Plant
Insurance

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Need a plant insurance quote? Let the independent specialists at your local Coversure office compare their markets to find you the right construction plant insurance protection. Your local Coversure broker can tailor protection to your needs, so start your quote today.

Plant
Insurance

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What Is Plant Insurance?

Plant insurance, also known as special types fleet insurance, protects construction and agricultural vehicles, lifting equipment, and other specialist machines, including steam rollers and telehandlers. This flexible form or cover can protect the equipment you own – owned plant – and hired equipment – hired-in plant – for use on-site and on public roads. Cover can also be extended to include public liability, employers’ liability, and several other protections giving you a wide range of cover on a single policy. If you’d like to know more or have a specific piece of plant equipment for which you’d like a plant insurance quote, contact your local Coversure office or start your quote here.

What Types Of Plant Insurance Are There?

There a several forms of plant cover, the main ones being:

Hired-in plant – for vehicles and equipment you hire-in while undertaking work
Owned plant – vehicles and equipment that your business owns
Temporary cover – cover that lasts a day, a week, a month, or even longer as your needs dictate
All-risks – which protects you against fire, flood, theft, malicious and accidental damage
Road risks only – cover that only applies when vehicles are on public highways

What does Plant Insurance cover?

This flexible policy* can cover everything from equipment and liabilities to buildings:

Construction plant – diggers, earth movers, mobile cranes, generators, dump trucks, etc.
Agricultural vehicles – such as tractors, combine harvesters, sprayers, and beet lifters to para ploughs, trailers, and bailers
Lifting equipment – cranes, forklift trucks, mobile cranes, cherry pickers, mobile scissor lifts, and high loaders
Road maintenance vehicles – road sweepers, self-propelled tar layers, and steam rollers
Attachments, welfare units, on-site cabins, and other site buildings
Glass cover
Loss or damage to trailers
Construction plant, tools, and equipment – with the option to include workers’ personal tools and other possessions while on site
Off-site storage
Immobilised equipment

It can also cover a range of common risks, including:

Continuing hiring charges

If a piece of hired-in equipment is damaged and you can’t use it, this will cover the ongoing hire charges

Cover while in transit

If your equipment is involved in an accident or is damaged while being moved, you’ll be insured and can make a claim

Third-party working risks (TPWR)

Covers damage to other people’s property while you’re working

Road-risk plant

Covers your business if you use your machinery on public roads, say to move supplies or take away spoil or muck.

Accidental Damage

Should your equipment be accidentally damaged while in use

Product liability

Did you know that if the products you use, recommend, or sell cause problems, you can be liable for damages? Products are central to your business, and if something goes wrong, you can be liable for claims and compensation. Should this happen to you, product liability insurance covers the costs of any compensation you are made to pay, together with the legal fees

Employers’ liability

This is a legal requirement if you employ people. It provides cover in the event of your employee injuring themselves or if their property is damaged while at work. The law says that if you employ at least one person, you must have employers’ liability insurance (sometimes called ‘E.L. insurance’) to protect your employees in case they are injured or become ill as a result of working for you. Your policy must:

Cover you for at least £5 million
Be with an authorised insurer
And employers must provide a safe working environment

Public Liability

Provides cover should a member of the public injure themselves or if their property is damaged while you are working. It covers the cost of claims made by members of the public for incidents that occur in connection to your business’s activities, for example if they slip on the floor and decide to sue you, you’ll be covered.

How Much Does A Plant Insurance Policy Cost?

How much your policy will cost depends on several factors, some of which we’ve outlined below.

The amount and type of plant equipment you want to protect
Its value
The kind of work you’re doing
Where you are working
Whether you have any employees
The size of the projects you are working on
The number of risks you wish to cover
Your claims history

The best way to find out how much protection you need is to contact your local Coversure. They’ll be able to advise you as to what you need and create a package of Plant cover for you.

Plant Insurance FAQ

Hired-in and owned-plant insurance is a complex area of cover, so to help you get the protection you need, here are Coversure’s hired-in and owned plant insurance frequently asked questions. We hope they will be of help, but if you’d like some independent advice, contact your local Coversure office.

Plant insurance is designed to protect businesses using these specialist equipment types. Given the cost of these machines, that many are hired in rather than owned, that some will need road risk cover, and the liability risks associated with this sort of work, having a plant insurance policy makes sense

Hired-in plant is equipment that you hire as required, rather than equipment that your business owns

No, but if you have employees, then you will need employers’ liability insurance

Yes, we can offer you telehandler insurance quotes alongside other specialist lifting equipment

Yes

For something to be classed as a plant vehicle, it will need to specify that on the logbook

Yes, if you have road risks cover on your policy

If any hired-in plant is damaged or stolen, you’ll usually be liable to continue paying the hire charges, even if it is no longer used by you. Typically, a plant policy will cover these charges for 90 days, but it’s worth checking the policy or talking to your broker

Some things you might think would be considered plant are not. This includes a truck with a hi-ab (a crane attachment) on the back, which is classed as a heavy goods vehicle for which you’d need truck insurance. Horseboxes are another item some people would call a special types vehicle; however, it is not unless it’s noted on the logbook

Yes. When you hire machinery, it means that you are responsible for that item, and you need to make sure you send it back in the condition you hired it. If a piece of kit you have hired was to break or be damaged and you don’t have hired-in plant insurance, you would have to pay for any repairs

If you want to cover even more risks on one policy, you may want to consider a commercial combined policy. This can include everything from your liability, plant, contract works, and stock to vehicles and other risks. If you’d like to know more about a commercial combined insurance policy from Coversure, please get in touch with your local Coversure office

Need a Plant Insurance quote?

If you’d like a Plant Insurance quote from Coversure, please contact your local Coversure office or start your quote here. Our independent brokers will search their markets to find you the right policy at the right price to keep your business protected.

Commercial Combined

Contractors All Risks

Fleet

* Policy information is correct at the time of writing. Policy details, limits, and exclusions are subject to insurer’ changes. When taking out a policy, your local Coversure office will be able to advise you of the specifics of your cover.

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Plant
Insurance

Independent service from your local insurance specialists

Plant
Insurance

Average Customer Rating:

Independent service rating based on 1156 reviews

What Is Plant Insurance?

What Types Of Plant Insurance Are There?

What does Plant Insurance cover?

Continuing hiring charges

Cover while in transit

Third-party working risks (TPWR)

Road-risk plant

Accidental Damage

Product liability

Employers’ liability

Public Liability

How Much Does A Plant Insurance Policy Cost?

Plant Insurance FAQ

Need a Plant Insurance quote?

Commercial Combined

Contractors All Risks

Fleet

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