Substitutes, account sharing and the new right to work rules
Self-employed riders can usually send someone else to do the work. That right comes with rules on every platform, a tax position most substitutes and account holders get wrong, and from October 2026 a legal duty on the platforms to check who is actually working.
Correct for the 2026/27 tax year. Last checked 29/09/2026.
The right to send a substitute is one of the things that makes a rider self-employed. It is the reason the Supreme Court decided in 2023 that Deliveroo riders are not workers. It is also the route by which people who cannot legally work in the UK have ended up delivering on other people's accounts, and the rules around it tightened sharply in 2025 and 2026.
The rules on each platform
| Platform | Substitutes allowed? | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo | Yes | Only one person online on the account at a time. Account holder does the ID selfie and is responsible for all tax. |
| Stuart | Yes, since 11 March 2024 | Register in advance on the substitution form. Substitute must be 18 or over, have the right to work, no convictions, the same transport type and hire and reward cover. |
| Evri | Yes, an unconditional right | Used for holiday cover and to run more rounds with your own drivers. |
| Just Eat | Referred to in its account rules | Revocation emails cover your substitute's actions as well as yours. |
Uber's private hire drivers are workers who must drive personally, and Uber Eats checks couriers in real time. Assume any app not listed does not allow it unless its terms say so.
Substitution against account renting
A substitute is someone you appoint, who meets the platform's requirements, and whom the platform knows about where it asks to. Account renting is letting someone use your login for a fee without any of that. Stuart lists account renting and sharing with an unconfirmed person as grounds for termination, and all three big food apps agreed with the Home Office to detect and suspend shared accounts.
The tax, for both of you
The platform pays the account holder and reports every penny to HMRC under the account holder's name, including orders the substitute delivered. So:
- The account holder includes ALL the account's income in their turnover.
- What the account holder pays the substitute is a cost of their business, claimable as an expense. Keep a record: dates, amounts, and ideally a simple invoice from the substitute.
- The substitute has self-employed income of their own, what the account holder paid them, and must register and file a return if it takes them over the trading allowance.
- Mileage belongs to whoever drove. An account holder cannot claim miles a substitute drove in the substitute's own vehicle.
A substitute paid in cash with no records is the worst of both: the account holder pays tax on income they passed on, and the substitute has income HMRC may later find. The £1,000 trading allowance can cover a substitute who only did a little work.
Identity checks
Facial verification is now routine. Deliveroo asks the account holder for a video selfie before going online from time to time. Stuart asks every courier for a video every two weeks through Checkout.com, and failing twice can block the account. Uber Eats runs real-time identity checks. Take them seriously: an unanswered check is treated the same as a failed one.
Right to work checks from October 2026
In 2024 and again in July 2025 Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats agreed with the Home Office to strengthen checks, and thousands of accounts were removed. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 goes further. Regulations laid on 30 June 2026 extend the right to work scheme and its civil penalties, for the first time, to businesses that engage workers or individual subcontractors, including in the gig economy. They come into force, and enforcement starts, in October 2026. Digital right to work checks must use a government-registered provider.
Expect platforms to ask substitutes for more, and to ask it more often. If you use a substitute, make sure they have completed whatever check the platform asks for before they work. The news item has the detail.
Sources
- Can my substitute and I both be online at the same time? - Deliveroo
- Couriers: right to substitution - Stuart Help Center
- Extending the Right to Work Scheme and Tackling Illegal Working - UK Parliament
- Delivery firms to bolster rider security checks - GOV.UK
- Tax-free allowances on property and trading income - GOV.UK
Common questions
- Can I let someone else deliver on my account?
- On Deliveroo, Stuart and Evri, yes, within their rules, and Just Eat refers to substitutes too. Stuart requires you to register the substitute in advance. Handing your login to someone who has not been checked is account renting and can end the account.
- Who pays tax on deliveries a substitute does?
- The account holder declares everything the account earned, because the platform reports it all under their name. What the account holder pays the substitute is a business expense for them and taxable income for the substitute, who needs their own Self Assessment.
- What changes for substitutes in October 2026?
- From October 2026 the right to work scheme and its civil penalties extend to businesses that engage workers or individual subcontractors, including in the gig economy. Platforms face penalties if people working through them have not been checked.
- Why do apps keep asking me for a selfie?
- Facial checks confirm the account holder is still in control of the account. Deliveroo asks for a video selfie from time to time and Stuart every two weeks, and the account holder has to do it even if a substitute does the riding.
About the author
Issac Davies, Founder of JoltMile
Issac Davies drives for gig apps in the UK and built JoltMile to show drivers what a shift actually pays once fuel, insurance and tax come off. Every guide here is checked against HMRC and gov.uk guidance, and is information rather than tax advice.
Track this automatically
The JoltMile app works this out from your own shifts, and keeps the figures ready for Self Assessment. Your first 10 shifts are free.
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