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SHEET METAL FABRICATION INSURANCE THAT KEEPS PRODUCTION MOVING
Why Sheet Metal Fabrication Insurance Matters
Sheet metal fabrication is a fast-paced manufacturing environment: sharp edges, hot works, heavy materials, and high-value CNC equipment sit alongside demanding client specifications and tight delivery windows. A single breakdown, fire, injury, or quality issue can disrupt production, trigger contract penalties, and damage customer relationships.
Insure24 arranges tailored insurance programmes for UK sheet metal fabricators - from small workshops producing brackets and enclosures to industrial manufacturers supplying automotive, construction, HVAC, engineering, and plant sectors. We help you combine the covers that matter most: liabilities, property, machinery breakdown, business interruption, and transit.
Public & Products Liability for Fabricated Parts
If your fabricated components cause injury or damage, liabilities can escalate quickly - especially where parts are used in structural assemblies, guarding, plant housings, cabinets, ducting, brackets, frames, or safety-related installations. Public & products liability insurance protects you against legal defence costs and compensation you become legally liable to pay.
- Public Liability - protection if your work causes injury or property damage (including on-site work)
- Products Liability - covers claims arising from fabricated parts you supply
- Contract works / off-site fabrication extensions (where applicable)
- Defective workmanship consequences - third-party damage/injury arising from an error
- Legal defence costs - solicitors, experts, and court costs covered within the policy
Employers’ Liability Insurance (Legal Requirement)
If you employ staff - including apprentices, shop floor operatives, welders, CNC programmers, drivers, or admin - employers’ liability insurance is required by UK law. Fabrication environments carry inherent risks: sharp materials, manual handling, hot works, fumes, noise, and machine guarding exposures.
- Covers employee injury or illness arising from work activities
- Includes legal defence costs and compensation awards
- Supports claims related to manual handling, repetitive strain, and workshop accidents
- Can include labour-only / temporary worker arrangements (subject to disclosure)
- Helps meet contractual requirements with principal contractors and OEMs
Workshop, Factory, Stock & Tools Insurance
Your premises, stock, and equipment are the backbone of your operation. Property insurance can cover the building (if owned), tenant’s improvements, contents, raw materials (sheet/coil/plate), consumables, and finished goods - against risks like fire, flood, theft, storm, and malicious damage.
- Buildings cover (if you own the premises) and/or tenant’s improvements
- Contents cover for tools, welding sets, benches, compressors and workshop equipment
- Stock cover for raw materials and finished fabricated parts
- Theft protection (subject to security and policy conditions)
- Fire risk support - welding/hot works declarations handled properly
CNC & Machinery Breakdown (Engineering Insurance)
Sheet metal fabrication often relies on high-value machinery such as CNC punch presses, press brakes, lasers, plasma cutters, guillotines, folders, robotic welding cells, extraction systems, and air compressors. When critical equipment fails, production can stop instantly - and the knock-on cost can exceed the repair bill.
- Machinery breakdown cover for sudden electrical/mechanical failure
- Options for repair costs, replacement parts, and specialist engineer callouts
- Coverage for control panels, drives, hydraulics, motors, and critical components
- Engineering inspection options for higher-risk equipment (where required)
- Helps protect your cashflow and delivery commitments
Business Interruption & Contract Delay Protection
If an insured event forces you to stop production, business interruption cover can replace lost gross profit and contribute to ongoing expenses such as wages, rent, rates, and finance agreements. This is particularly important where customers expect just-in-time deliveries or where you risk penalties for late supply.
- Lost gross profit cover following insured damage (e.g., fire, flood, theft)
- Helps maintain payroll and overheads during recovery
- Options for increased cost of working (outsourcing, temporary premises)
- Indemnity periods aligned to realistic rebuild / replacement times
- Ideal for businesses with tight production schedules and long lead-time machines
Common Risks for Sheet Metal Fabricators
Fabrication businesses face a mix of physical hazards, quality exposures, and contractual risk. Your insurance should reflect your actual processes - cutting, punching, bending, welding, finishing, assembly, and delivery - and the industries you serve.
- Hot works incidents (welding, cutting, grinding) leading to fire and smoke damage
- Injury from sharp edges, swarf, manual handling, and moving machinery
- Mis-cut parts and tolerance errors causing batch rework and delays
- Machine downtime on press brakes, lasers, punch presses, compressors, extraction
- Theft of tools, copper, materials, and portable equipment
- Damage in transit to fabricated assemblies and awkward loads
- Customer rejections, disputes, and contractual penalty pressure
- Supplier disruption and material price volatility impacting deliveries
How to Get Sheet Metal Fabrication Insurance
Insurers price fabrication risk based on your turnover, processes (especially welding/hot works), machine values, premises details, security, claims history, and the types of contracts you undertake. Insure24 makes this straightforward - we ask the right questions and present your risk properly.
- 1. Tell us what you fabricate - processes, materials, and industries served
- 2. Share your key values - machinery, stock, tools, and turnover
- 3. Choose limits - liabilities, BI indemnity period, and optional extensions
- 4. Review your quote - we explain cover, exclusions, and improvements
- 5. Activate cover - documents issued quickly, with ongoing support
Why Choose Insure24
Fabrication businesses don’t need generic “business insurance” - they need cover built around high-value kit, hot works exposure, quality control, and supply chain pressure. We arrange policies for manufacturing risks every day and help you avoid common coverage gaps.
- Specialist manufacturing brokers - we understand fabrication risks
- Insurer access - compare options across multiple underwriters
- Policy structure - combine covers properly to avoid gaps
- Claims support - help with evidence, adjusters and settlement
- Risk improvement - practical steps that can reduce premiums
After a press brake fault and follow-on downtime, Insure24 helped us structure cover properly - the claim support was excellent and we protected our cashflow.
UK Sheet Metal Fabrication ManagerPROTECT YOURSELF
- Repair and replacement costs for workshop equipment and insured machinery
- Claims and legal defence costs if fabricated parts cause injury or damage
- Loss of gross profit if production stops after an insured event
- Damage to stock, raw materials, tools, and finished goods
- Costs to keep operating - outsourcing, temporary kit, and increased cost of working
Compliance & Contract Requirements
Sheet metal fabricators are often asked to evidence insurance as part of supplier onboarding, framework agreements, and principal contractor requirements. We arrange policies to help you meet common contractual expectations and reduce friction during tendering.
- Employers’ Liability - required by UK law for businesses with employees
- Public & Products Liability - often mandatory for supply contracts
- Higher liability limits where OEMs / principal contractors require them
- Risk controls for hot works - procedures, extraction and housekeeping
- Quality processes - reducing disputes over tolerances and rework
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What is sheet metal fabrication insurance?
Sheet metal fabrication insurance is specialist business insurance for companies that cut, punch, bend, fold, weld, and form metal components.
It typically combines employers’ liability, public & products liability, workshop/property cover, machinery breakdown, business interruption, and transit -
tailored to the way fabricators actually operate in the UK.
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Is employers’ liability required for a fabrication workshop?
Yes. If you employ staff in the UK, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement.
It protects your business if an employee is injured or becomes ill due to their work (for example, accidents involving machinery,
manual handling, sharp edges, welding fumes, or slips and trips in the workshop).
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Does products liability cover defective fabricated parts?
Products liability can cover claims where a defective component you supplied causes injury or property damage.
However, the cost of remaking a part (pure “making good”) may not be covered unless it results in third-party damage/injury or you have specific extensions.
If you design, advise, or work to critical tolerances/specifications, professional indemnity may also be appropriate.
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Are CNC machines, lasers and press brakes covered?
Your machinery can be covered for insured perils such as fire, flood, theft and malicious damage under property/equipment cover.
For sudden mechanical or electrical failure (for example drives, motors, hydraulics or control systems), you typically need machinery breakdown (engineering) insurance.
This is especially important where downtime can trigger missed deliveries or contract penalties.
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Do I need business interruption insurance?
If an insured incident stops production, business interruption insurance can replace lost gross profit and contribute to ongoing costs such as wages,
rent and finance agreements during the recovery period. Fabricators with tight lead times and high machine dependency often find BI cover essential.
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Can I cover stock, raw materials and finished goods?
Yes. Stock cover can include raw materials (sheet/coil/plate), consumables, and finished fabricated parts stored on site.
If you deliver components to customers or move goods between sites, goods in transit cover can protect against loss or damage while being transported.
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What is not typically covered?
Cover varies by insurer, but common exclusions can include wear and tear, gradual deterioration, poor maintenance,
known defects or pre-existing damage, and pure “making good” of faulty workmanship where no third-party damage/injury occurs.
Hot works claims can also be affected if declared procedures and safety conditions are not followed.
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How much does sheet metal fabrication insurance cost?
Premiums depend on turnover, number of employees, hot works exposure, the value of machinery/stock, security, and claims history.
Small workshops may pay from a few hundred pounds per year for core liabilities, while higher-turnover manufacturers with significant machinery values
and business interruption requirements will pay more. We’ll help you structure cover correctly and reduce avoidable costs.