Not very particular supply! Christmas parcel mayhem as couriers hurl packages at doorways and round their vans in undercover footage

An Evri driver has been caught on camera hurling packages into the back of his van – as an investigation accused others of chucking deliveries at customers’ doors. 

Extraordinary video filmed in the midst of Christmas parcel mayhem showed the man pulling items from sacks and throwing them into the open door of his delivery vehicle. They included a large box marked ‘fragile’. 

Flabbergasted customers described how the man ‘laughed off’ complaints when he handed over crumpled boxes. The driver is also said to have abandoned a pile of items in a high street before he crossed the road to deliver a package.

The incidents happened around the village of Watton in Norfolk – the same county where people waiting for Evri deliveries had to search for items themselves earlier this year when the courier left them in undergrowth, on bins, in hedges and in the street.

Evri has come in for scrutiny after a recent Ofcom survey placed it bottom in a customer satisfaction league table, including for the number of packages failing to reach their intended recipients. 

While the firm disputes the findings, 30 current and former workers have now spoken to BBC Panorama to claim the issues are being caused by pressure on couriers to deliver more and more items. 

Drivers at an Evri depot in the Midlands shared their tips on how to complete deliveries on time – with one telling an undercover reporter that he could ‘throw a parcel at the back door’ to save time. 

Another courier of 10 years claimed his colleagues were ‘cutting corners’ because they had to deliver so many items to earn enough money to get by. 

‘They are not doing the job correctly… parcels go missing,’ he added. ‘Piles of parcels are found in hedges.’

Changes to Evri’s pay rates have led some workers to claim they are earning less than the minimum wage. 

One change has seen lower pay rates for so-called ‘small packets’ – even though these sometimes include larger items that have been wrongly categorised, it is claimed. 

Parcels started to go missing from the village of Twyford in Hampshire six months after a regular Evri courier, Dave, left the company.

He had worked for Evri for six years, often with his wife, and they earned about £60,000 a year between them.

Like all Evri couriers, Dave was self-employed. But because Evri pays couriers by the parcel, and sets the rate per parcel, he felt at the whim of decisions taken by its managers. 

Changes to Evri’s parcel rates last January meant it no longer made financial sense to carry on, Dave said. 

The amount Evri couriers earn depends on the size and weight of the parcels they deliver and how far they must travel.

Couriers like Dave, who was on an Evri Plus contract, are supposed to be guaranteed at least the National Minimum Wage – currently £12.21 per hour for those aged 21 and over.

Dave says he estimated that with Evri’s changes, including a new ‘small packets’ rate, he would earn £10 an hour.

‘You were always looking over your shoulder, wondering what might come next in terms of reducing your rates,’ he told Panorama. ‘So that you’re paid less for what you’re doing even though you’re doing the same job.’

Another Evri Plus courier said he could earn as little as £7 or £8 an hour at times, once fuel and his vehicle’s running costs had been taken into account.

This shouldn’t be happening – according to what Evri’s legal director, Hugo Martin, who told a parliamentary select committee in January that couriers ‘earn well above national minimum wage’.

The committee chair, Labour’s Liam Byrne, said Evri bosses should now be recalled to Parliament.

A spokesman for Evri insisted couriers still ‘generate earnings significantly above the National Living Wage’.

Average courier earnings, the spokesman continued, ‘exceeded £20 an hour’. The ‘sector is highly competitive, but we benchmark pay locally’, they added.

An undercover reporter, ‘Sam’, was told by a courier at Evri’s West Hallam delivery unit near Nottingham: ‘If you want to earn money, you need to find a safe place and leave it there.

‘You can even throw the parcel at the back door, you only get paid if the parcel is delivered.’ 

As a new starter, Sam was put on a Flex contract, which does not include sick or holiday pay and does not commit to paying the minimum wage, unlike the alternative Plus contract.

Couriers claimed they are not paid extra for the time it takes to scan the parcels and load them into their vehicles at depots – although Evri says it factors this time into its parcel rates.

Couriers are also only paid if a package is delivered and a photograph is taken – which is supposed to mean giving it to the customer, a neighbour, or finding a safe place, and not leaving it in plain sight outside the delivery address.

If drivers cannot deliver a parcel, they should make at least two more attempts to do so – according to Evri rules – but this takes time.

Back at the West Hallam depot, a courier told Sam there was not much point trying to redeliver because couriers did not get paid for going back.

‘You’ll make no money, my friend, unless you get all your parcels out. Get them all out,’ he said. ‘There’s a safe space for everything, mate.’

One supervisor claimed it was possible to deliver 50 parcels an hour on a round.

Evri said it would deliver about 900million parcels this year, going to almost every single home in the UK.

But seven per cent of customers in the six months between January and July said they had reported an Evri parcel not having been delivered – compared to an industry average of 4 per cent – according to Ofcom’s recent consumer survey.

The survey also suggested Evri had the most issues for delays in the UK, with 14 per cent of customers reporting a parcel arriving late in the same period. The industry average is eight per cent, according Ofcom.

The company, which rebranded from Hermes UK in 2022, has been owned since last year by the American investment firm Apollo Global Management. In the financial year 2023-24, Evri’s pre-tax profit almost doubled to nearly £120m.

‘I think Evri are making a fortune off the couriers’ backs and I think the couriers are being totally ripped off,’ one courier said.

Evri accused Panorama of relying on ‘cherry-picked and skewed cases’.  

Its statement added: ‘Evri provides a fast, reliable, and cost-effective delivery service, and will deliver about 900 million parcels this year to over 25 million households through its 34,000 self-employed couriers who choose to work for us and are attracted by flexible work in their communities.

‘Our benchmark-setting delivery rates, which exceed punctuality targets of many other industries, and exceptional growth are driven by our strong investment and the trust placed in us by customers ranging from small businesses to major high street retailers.

‘We have an industry leading and GMB backed pay scheme for our regular self-employed couriers which offers pensions and holiday and sick pay.

‘Evri couriers generate earnings significantly above the National Living Wage, with average earnings exceeding £20 per hour, and our model was approved by HMRC after a multi-year review. Despite requesting details, Panorama did not provide specific information on pay to review these claims, as part of a fair right of reply.

‘If any courier has concerns about their pay or working conditions, we have clear, rapid processes to address them and work closely with the GMB to listen and act and have a history of constructive engagement that has led to improvements for couriers. We take health and safety very seriously, and where there is a risk that our standards are not fully met, we audit sites to check safety and compliance.

‘Parcels are labelled by clients, such as retailers, not Evri. And 99.2% of all parcels are correctly banded. Couriers can request checks and upgrades via the courier app if they think a parcel has been misbanded. We have also invested in proactive processes which identifies any misbands and correct rates. We introduced a new small packet rate in February 2025 in response to competition in the market – with the clear intention that couriers will benefit from increased volumes from this change.

‘At a time when many companies are reducing headcount and unemployment is growing, we’re proud to be creating thousands of opportunities – and last week announced we will create an additional 2,500 jobs, including courier roles.’

BBC Panorama: Evri: Where’s My Parcel?’ on BBC One at 8pm tonight and BBC iPlayer.