People Are Just Discovering You Don’t Always Have To Open The Door To Delivery Drivers

An episode of 24 Hours In Police Custody left viewers horrified when a man posing as a delivery driver barged his way into a property in Luton and assaulted two women and a 14-year-old-girl.

Footage of the incident went viral, and after watching, many pointed out they never think twice about opening the door when they spot their local driver.

It led many to wonder, do you actually have to open the door to your delivery driver, or is there a way around it?

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Well, the answer is for most couriers, no, you don't - especially since the pandemic. Most delivery companies have now set up contact-free ways of delivering parcels.

So how do you do it? First off, it's worth noting that what happened in Luton was a rare occurrence, but if you really don't want to open the door, or don't feel safe in doing so for whatever reason, you don't always have to.

Some couriers may say they need to take a photo of the front door open, but for most, setting up a few changes on your online accounts will allow them to leave your parcel in a 'safe place' instead.

We've listed some of the most popular couriers, their policies for contact-free delivery and how you can activate it.

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Hermes

Hermes has explained it actually encourages contact-free delivery, and urge customers to select their preferred safe place by downloading the app and setting it as a preference.

"This will ensure all future Hermes deliveries will be delivered to the same safe place," the company explains.

"Alternatively, parcels can be diverted to a chosen safe place at any time during the delivery process. If a safe place hasn’t been chosen but there is somewhere safe to deliver the parcel, we’ll leave it there and include a photo in the delivery notification email."

DPD

DPD will often ask you to open the door so they can take a photo. The company explains this is a substitute for a signature as proof of delivery. However, if you don't want to open the door, DPD says: "You can ensure you still have your parcel delivered by posting a note to your front door instructing our driver where your parcel should be left."

Yodel

Similarly, Yodel do not need customers to open their doors as long as they have selected a safe place for their driver to leave the parcel. This can be done by downloading the Yodel app.

If you haven't nominated a safe place, Yodel will attempt to deliver to a neighbour.

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DHL

Using the DHL parcel app, you can arrange for your parcel to be left in a safe space, should it need a signature upon delivery.

Topics: Life, Shopping

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot.

@lucedevine