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.[1]
The "up to" is Amazon's wording, and the figure is what a block pays before your insurance and fuel come out of it. The American programme runs on different rules for vehicles, insurance and pay; our US guide to Amazon Flex against DoorDash covers that market.
How Amazon Flex differs from an Amazon van job
On Flex you are a self-employed delivery partner, not an employee. Amazon supplies the parcels, the app and the route, and you supply the vehicle, the fuel, the insurance and your time. You decide when to work by which blocks you reserve, with no minimum number of hours, so you can start on a Tuesday and stop on the Friday without telling anyone.
The blue-branded Amazon vans on nine or ten hour rounds are a different arrangement. They 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.
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:[2]
| 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 a block from the offers that appear in the app for your area. Amazon advises scheduling early, because popular blocks go quickly, and turning 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.[3]
- Arrive at the pickup location by the block's start time and check in through the app.
- Scan each parcel as you load it into your vehicle, and the app builds the route.
- Follow the app's navigation stop by stop, taking photos and using access codes or safe places as it asks. Parcels you cannot deliver go back to the station.
- Collect the fee you saw in the offer. Amazon's earnings guide says you keep the full amount even if you finish early.[4]
According to Amazon's guidance, a block's earnings are based on the estimated time it will take, your city or region and other factors, and the minimum earnings for a block may increase during periods of high customer demand, which is where the top of the range comes from. You can also nominate a substitute to drive a block you have reserved. Amazon still pays you for the completed block, and paying the substitute is up to you.[4]
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.[1][5] Few delivery companies publish a figure at all, and Amazon presents this one as a ceiling.
At those rates, a block pays:
| 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 |
Every offer shows the estimated earnings for that block, and that is what you are paid. Finish a four-hour block in three and you still receive the four-hour fee. If a block runs over, Amazon adds nothing, so experienced drivers learn which stations and areas tend to run long.
Amazon pays weekly by bank transfer,[5] and the Earnings tab in the app shows your balance, pending payments and the scheduled payment date.[4] Some orders can carry a tip, but UK drivers describe tips as rare, so do not plan around them.
The National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour[6] is a floor for employed work only, so it does not apply to Flex. If the blocks you wanted were gone before you could reserve them, nothing tops up that week.
What comes out of the block fee
Insurance, fuel and tax all come out of the block fee before any of it is income.
Insurance
Insurance is 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 two partner insurers, Inshur (hourly, monthly and annual policies) and Zego (monthly and annual), though any insurer that provides hire and reward cover will do.[7] In the UK, Amazon does not insure you during blocks. That is how the American programme works, and a guide that says otherwise is describing the US.
An annual hire and reward policy for a car runs £800 to £1,500 a year, roughly £3 to £6 for each day you work. At two blocks a week, an hourly or monthly pay-as-you-go policy changes that sum a lot, so price both before you decide how much Flex 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.[7]
Fuel and the car
A five-hour parcel block covers real mileage, and you pay for the fuel. You also pay for the wear on tyres and brakes and for the servicing, which is easy to forget on a car you already own. HMRC's simplified mileage rate for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car and 25p after that,[8] is meant to cover those costs, and you can only claim it with a mileage log, so start one on your first block. Amazon's Resource Portal in the app lists partner discounts on fuel through Onsi and on EV charging through bp pulse, which help a little.[4]
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.[9]
What is left after costs
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. The caveat from our comparison of which delivery company pays most applies here too: nobody guarantees 35 hours of blocks a week, and outside the big cities there are noticeably fewer of them.
What you need to qualify
Amazon Flex's UK requirements page asks for:[7]
- An age of 18 or over.
- The 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, that is 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, it is a battery-assisted e-bike meeting EAPC standards, with an insulated bag or cargo box of at least 55 by 26 by 36 centimetres.
- The insurance 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 yours is not one, 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.[3] In busy areas the wait is usually for a block rather than for approval.
Is Amazon Flex worth it?
Of the self-employed delivery work in the UK, Flex is the one that tells you what a whole block pays before you commit to it. A Deliveroo or Uber Eats rider sees each order's fee before accepting it but only learns what the evening came to at the end of it, whereas a Flex driver knows before leaving the house. Add weekly pay and blocks you can fit around another job, and it is the starting point our guide to the best delivery driver jobs in the UK most often recommends for a new car driver.
It suits you if you already own a suitable car, want to choose your hours block by block, live near a station in a city where offers are plentiful, and are happy to file a tax return and carry the insurance. It suits you badly if you need a predictable weekly income, live somewhere rural where blocks are scarce, or were quoted insurance at the top of the range. If what you are really weighing is an employed job with holiday pay, compare it with the delivery service partner route or a supermarket delivery role instead; both are in the Amazon delivery driver guide.
Among the parcel networks, Flex and DPD Connect pay the highest gross rate, and both leave the insurance to you. Evri pays less per hour, but it offers its own top-up cover at £1.35 a day and gives you the same round every day. Flex needs a car and pays more per hour for it than the food apps, while a cyclist on Deliveroo or Uber Eats has almost no running costs to cover. Most experienced drivers run Flex alongside one of these.
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.
Before you book your first block
Get a hire and reward quote first, since it decides how many blocks a week make Flex worth doing. Then open the app and see whether blocks actually appear in your area, and read Amazon's £14 to £18 as the ceiling it says it is, with your insurance and fuel still inside every fee. Our comparison of which delivery company pays most puts Flex next to Evri, DPD Connect and the food apps on what you keep after those costs.