- Have you expected a female Uber Eats driver – only for a man to turn up instead? Email elizabeth.haigh@mailonline.co.uk
Female Uber Eats delivery drivers are renting out their accounts for thousands of pounds to illegal immigrant men who want to get around criminal record and employment checks – and a legal loophole means they are getting away with it.
Users of the popular food delivery app have complained of drivers not matching their profile picture, with many promised a female driver only for a man to turn up instead.
Employment experts have said the practice is commonly exploited by people who have entered Britain illegally or who don’t have the right to work in the UK.
Account holders must verify their age, right to work, insurance and undergo a background check, including a criminal record check, before they can begin delivering for Uber Eats.
But some successful applicants go on to charge large amounts of money for access to their accounts for total strangers – who may have a criminal record or be unable to work illegally in the UK – raking in as much as £5,720 per year.
Employment lawyer Sejal Raja told MailOnline the practice ‘creates a dangerous grey market that exploits loopholes in the system and places all parties, especially workers, companies, and even customers at risk’.
Third party sites offer account rentals for several hundred pounds a month and require clients to provide all the necessary legal documentation.
However many account holders are using platforms such as Facebook Marketplace to quickly earn cash by offering access at cut prices from just £50 per month.
MailOnline found one seller offering their account for £110 per month – or £5,720 per year.
Unvetted Uber Eats delivery drivers are renting other people’s accounts online for as much as £5,720 per year, allowing them to circumvent criminal record and employment checks (stock image)
MailOnline found some Uber Eats accounts being rented for £110 per week – or £5,720 per year
Dozens of Facebook groups have been set up specifically for people to rent or sell accounts – which breaks Meta’s terms of use
Facebook groups, some of which have tens of thousands of members, set up specifically for the renting of accounts frequently have posts from ‘anonymous participants’ either asking for accounts or offering their own to rent.
There is no way of knowing whether these anonymous profiles offer any information or documentation to sellers before being permitted access to the account.
Facebook says the online sale of accounts from delivery companies including Uber Eats is not permitted – but they are easily accessible on the social media platform.
Uber Eats does allow account holders to appoint ‘substitute’ drivers to deliver food on their behalf – but do not carry out all the same checks.
Uber’s website states: ‘At any point during the delivery process, you may choose to have someone else deliver on your behalf, provided they meet the safety conditions.
‘If you choose to do this, you should keep in mind that you are still fully responsible for all activities performed on your account, either by you or by your substitute.’
Its conditions include that any substitute is over 18, have the right to work in the UK, pass a criminal background check and insurance.
And it relies on delivery drivers officially registering the substitutes online – while some rent out their account without performing any checks.
Usually if a firm employs someone who does not have the right to work in the UK and failed to ensure they do, they can be fined up to £60,000 per worker.
People looking to rent accounts from registered Uber Eats deliverers use platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Facebook groups
But because Uber Eats drivers are self-employed, neither Uber nor the account holders are liable to any penalties if people working illegally are subject to penalty under employment legislation.
Instead, if an account holder is found to be using a substitute without the right to work, all that happens is their account may be closed.
Partner at UK law firm Freeths Emma Booksbrank, which specialises in immigration employment law, said delivery firms are coming under increasing pressure due to the rise of people accessing accounts despite not having the right to work in the UK.
‘Firms such as Uber Eats are allowed to offer access to a substitute but the companies have been under increasing amounts of pressure because there has been this rise in illegal immigrants gaining access.
‘They have always maintained workers are self-employed, and when challenges have been brought against them for employment rights, they’ve gone all the way up to the supreme court.
‘Uber are not actually employing the substitutes as all delivery personnel are self-employed.
‘The account holders are also not liable under right to work legislation. Companies can be fined anywhere from £45,000 to £60,000, but the account holders are not acting as employers because substitute drivers are also self-employed.
‘It is a gap, a loophole in the law, and that’s why it’s happening.’
Uber Eats customers have said they feel ‘unsafe’ after ‘random men’ who don’t match the profile turn up to deliver their food
There are also serious concerns about customer safety through the use of unregistered substitute drivers.
Women have previously reported feeling unsafe after being matched with a female Uber driver, sometimes late at night, before opening their door to find a man instead.
Uber Eats has no direct customer service helpline, instead offering an online contact form. Customers have complained online of being unable to contact Uber to report their concerns, or of filling in the contact form and hearing nothing back.
Employment lawyer Sejal Raja, from Weightmans, said: ‘This trend often stems from the dual pressures of opportunity and desperation. For those locked out of formal employment due to visa restrictions or past background issues, renting an account may seem like their only route to earning a livelihood.
‘On the flip side, some account holders see this as an easy way to profit from their verified profiles without doing the work themselves.
‘This creates a dangerous grey market that exploits loopholes in the system and places all parties, especially workers, companies, and even customers at risk.
‘Addressing this requires not just stricter monitoring and enforcement by gig platforms but also a hard look at the barriers that lead individuals to consider these practices in the first place.’
Criminologist Dr Emma Cunningham and hospitality lecturer Zoë Adjey from the University of East London blamed a lack of accountability at Uber Eats and called for better customer service and improved reporting procedures.
They said: ‘Food outlets that use Uber Eats for delivery rely on the Uber Eats drivers to represent their brand well to customers.
‘In a restaurant or bar, if there is an issue with the server, the establishment itself is responsible for resolving the problem and reassuring the customer of their high service standards.
‘However, when an Uber Eats delivery driver provides poor service, it reflects poorly on the original food outlet’s brand.
‘The first complaint from the customer will typically go to the restaurant, not Uber Eats, which could cause the outlet to lose business and suffer reputational damage.
‘Uber Eats does not currently provide a direct customer service phone number or easy method for customers to report drivers who are not meeting the expectations of the food outlet.
‘To address this, it is suggested that Uber Eats become more customer-focused, caring about the end-users they deliver to and not just the restaurants they collect fees from.
‘This would help improve both customer safety, especially for female customers, as well as protect the reputations of the food outlets.
‘Implementing better customer service and driver reporting systems would be beneficial for Uber Eats, their restaurant partners, and their mutual customers.’
In April Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat all signed up to a voluntary code of conduct which pledged they would carry out identity checks on substitute workers in a bid to tackle illegal workers.
An Uber Eats spokesperson said at the time: ‘At Uber Eats we are going to roll out identity verification checks to help ensure only those who legitimately use someone else’s account to earn with us are able to, and we are pleased to be working with government to find a solution.’
But little appears to have changed to prevent the company’s accounts being exploited.
An Uber Eats spokesperson spokesperson told MailOnline today: ‘All couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they are over eighteen and have a legal right to work in the UK, and pass criminal background checks.
‘Uber Eats has worked with the Home Office to launch additional identity verification checks to help ensure only those who legitimately use someone else’s account to deliver on the platform are able to.
‘We are constantly reviewing these processes to ensure they are as robust as possible and if we receive reports that this is not the case we will investigate and take appropriate action.’
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We are partnering with the three leading food delivery platforms in the gig economy to stamp out abuse in this sector.
‘Our mission is to eliminate the unacceptable practice of account holders transferring work to others without verifying their eligibility, ensuring everyone involved remains safe and protected.’
Meta has been contacted for comment.