Classic property insurance protects machinery against fire, storm, water damage, and burglary. But what if a machine breaks down on its own – through a bearing failure, a motor fault, or operator error? That's what machinery breakdown insurance is for: a separate module, with its own logic.
- Machinery breakdown covers a machine's sudden internal failure – something base property cover does not.
- Typical covered causes: material defects, operator error, overload, electrical faults.
- Not covered: wear, general deterioration, neglected maintenance – machinery breakdown isn't a service contract.
What can machinery breakdown cover do?
Machinery breakdown insurance settles unexpected, internally caused damage to machinery and equipment: breakage from material or manufacturing defects, operator error, overload, short circuit, ingress of foreign objects. In other words, exactly the group left out of basic fire and natural-catastrophe cover. For a manufacturing company, this difference can be mission-critical: weeks of downtime on a key machine is, if anything, a more common scenario than fire.
What it doesn't cover
Machinery breakdown isn't a maintenance contract: the natural wear of consumable parts, damage from neglected servicing, and faults still under warranty are not covered. Cover is for the unexpected – planned maintenance remains the company's job. At the boundary between the two, a documented service history is the company's best friend: at claim time, it proves the machine was properly maintained.
Who is it worth it for?
Three questions decide: how much is your machinery worth, how much does operation grind to a halt when a given machine goes down, and how quickly can a critical machine be replaced? Where a single CNC machine, printing press, or refrigeration compressor is the heart of the operation, weighing up the machinery breakdown module is a mandatory step. In an office environment, the electronic equipment cover is the more relevant counterpart. A machinery list is the starting point for the decision: machinery inventory and value list.
During the survey, we go through the machinery together and discuss honestly: where the module would provide real protection, and where it would be unnecessary.
Machinery breakdown cover settles the cost of repair or replacement; for the loss caused by the downtime itself, separate business interruption cover (machinery breakdown business interruption) can be taken out – and it's worth keeping a practical Plan B too. That's why, alongside the module, it's worth also drawing up a practical Plan B – a rental machine, subcontractor capacity, critical spare parts in stock. Insurance and an operational buffer together provide real protection.
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