If you own plant and equipment—excavators, mini diggers, telehandlers, rollers, generators, compressors, survey kit, welding sets, or specialist engineering machinery—your business is carrying a lot of value on wheels, tracks, and pallets.
A single theft from a site compound or a major accidental damage incident can wipe out months of profit, delay projects, and damage client relationships.
That’s where Construction Equipment Insurance, often called Owned Plant Insurance or Contractors’ Plant Insurance, comes in. It’s designed to cover the physical assets you own and rely on every day—whether they’re on site, in transit, in storage, or hired out (where agreed).
This guide breaks down what owned plant insurance is, what it typically covers, how it fits into wider construction engineering insurance, and how to buy the right policy without overpaying.
Owned plant insurance covers construction and engineering equipment that your business owns (as opposed to hired-in plant). It usually provides protection for:
Theft (including from a locked compound, vehicle, or secure storage)
Accidental damage (impact, overturning, collision, fire, flood)
Vandalism and malicious damage
Damage in transit (moving between sites)
Damage while on hire (if you hire your equipment out to others and the policy includes this)
Depending on the insurer and wording, it can also include optional extensions such as:
Hired-in plant cover (equipment you rent)
Continuing hire charges (you still pay hire costs while hired plant is out of action)
Tools cover (hand tools, power tools, small plant)
Breakdown cover (mechanical/electrical failure—often separate)
In the UK market, owned plant cover may be arranged as:
A standalone contractors’ plant policy
A section within a Contractors All Risks (CAR) policy
Part of a broader Construction Combined or Engineering Combined policy
A common (and expensive) mistake is assuming “plant insurance” automatically covers everything on site.
In reality:
Owned plant = equipment you own and list/declare.
Hired-in plant = equipment you rent from a hire company.
Hire companies often require you to insure hired-in plant under your own policy, and they may specify minimum cover levels and excesses.
If you regularly hire in equipment, ask for:
A hired-in plant extension
Continuing hire charges
Clear wording on responsibility when equipment is unattended
Owned plant insurance can cover a wide range of construction and engineering assets, including:
Excavators, mini diggers, backhoes
Dumpers, rollers, compactors
Telehandlers, forklifts, MEWPs/cherry pickers
Skid steers, loaders
Generators, compressors, lighting towers
Pumps and dewatering equipment
Site cabins, welfare units, storage containers (sometimes separate)
Surveying equipment (total stations, GPS kit)
Welding and cutting equipment
Specialist engineering plant (drilling rigs, piling equipment, concrete pumps)
Small plant and tools (disc cutters, breakers, drills, nail guns)
Some items may need to be insured under different sections (for example, road-registered vehicles under motor insurance). Always clarify where the line is.
Policy wordings vary, but most owned plant cover is built around “all risks” style protection (subject to exclusions). Here’s what that usually means in practice.
Plant theft is a major issue across the UK, especially for:
Mini excavators
Dumpers
Telehandlers
Trailers carrying tools
A good policy should cover theft and attempted theft, but insurers often require minimum security standards, such as:
Immobilisers and tracking for higher-value plant
Locked compounds and perimeter fencing
Secure storage for tools
Key control procedures
If security conditions aren’t met, claims can be reduced or declined—so it’s worth aligning your site procedures with the policy.
Accidental damage can include:
Overturning a machine
Collision with structures
Dropping equipment during lifting
Fire, explosion
Flood and storm damage
This is often where owned plant insurance delivers the most value, because repair costs can be significant and downtime can be brutal.
If your equipment moves between sites, you’ll want cover for:
Loading/unloading incidents
Damage while on a trailer
Road traffic collisions affecting the equipment (even if the towing vehicle is insured elsewhere)
Transit cover may have conditions around:
Suitable restraints and tie-downs
Driver competence
Unattended vehicles
Construction sites can be targets for vandalism, including:
Damaged cabs and windows
Cut hydraulic hoses
Graffiti and arson
Owned plant insurance can cover this, but again, security and unattended clauses matter.
The “gotchas” in plant insurance are usually in the exclusions and conditions. Common ones include:
Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, corrosion
Mechanical or electrical breakdown (unless you buy breakdown cover)
Faulty workmanship or defective parts (sometimes excluded, sometimes limited)
Theft from an unattended vehicle unless specific security is used
Unexplained disappearance (items “missing” with no evidence of theft)
Tools left unsecured
Use outside the declared territory (e.g., outside the UK)
Overloading or misuse
If you’re a construction engineering business using specialist machinery, pay extra attention to exclusions related to:
Testing and commissioning
High-risk operations (lifting, demolition, piling)
Underground works
Work near water
Owned plant insurance usually relies on you setting correct values. Two common approaches:
You list each piece of plant with:
Make/model
Serial number (often)
Year
Value
This is best for higher-value equipment and helps reduce disputes at claim time.
You insure a total value for “all owned plant.” This can be simpler, but it increases the risk of:
Underinsurance if you buy new equipment mid-term
Disagreement over whether a specific item was included
Tip: If you’re growing, ask for an automatic acquisition clause (or a simple process to add new plant quickly).
Some policies settle claims on an indemnity basis (market value at time of loss), while others may offer new-for-old for newer equipment.
For owned plant, the settlement basis can make a big difference. A three-year-old excavator might cost a lot to replace like-for-like, even if its book value is lower.
Plant policies often carry higher excesses for:
Theft (especially overnight)
High-value items
Tools
Certain postcodes or regions
Make sure the excess is realistic for your cashflow. A policy that looks cheap can become painful if the theft excess is £2,500+ per item.
Depending on your operation, these extensions can be high-impact.
If you hire-in equipment, continuing hire charges can protect you when:
The hired plant is damaged
You’re still paying the hire company while it’s being repaired
Tools are frequently stolen and often underinsured. Consider:
Cover for tools in vehicles
Cover for tools in locked containers
Higher limits for specialist kits (survey gear, calibration tools)
Mechanical breakdown isn’t always included under “all risks.” If you rely on specialist engineering plant, breakdown cover can help with:
Sudden mechanical/electrical failure
Damage caused by breakdown
Some insurers also value evidence of:
Planned maintenance
LOLER/PUWER compliance
Inspection records
Owned plant insurance is usually one part of a broader insurance programme. Construction and engineering firms often need a combination of:
Public liability (injury/property damage to third parties)
Employers’ liability (legal requirement if you employ staff)
Contractors All Risks (CAR) (works in progress, materials, sometimes plant)
Professional indemnity (design, advice, specifications)
Contract works (the build itself)
Commercial vehicle / fleet (road risks)
Engineering inspection (statutory inspections for lifting equipment/pressure systems)
Cyber insurance (increasingly relevant for construction and engineering)
The right structure depends on whether you’re:
A principal contractor
A subcontractor
A design & build contractor
A consulting engineer
A specialist engineering contractor (piling, demolition, M&E, civil engineering)
Insurers price plant risk heavily on theft exposure and claims history. Practical steps that often help:
Fit trackers to high-value plant and register them
Use immobilisers and remove keys when unattended
Store plant in a locked compound with lighting and CCTV
Use ground anchors and heavy-duty chains for smaller plant
Mark equipment with forensic asset marking
Keep an up-to-date asset register with photos and serial numbers
Control key access and log key movements
Avoid leaving tools in vehicles overnight; use secure storage
Even if these steps don’t always reduce premium immediately, they can reduce the chance of a claim—and that protects your renewal pricing long-term.
If you need to claim, insurers commonly request:
Proof of ownership (invoice/finance agreement)
Photos of the equipment and damage
Maintenance records (especially for breakdown-related losses)
Crime reference number (for theft)
Evidence of forced entry or security measures
Hire agreements (if hired out or hired in)
Having a simple internal process for incident reporting can speed up settlement.
Before you buy or renew, pressure-test the cover with these questions:
Does the policy cover theft from site, theft from vehicles, and theft from locked compounds?
Are there security conditions (trackers, immobilisers, key control) and can you meet them?
Is cover UK-only or does it include Ireland/Europe if needed?
Is settlement market value or new-for-old (and for how long)?
Are you covered for transit, loading/unloading, and on-hire use?
Do you need hired-in plant and continuing hire charges?
Are tools included, and are the limits high enough?
Are there any exclusions for the specific work you do (piling, demolition, rail, marine, underground)?
If the excavator is stolen from a site, the claim outcome often depends on:
Whether the site was secured as required
Whether keys were removed and controlled
Whether a tracker was fitted (if required)
A compliant site setup usually leads to a straightforward theft claim (less the theft excess).
Accidental damage cover can pay for repairs or total loss settlement. Insurers may ask about:
Operator competence/training
Ground conditions and method statement
Maintenance history
Many policies restrict theft from unattended vehicles unless:
The vehicle is locked
Tools are hidden from view
There’s evidence of forced entry
The theft occurs within certain hours
If tool theft is a frequent risk, it can be better to insure tools under a dedicated tools section with clear vehicle theft cover.
Construction and engineering businesses live and die by productivity. When owned plant goes missing or breaks, jobs stall, penalties can kick in, and reputations take a hit.
A well-structured construction equipment insurance (owned plant) policy helps you:
Replace or repair essential machinery
Keep projects moving
Protect cashflow against sudden losses
Meet contractual and hire company requirements
If you want, tell me:
Your typical plant list (or total value)
Whether you hire-in plant regularly
Where equipment is stored overnight (yard vs site)
…and I’ll tailor the blog to your exact audience and add a stronger CTA section for Insure24 (phone + online quote).
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