates, a car driver who manages 35 hours of blocks a week grosses £490 to £630 and nets roughly £400 to £570 after fuel and insurance, before tax. Read that with the caveat that our comparison of which delivery company pays most attaches to it: 35 hours of blocks a week is not guaranteed anywhere, and availability is noticeably thinner outside the big cities.
What you need to qualify
From Amazon Flex's UK requirements page:
- Age: 18 or over.
- Right to work in the UK, checked during onboarding.
- A full UK driving licence for car deliveries. E-bike deliveries do not need one.
- An eligible vehicle. For parcels and groceries, a mid-size or larger car with five or more seats; vans and enclosed pickup trucks are also accepted, and smaller cars are ineligible. For Amazon Now, a battery-assisted e-bike meeting EAPC standards, with an insulated bag or cargo box of at least 55 by 26 by 36 centimetres.
- Insurance as described above: hire and reward plus SD&P for a car, public liability and personal accident for an e-bike.
- A compatible smartphone, Android or iPhone.
- A UK bank account for payment.
- A location where Flex operates. If it does not, you can join the interest list.
Onboarding happens in the app. Amazon's getting-started page says you will need your driving licence, proof of right to work, your National Insurance number, bank details and insurance documents, and that you must pass a background check. In busy areas the wait is usually for a block rather than for approval.
Is Amazon Flex worth it, and for whom
Flex has one real advantage over every other self-employed delivery option in the UK, and it is not the headline rate. It is that you know the fee before you commit. A Deliveroo or Uber Eats rider finds out what an evening was worth at the end of it; a Flex driver knows before leaving the house. Add weekly pay and the ability to book around another job, and you have the reason it is the most commonly recommended starting point for a new car driver in our guide to the best delivery driver jobs in the UK.
Flex fits if you already own a suitable car, you want to choose your hours block by block, you live near a station in a city where offers are plentiful, and you are happy to file a tax return and carry the insurance.
Flex fits badly if you need a predictable weekly income, you live somewhere rural where blocks are scarce, your insurance quote is at the top of the range, or you are comparing it against an employed job with holiday pay. In that last case the delivery service partner route, or a supermarket delivery role, is the fairer comparison, and both are in the Amazon delivery driver guide.
Against the parcel networks, Flex and DPD Connect sit at the top on gross rate and both leave insurance with the driver; Evri pays less per hour but includes cover and gives you the same round every day. Against the food apps, Flex needs a car and pays more per hour for it, while a cyclist on Deliveroo or Uber Eats has almost no running costs to cover. Most experienced drivers run Flex alongside one of them rather than instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is Amazon Flex and how does it work?
Amazon Flex is Amazon's programme for self-employed drivers who deliver parcels in their own vehicle. You reserve a delivery block in the Flex app, collect the parcels from an Amazon delivery station, Amazon Fresh site or Amazon Now pickup point, follow the app's route and are paid the block's fee, which you see before you accept. You choose which blocks to take, and Amazon does not employ you.
Is Amazon Flex self-employed?
Yes. Amazon Flex drivers are self-employed delivery partners, not Amazon employees. You register with HMRC, pay your own tax and National Insurance through self-assessment, arrange your own insurance and pay for your own fuel. The employed way to drive for Amazon in the UK is a delivery service partner role, where an independent company provides the van and pays a day rate; the Amazon delivery driver guide compares the two.
How much does Amazon Flex pay in the UK?
Amazon Flex's own UK site says most drivers earn up to £14 to £18 an hour in a standard vehicle, and every block shows its estimated earnings before you accept it. A three-hour block at those rates pays £42 to £54, and you keep the full amount if you finish early. That is revenue rather than a wage: hire and reward insurance, fuel and a tax reserve come out of it, and no minimum wage applies.
What car do you need for Amazon Flex?
A mid-size or larger car with five or more seats. Vans and enclosed pickup trucks are also accepted, and smaller cars are not eligible. You need a full UK driving licence to deliver by car. For Amazon Now local deliveries you can use a battery-assisted e-bike that meets EAPC standards instead, with an insulated bag or cargo box of at least 55 by 26 by 36 centimetres, and no licence is needed.
Does Amazon Flex provide a vehicle or insurance?
No to both. You deliver in your own vehicle, and Amazon Flex's UK requirements page lists hire and reward insurance plus at least standard social, domestic and pleasure cover as the driver's to hold, naming Inshur and Zego as partner insurers. E-bike riders need public liability and personal accident cover. A car policy typically costs £800 to £1,500 a year, or less on a pay-as-you-go plan if you only do a few blocks; the insurance cost guide has the detail.
How long are Amazon Flex blocks?
It depends on the delivery type. Standard parcel blocks from an Amazon delivery station run up to five hours, grocery blocks from an Amazon Fresh site up to two hours, and Amazon Now local blocks up to four hours. Every offer shows the type, the duration and the estimated earnings before you accept, and you are paid the full block fee even if you finish early.
Know the fee before you leave the house
That is the whole case for Flex in one line, and the whole caveat is that the fee is revenue with your insurance and fuel still inside it. Price the cover, check that blocks actually appear in your area, and read Amazon's £14 to £18 as the ceiling it says it is. If you want to see Flex next to Evri, DPD Connect and the food apps on what you keep rather than what you gross, which delivery company pays most does that sum. And if you would rather see who is hiring drivers near you right now, the form below takes a minute.