Charities urge the seven supermarket giants to suspend delivery charges to those shielding

Twenty-three charities have written a joint letter to the major seven UK supermarkets asking them to suspend delivery charges and unfair costs to vulnerable people who must isolate due to COVID-19 during lockdown.

The letter sent to the chief executives of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Iceland, Waitrose and Ocado is asking them to suspend delivery charges for priority delivery slots, and take steps to reduce minimum spends.

The letter has been signed by Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Carers UK, Dementia UK, Disability Rights UK, Macmillan, Scope and many others.

The letter written by Deborah Alsina, chief executive of Independent Age says: “The government has asked everyone to play their part in helping the nation through this crisis. We know that supermarkets have taken this call seriously and have been working to ensure that those vulnerable to COVID-19 can safely access food. We are asking you to do this once again during this third lockdown.

“Many people who are most at risk from coronavirus are once again having to make an extremely difficult decision – to risk their health by going to a supermarket or to take on extra costs to have their food delivered.

“We believe supermarkets waiving delivery charges and reducing minimum basket spend for those who have priority shopping slots would make an enormous contribution to the financial position and wellbeing of thousands of people.

In a recent Independent Age / YouGov poll, it showed three-quarters of people (77 per cent) agreed those who are unable to shop in supermarkets due to their age or underlying health conditions should not have to pay online delivery charges, with 81 per cent agreeing reductions should be made to a minimum spend.

The charities are also concerned about people living alone who can’t afford to buy extra food each week to reach the minimum spend for free delivery.

According to Love Money, the cheapest supermarket delivery was from Asda where their delivery cost was between £1-£6.50.

Tesco will only deliver with a minimum order of over £40 but said they would continue to offer priority access to over 600,000 of their most vulnerable customers.

Whilst Sainsbury’s home delivery cost between £1-£7 with orders over £25 or free delivery if on-line customers spend £100 or more on their shopping. These orders are delivered between Monday-Thursday after 2pm.

Ms Alsina added: “We are particularly concerned about people at risk who are also on lower incomes, for whom delivery charges or minimum spends represent a disproportionately high cost. We believe it is unfair to ask these customers to stay at home to protect the NHS, and yet also have to take a financial hit just to access food.

“People living alone have told us they don’t spend enough on food each week to reach the minimum spend for free delivery, and for those already on lower incomes, the extra delivery charge is a real burden.”

You can show your support by adding your name to the open letter with the below link.

https://campaigns.independentage.org/page/74106/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=wbhp)&_ga=2.232223199.1596860567.1611055443-730449812.1608630003