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A CLEAR GUIDE TO INSURANCE FOR EXTRUSION, CASTING, MACHINING, FABRICATION & FINISHING OPERATIONS
Why Aluminium Manufacturing Needs Specialist Insurance
Aluminium manufacturing combines high energy processes, heat and hot works, complex plant, strict quality requirements, and demanding customer contracts. Losses often escalate quickly: a fire in extraction ducting, a furnace incident, a breakdown on a critical press or CNC cell, or a quality issue that triggers a recall and OEM downtime claim.
This page explains the core covers, the common gaps, and the risk information insurers typically need in order to offer competitive terms for aluminium manufacturers, foundries, extruders, fabricators and component suppliers.
What Insurance Does an Aluminium Manufacturer Need?
Most aluminium manufacturers buy insurance as a programme (multiple covers designed to work together). The “right” structure depends on your processes (extrusion, casting, machining, fabrication, anodising/finishing), your premises, your customers, and your contractual responsibilities (including design/specification).
Below is a practical overview of the covers most commonly used in aluminium manufacturing.
- Property (Buildings & Contents) — covers your premises, machinery, tools and contents for insured perils such as fire, lightning, explosion, flood and escape of water (wording dependent).
- Stock / Materials / WIP — aluminium billet/ingot, coil, scrap, WIP and finished goods; set sums insured and storage details carefully.
- Business Interruption (BI) — protects gross profit and increased costs of working after insured damage; critical for long lead-time plant and specialist rebuilds.
- Employers’ Liability (EL) — legally required in most UK cases where you employ staff.
- Public Liability (PL) — third-party injury/property damage arising from your premises and operations.
- Products Liability — third-party injury/property damage caused by your products after they leave your control (especially important for OEM and safety-critical supply chains).
- Engineering / Machinery Breakdown — sudden and accidental breakdown of insured plant (e.g., furnaces, compressors, presses, control panels), where selected.
- Engineering Inspection — statutory inspections for lifting equipment, pressure systems and other regulated plant.
- Goods-in-Transit — damage/loss to goods in transit, including when using your own vehicles or carriers (policy dependent).
- Cyber & Data — protects against cyber events that disrupt production or compromise QA/traceability systems (optional, increasingly relevant).
Key Aluminium Manufacturing Risks Insurers Focus On
Underwriters price aluminium risks based on “severity potential” and how well controlled the processes are. The list below reflects the risk themes that most often drive questions, premiums and policy conditions.
- Fire & hot process risk — furnaces, heat treatment, hot works, extraction/filters, combustible packaging and separation distances.
- Molten metal / moisture interaction — where casting or melting is present, moisture controls and documented procedures matter.
- Machinery breakdown & long lead times — specialist presses, furnaces, CNC cells and control systems can drive long outages and BI exposure.
- Dust, fume & extraction — cleaning and maintenance of extraction systems; ignition sources and build-up management.
- Quality / defects & structural failure — end-use severity, QA regime, testing, traceability, design/spec responsibility and contract wording.
- Contractual exposures — OEM supply contracts, chargebacks, warranty terms and liability caps (or lack of caps).
- Flood & catastrophe — location-specific exposures, drainage, storage heights and resilience planning.
- Security / theft — high-value stock and non-ferrous metals can be targeted; CCTV, access control, alarms and yard security are key.
Business Interruption for Aluminium Manufacturers (What Actually Matters)
BI is where manufacturing insurance either works brilliantly or fails at the worst time. Aluminium losses frequently become “BI losses first” because production stops while specialist plant is repaired, replaced or recommissioned.
Three BI settings that drive outcomes
1) Gross profit sum insured (and wage treatment), 2) Indemnity period (often 12 months is too short for specialist plant), and 3) Increased cost of working (e.g., outsourcing, overtime, expedited freight).
Indemnity period guidance
If your critical plant is specialist (presses, furnaces, extraction systems, control panels), many manufacturers consider 18–24 months to reflect worst-case lead times and commissioning delays (wording dependent).
Common Policy Gaps We See in Aluminium Manufacturing
Many disputes happen because the business expects cover for something the policy was never designed to cover. These are the most common “surprises” we help you avoid when placing or renewing cover.
- Underinsured sums — buildings, plant and stock values not updated; inflation and lead times make this worse.
- BI too short — indemnity periods set at 12 months when replacement/commissioning can exceed that.
- “Own work” exclusions — the cost to remake/rework your own defective product is often excluded under liability policies.
- Recall not included — recall/withdrawal costs are not automatically included in many products liability wordings.
- Contractual liability — accepting liabilities beyond common law can restrict cover or create uninsured gaps.
- Hot works / heat processes conditions — warranties and conditions precedent must be followed, or claims can become difficult.
- Flood endorsements — high excesses or restricted cover in flood-exposed locations.
- Territory/jurisdiction — exports (especially USA/Canada) change pricing, limits and insurer appetite.
How to Get Aluminium Manufacturing Insurance (and Better Terms)
The fastest way to stronger terms is a clear, “underwriter-ready” presentation: processes, controls, claims history and accurate sums insured. We’ll help structure the programme and position your risk to the right markets.
- 1. Confirm operations — extrusion/casting/machining/fabrication/finishing, hot works, shifts and throughput.
- 2. Document controls — fire protection, housekeeping, extraction maintenance, hot works PTW, moisture controls (where relevant).
- 3. Verify sums insured — buildings, plant, stock and BI gross profit with realistic indemnity periods.
- 4. Map liability exposures — end-use, safety criticality, contracts, territories and any design/spec responsibility.
- 5. Place and evidence — bind cover and provide documentation for landlords, customers and tenders.
“We assumed the policy covered ‘anything that went wrong’. Insure24 explained the gaps, fixed our BI settings, and helped us present our controls so insurers offered better terms.”
Managing Director, Aluminium Fabrication BusinessPROTECT YOUR BUSINESS
- Manufacturing-focused broking for aluminium risks (property, BI, liability and engineering)
- Support aligning indemnity periods, sums insured and wording to real recovery times
- Help presenting risk controls to underwriters to improve appetite and pricing
- Guidance on contracts, territories and safety-critical supply chain exposures
- Fast, knowledgeable support for quotes, renewals and mid-term changes
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What is included in aluminium manufacturing insurance?
Most aluminium manufacturers buy a programme combining property (buildings/contents/stock), business interruption, employers’ liability, public & products liability and often engineering breakdown. Optional covers can include goods-in-transit, cyber, environmental liability and recall/withdrawal (policy dependent).
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Do aluminium manufacturers need business interruption insurance?
Often, yes. Manufacturing losses frequently become BI losses because production stops during repair, replacement and recommissioning of critical plant. BI settings (gross profit, increased cost of working and indemnity period) are key to a successful outcome.
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Does products liability cover defects in our aluminium components?
Products liability typically responds where your product causes third-party injury or property damage after it leaves your control, and you are held legally liable. It usually does not cover the cost to rework or replace your own faulty product (“own work”), which is why wording and any recall/withdrawal cover matter.
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What do insurers want to know to quote aluminium manufacturing risks?
Expect questions on processes (including any hot works/heat treatment), fire protection and housekeeping, extraction maintenance, security, flood exposure, claims history, sums insured, and liability exposures (end-use, safety criticality, territories and contract terms).
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How do we reduce aluminium manufacturing insurance premiums?
Strong outcomes usually come from clear risk information and controls: documented hot works permits, extraction cleaning regimes, good housekeeping, robust security, evidence of maintenance/inspection, accurate sums insured and realistic BI indemnity periods. Presenting this well often improves insurer appetite and pricing.
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Can Insure24 cover aluminium manufacturers supplying OEMs or exporting?
Yes. OEM supply chains and exports are insurable, but territories, jurisdictions, limits and contract terms affect insurer appetite and pricing. We’ll structure the programme around your sales split, end-use severity and documentation (QA/traceability/testing).