Driver Terms

Everything in the LinkRide Terms of Service still applies to you. This document adds what is specific to driving: the cap on what you can charge, the condition your vehicle and paperwork must be in, and how you get paid.

You may only ask passengers to contribute towards what the journey costs you to run: fuel or charge, wear, and any tolls or parking for that trip. Across all the seats you fill, you must not receive more than the cost of making the journey. You cannot make a profit on a LinkRide trip.

The app helps you stay inside it by suggesting a contribution based on the distance and the seats you are offering. If you set your own figure, keeping it lawful is your responsibility.

Before you offer a seat, all of the following must be true:

• You hold a valid full driving licence for the vehicle, and you are not disqualified or subject to a condition that prevents you driving it.
• The vehicle is taxed, has a valid MOT where one is required, and is roadworthy.
• The vehicle is insured for the way you are using it, and your insurer accepts you carrying passengers who contribute towards the cost.
• You are fit to drive: not over the limit, not on something that impairs you, and not so tired that you should not be at a wheel.
• You carry no more passengers than there are seats and belts for.

We check tax and MOT status against DVLA and DVSA records. If those records say the vehicle is untaxed or without a valid MOT, we will stop you offering trips in it until it is put right. That check is a backstop, not a substitute for keeping your own paperwork in order.

• Post trips you are genuinely making, at a time you intend to leave.
• Turn up, and let people know as early as you can if you cannot.
• Take the route you advertised, and do not add stops that leave a passenger somewhere they did not agree to go.
• Do not ask for cash on top of the app contribution, and do not take a booking off the platform after meeting through it.
• Follow the Community Guidelines. A passenger in your car has fewer options than you do if things go wrong.

Payouts run through Stripe. Before you can be paid you have to complete Stripe’s checks, which means giving your name, date of birth, address, bank details and, where Stripe asks for it, a form of identity document. These are legal requirements on anyone paying out money, not questions we invented.

When you set up payouts you also enter into the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which sits between you and Stripe and is presented to you during setup.

• Passengers are charged when the trip completes. Your share is the seat contribution; the booking fee goes to LinkRide.
• Stripe pays out to your bank on its own schedule once your account is in good standing.
• If Stripe asks for further information later, payouts pause until you provide it. We will tell you in the app when that happens.
• If a passenger successfully disputes a payment, the amount and any fee may be taken back from your balance.

Money you receive is a contribution towards costs, not earnings from a trade. Where you keep within the cost-sharing cap there is normally no profit to be taxed, but your tax position is yours: if you are unsure, check with HMRC or an accountant. LinkRide does not give tax advice and does not deduct tax on your behalf.

You are not an employee, worker, or agent of LinkRide. You decide whether to make a journey, when to leave, what route to take, and who to carry. We do not set your hours, we cannot require you to accept anyone, and we pay you nothing. The contribution comes from your passengers.

We may suspend your ability to offer trips if your vehicle checks fail, if you are reported for something serious, if you charge above the cost-sharing cap, or if we reasonably believe passengers are at risk. Where it is safe and lawful we will tell you why, and you can appeal to support@linkride.co.uk.

Suspension does not take money you have already earned. It will be paid out as normal unless it relates to fraud or to a dispute we have had to cover.

If something happens on a trip, it is a matter for your insurer and the other people involved, in the same way as any other journey you make in your own car. LinkRide is not an insurer and does not handle claims. Tell us at support@linkride.co.uk so we have a record, and so we can help the people involved reach each other.