Afrigather Ayomide Olawuyi, a scholar on the College of Lagos, started working part-time with meals supply app Glovo in September 2023. It was going nicely for him till one night time in April, when he was hit by a automotive whereas making a supply.
The accident left Olawuyi with a damaged arm, and the surgical procedure value him over 500,000 naira ($340). He contacted Glovo from the hospital — the corporate had assured him that his medical bills can be lined beneath insurance coverage.
However over a month later, Olawuyi has not obtained the payout. He has exchanged a number of emails, made many calls, and despatched quite a few WhatsApp messages to totally different representatives at Glovo. He has shared varied paperwork the corporate requested for, together with a police report, X-ray studies, and receipts of medical payments. He has additionally been in contact with a claims supervisor at Glovo’s insurance coverage supplier, Ferrer&Ojeda, with no success.
Olawuyi just isn’t alone.
On a sunny afternoon in early Could, greater than 100 Glovo supply riders took to the streets of Lagos, protesting towards the corporate’s unreliable insurance coverage coverage. At the least 4 supply employees on the protest informed Remainder of World they’d met with accidents whereas making deliveries previously 5 months and had been nonetheless awaiting insurance coverage help. The employees stated the corporate’s insurance coverage coverage lacks readability, which ends up in uncertainty on whether or not or not they may get a payout in the event that they meet with an accident on the job.
Glovo’s “insurance coverage coverage is a entice,” Olawuyi informed Remainder of World, including that he doesn’t need to proceed working with the corporate. He stated he’s unable to attend college anymore as he was compelled to maneuver right into a free residence supplied by his church to obtain take care of his fractured arm.
Lagos’ roads may be harmful for gig employees. Between January and March this 12 months, the native street security company reported more than 110 road accidents. Earlier within the 12 months, a supply rider was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Lagos. In one other incident in February 2022, a motorist killed one delivery worker and injured one other.
In an electronic mail to Remainder of World, Glovo stated its “insurance coverage firm is masking the wants of couriers in every market, and couriers can simply report any declare to the insurer with whom they’ve a communication channel to handle any claims and incidents.”
Glovo’s insurance coverage supplier, Ferrer&Ojeda, is predicated in Barcelona, Spain, in line with the corporate’s web site and an electronic mail correspondence with a Nigerian gig employee seen by Remainder of World. The insurer promises to cover medical bills of as much as 727,957.69 naira ($492) for riders who slip, fall off their bikes, or break their arm or leg whereas on the job.
A number of Glovo employees stated that the insurer didn’t perceive the bottom realities in Nigeria and their working situations, which makes it arduous for them to file claims or lodge complaints.
Forty-year-old Oluwafemi Ganiu has been making an attempt to get reimbursed for the 60,000 naira ($41) he spent treating an injured shoulder and lacerated arm from an accident in January. “I contacted Glovo. In reality, I despatched them receipts however no response was created from them,” Ganiu informed Remainder of World.
One other rider, Simple, who requested to be addressed by his nickname for concern of retribution from the corporate, has a everlasting scar on his face that he stated he received from an accident whereas on the job in February. He informed Remainder of World he incurred over 160,000 naira ($109) in medical payments. “They collected all the small print and vital receipts,” Simple stated. “Unexpectedly I [didn’t] hear from [them] once more.”
Gig platforms like Glovo aren’t sure by regulation to supply medical insurance for his or her supply employees, consultants informed Remainder of World. But when a platform does make such guarantees, it’s obliged to observe via.
“If it’s clearly said that they’ll be chargeable for insurance coverage in the course of the acquisition of riders, then they need to meet as much as their obligations,” stated Oluwaseun Omotosho, chief working officer at Gokada, a Lagos-based logistics firm. “If their insurance coverage firm is predicated outdoors Nigeria, they need to search for a neighborhood companion that can get that sorted for them. It’s what we name model promise … In the event that they fail in that, meaning their integrity is at stake.”
On the day of the protest, Glovo executives met among the supply employees, and blamed Ferrer&Ojeda for his or her difficulties in claiming insurance coverage cash, supply rider Emeka Ani, who was current on the assembly, informed Remainder of World. The corporate promised the employees that it was within the course of of adjusting its insurance coverage supplier.
“On the day that we had the protest, [Glovo] stated the insurance coverage [company] they’re utilizing didn’t need to be paying every time [an] emergency occurred,” stated Ani, who requested to make use of a pseudonym for concern of dropping his job. “They stated they’re altering to a different firm.”
Glovo confirmed this in an electronic mail to Remainder of World and stated it was altering its accident insurance coverage supplier for all its couriers worldwide.
“There won’t be any modifications to the protection couriers have already got entry to,” a Glovo spokesperson stated. “The brand new insurer will depend on native companions to supply the most effective service and the brand new dealer is dedicated to discovering and growing the simplest options to supply a constructive insurance coverage declare expertise.”
The Lagos State Ministry of Justice didn’t reply to Remainder of World’s request for remark.
