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INSURANCE FOR AUTOMATED PRODUCTION LINES, PROCESS PLANT & HIGH-SEVERITY DOWNTIME EXPOSURES
Why Production Line Equipment Risk Is Different
Production line and process equipment sits at the heart of output. When a critical conveyor, filler, packaging cell, palletiser, robotics station, extruder, mixer, kiln, or control system fails, the financial impact is often driven by downtime and knock-on losses — not the component cost itself.
Insurers assess these risks through the lens of: single-point-of-failure exposure, maintenance discipline, spares strategy, commissioning/testing controls, and the contractual obligations you accept with customers, OEMs and integrators.
This page explains the covers that respond, the common loss scenarios insurers price for, and how Insure24 helps you present production-line risks in an underwriting-ready way.
What Insurance Covers Process & Production Line Equipment Risks?
Production line risks are typically insured through a combination of property, engineering and liability covers. The right structure depends on whether you are a manufacturer, an installer/integrator, a maintainer, or an end-user operating production lines — and on the nature of the equipment (automation, robotics, pressure systems, heat processes, hazardous areas).
We help you build a programme that matches how underwriters actually assess production-line exposure: values, criticality, controls, and “worst-case downtime” outcomes.
- Property (Buildings & Contents) — premises and contents, including plant, tooling and fixtures for insured perils.
- Machinery Breakdown / Engineering — sudden and accidental breakdown of insured equipment (e.g., motors, gearboxes, pumps, compressors, control panels), where selected.
- Business Interruption — loss of gross profit and increased costs of working following insured damage or breakdown (wording dependent).
- Public Liability — third-party injury/damage arising from operations, site work and installation activity (policy dependent).
- Products Liability — third-party injury/property damage caused by equipment after supply (policy dependent; territory/limits matter).
- Professional Indemnity — design/specification/control system advice exposures (common for integrators; often claims-made).
- Employers’ Liability — required in most UK cases where you employ staff.
- Goods in Transit / Cargo — movement of high-value equipment, spares and modules to customer sites (policy dependent).
Common Process & Production Line Loss Scenarios
Underwriters want to see you understand how failures happen: mechanical breakdown, control system issues, commissioning defects, and fire or escape of fluids. Typical scenarios include:
- Single-point-of-failure breakdown — critical motor/gearbox/pump failure stops the whole line and drives major downtime.
- PLC / control panel fault — arcing or control failure triggers fire damage and prolonged recommissioning.
- Hydraulic hose burst — spray causes slip risk, equipment damage and potential ignition in hot areas.
- Compressed air / pressure incident — sudden failure causes plant damage, injury exposure and regulatory intervention.
- Commissioning error — wiring, interlocks or software logic defect causes damage and a delayed handover.
- Conveyor / handling incident — jam or misalignment leads to product damage, mechanical failure and extended outage.
- Fire in packaging/consumables — ignition spreads fast through stored materials or around machinery, causing BI loss.
- Downstream product damage — equipment malfunction damages customer stock, leading to liability disputes.
Risk Controls Insurers Expect for Production Line Equipment
Production-line risks can be very insurable — but terms depend on maintenance discipline, documentation and engineered safeguards. Insurers typically focus on how quickly you can recover and how well you prevent large BI events.
Examples of “quote-ready” controls
- Planned maintenance — documented PPM schedules, lubrication regimes and inspection checklists.
- Critical spares strategy — identified spares for long-lead parts (drives, motors, PLCs, sensors) and tested availability.
- Condition monitoring — vibration/thermal monitoring where appropriate; trending and intervention records.
- Electrical controls — thermography, panel housekeeping, segregation and competent commissioning.
- Fire protection — appropriate detection/alarm response and extinguishing provision in plant areas.
- Permits to work — lock-off / LOTO, hot works permits, contractor control and post-work checks.
- QA / sign-off — commissioning test scripts, FAT/SAT records, change control and version management.
- Contracts and limits — liability caps, warranty wording and consequential loss clauses (where achievable).
Production Line Claims Are Often Business Interruption Claims First
The most expensive losses are frequently driven by outage time: replacement lead times, software/controls troubleshooting, specialist engineering availability, re-validation and customer re-approval. BI cover should be structured with realistic gross profit calculations, adequate indemnity periods and (where appropriate) considerations for breakdown BI (policy dependent).
Indemnity period guidance
Many production environments consider 12 months too short if specialist plant, bespoke controls or validation is required. 18–24 months is often considered where recovery could be extended by lead times and re-commissioning complexity.
How to Get Process & Production Line Equipment Insurance
- 1. Define the equipment — what you manufacture/install/operate, values, and which assets are critical.
- 2. Map the risk — breakdown points, hazardous areas, pressure/heat processes, and single-point-of-failure exposures.
- 3. Evidence controls — PPM, spares, LOTO/PTW, commissioning records and fire protection.
- 4. Set sums insured — plant values, stock/WIP, and realistic BI gross profit with adequate indemnity period.
- 5. Place and document — align wordings/limits and provide evidence packs for customers and insurers.
“Our insurer wanted clarity on critical spares, commissioning procedures and single-point-of-failure exposure. Insure24 helped us present the line risks properly and secure terms that matched our downtime profile.”
Operations Director, Automated Manufacturing SitePROTECT YOUR BUSINESS
- Insurance structured for process plant and automated production lines
- Support aligning property, engineering breakdown and BI to real downtime scenarios
- Help evidencing maintenance, spares strategy and commissioning controls to underwriters
- Guidance on liability, design responsibility and contract exposures (OEM/project supply)
- Fast, specialist broking for complex manufacturing and industrial risks
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What insurance does a production line equipment business need?
Most businesses need property and business interruption (for their own premises), public and products liability, and employers’ liability. If you design, specify or integrate control systems, professional indemnity is often important. Engineering breakdown may be suitable depending on the assets and policy structure.
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Does machinery breakdown cover PLC and controls failures?
It can, depending on what is insured and the definition of breakdown. Some wordings include electrical/control equipment, while others focus on mechanical plant. Insure24 helps align the schedule and wording to your critical equipment.
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How do insurers assess “single-point-of-failure” exposure?
Underwriters look for critical asset identification, spares availability, maintenance evidence and contingency plans. If one asset can stop the whole line, insurers want to understand how quickly you can repair/replace it and what backup options exist.
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Is business interruption only triggered by fire, or can breakdown trigger it too?
Standard BI is usually linked to insured physical damage under the property section. Some arrangements can include breakdown BI extensions (or separate engineering BI) depending on the insurer and wording. Cover is always policy dependent.
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Do we need professional indemnity if we integrate production lines?
Often, yes. If you provide design, specification, programming, safety logic or commissioning advice, PI can respond to negligence allegations that cause financial loss, subject to the policy terms (commonly claims-made with notification duties).
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What information helps insurers quote production line equipment risks?
Underwriters typically want equipment details and values, process hazards (heat/pressure/flammables), maintenance regime, critical spares strategy, commissioning/test procedures, claims history, contracts/liability caps, and BI figures with a realistic indemnity period.
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How quickly can Insure24 arrange cover?
Indicative terms can often be progressed quickly once your core details are clear. Complex lines, hazardous processes, high BI values or specialist wordings may require deeper underwriting — but we’ll move it forward efficiently with the right information upfront.