What happens if a courier cancels?
Before pickup, there is no penalty. The retailer is notified immediately and the order is reopened for reassignment. After pickup, the courier is responsible for the full order value, deducted from their balance, and they cannot accept new deliveries until it is cleared.
In more detail
The split is deliberate. Before collection nothing has been lost but time, and penalising a courier for declining work they cannot do produces couriers who accept work they cannot do. After collection your food is in someone else's possession and you have already borne the cost of making it.
The instrument that covers the second case is under review with our solicitors. Something has to do that job (it is what lets you hand food to someone you have not met), but uncapped liability may not be the right way to do it, and we would rather say so than wait to be asked.