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INSURANCE FOR SAFETY-CRITICAL PCB RISK
Why High-Reliability PCBs Need Specialist Insurance
High-reliability PCBs sit inside systems where failure consequences are severe: braking and steering systems, battery management, power electronics, avionics, flight controls, rail signalling, critical industrial automation and defence applications. The risk is not only “product failure” — it’s the downstream impact: third-party property damage, safety implications, expensive investigations, containment and requalification, and major contractual disputes within tightly controlled supply chains.
These sectors also bring strict compliance expectations: robust quality systems, auditable traceability, controlled change management, approved supplier chains, and documented testing evidence. When an incident occurs, your response is judged on evidence. Insurance works best when it is structured around that reality: correct territories and limits, clear product descriptions, appropriate exclusions, and realistic expectations about what is and isn’t insurable.
Insure24 helps high-reliability PCB manufacturers present risk properly to underwriters and obtain terms that support OEM onboarding and contract requirements. Call 0330 127 2333 or request a quote online.
Who This Cover is Designed For
High-reliability PCB manufacturing includes a wide range of businesses — from specialist prototype houses with extreme quality controls to volume producers supplying Tier 1 and Tier 2. The insurance approach should reflect your role, your customers and your operational model. We commonly help:
- Aerospace and defence PCB fabricators supplying controlled, audited supply chains
- Automotive PCB manufacturers serving Tier 1/Tier 2 suppliers and EV platforms
- High-reliability industrial PCB manufacturers for power, rail, robotics and automation
- Controlled impedance and high-speed signal PCB specialists
- Heavy copper and high current boards used in power systems
- PCB fabrication + assembly where liability follows from board to finished unit
If your products enter safety-critical systems, your liability profile can be materially higher — even if your turnover is modest. A single failure can trigger a large investigation, wide containment actions, and reputational harm. In these scenarios, underwriters care less about buzzwords and more about evidence: process controls, traceability, testing, and how you manage change.
This page explains the insurance covers that typically matter for aerospace and automotive PCB supply chains, and the specific issues that can cause problems if not addressed at quote stage.
Core Insurance Covers for High-Reliability PCB Manufacturers
Most high-reliability PCB manufacturers purchase a combined manufacturing insurance programme, then add specialist covers to address contract and supply chain realities. Below is the core package and how it maps to typical aerospace/automotive exposures.
Employers’ Liability (EL)
Employers’ Liability protects against liability for employee injury or illness arising from their work (subject to policy terms) and is usually compulsory in the UK if you have employees. High-reliability PCB facilities can involve wet processes, chemicals, manual handling, rotating machinery, lifting aids, compressed air, and controlled environments.
Strong HSE controls, COSHH documentation, and training records support underwriting and reduce incident frequency. Insurers often rate EL on wage roll and process hazards.
Typical rating inputs: wage roll, manual vs clerical split, processes, claims history.
Public Liability (PL)
Public Liability covers claims for third-party injury or property damage arising from business activities (subject to policy terms). This includes visitor incidents, contractors, deliveries and collections, and (where applicable) off-site technical support.
For high-reliability businesses, PL is often “baseline” but still important for site access, landlord requirements and customer onboarding.
Common limits: £2m / £5m / £10m depending on contracts and sites.
Products Liability (High-Reliability Focus)
Products Liability covers liability for injury or property damage caused by products you manufacture or supply (subject to policy terms). In aerospace and automotive supply chains, the downstream consequences of failure can be substantial: damage to equipment, safety implications, and expensive investigations.
Key underwriting drivers include product end use, territories (including whether products reach the USA/Canada), required limits, and the quality evidence you can provide. Underwriters may ask about standards, customer approval processes, traceability, controlled change, and how you manage non-conformances and CAPA.
It’s critical to align the policy territory with where the end product is sold or operated. Indirect exports via OEMs can still create worldwide exposure.
Property, Stock & Business Interruption (BI)
Property insurance protects buildings (if owned), contents, plant and equipment, and stock/WIP against insured perils such as fire, flood and theft (subject to policy terms). High-reliability operations often have specialised equipment and strict environmental controls; downtime can be especially costly.
BI is often the most financially important section: it protects gross profit while you recover after insured property damage. High-reliability recovery can take longer because it may include revalidation, requalification, and customer approval processes — not just physical repair.
Key decision: choose a realistic indemnity period and ensure sums insured reflect peak stock and critical equipment dependency.
Supply Chain, Contracts and the “Uninsurable” Bits
Aerospace and automotive supply chains run on contracts: delivery schedules, approval processes, warranty regimes, and strict change control. When something goes wrong, the commercial consequences can be larger than the physical damage. Understanding what insurance can and cannot cover is essential so you can manage risk with both insurance and contract strategy.
The biggest traps are: accepting unlimited liability, agreeing to penalty regimes (liquidated damages/line stoppage penalties), and assuming products liability will cover recall, rework and replacement costs. Standard liability insurance is primarily designed for injury/property damage claims — not all contractual losses.
Territories & Indirect Exports
High-reliability PCBs often travel globally through OEMs. You may invoice a UK customer, but the end equipment may operate worldwide. If your policy territory doesn’t reflect this, you can end up with a dangerous mismatch at claim stage.
- Confirm where end products are sold/used (not only your customer address)
- Identify any US/Canada exposure early
- Align policy territory and wording to reality
Contractual Penalties and Warranty Risk
Many penalties are commercially difficult to insure. Even if a policy responds to certain liabilities, it won’t automatically pay “whatever the contract says”. Where possible, negotiate caps, clarify scope of indemnities, and avoid open-ended “all losses” clauses. Insurance should sit alongside sensible contract terms.
Insure24 can help you identify which contract clauses are likely to create insurance friction, and how to present the exposure to underwriters.
What About Recall, Containment and Requalification Costs?
High-reliability incidents often drive costs in containment: quarantining stock, urgent testing, expediting replacements, field investigations, and requalification. These costs may not be covered by standard products liability unless there is third-party injury or property damage, subject to policy terms.
Depending on your products and territories, specialist recall/remediation solutions may be available. Where you provide design/specification input, Professional Indemnity can be relevant for financial loss allegations. The best outcome comes from clarity: define your responsibilities, align contracts, and structure insurance accordingly.
Quality Systems, Traceability and Evidence: The Underwriting Multiplier
In high-reliability manufacturing, “insurance pricing” is often a proxy for underwriting confidence. Underwriters want to know whether an issue will be detected early, contained narrowly, and defended with evidence. Strong controls can improve premium, broaden insurer appetite, and support higher limits and wider territories.
The goal isn’t to overwhelm insurers with paperwork — it’s to show the key controls that reduce failure probability and claim severity. Below are the evidence themes that commonly matter in aerospace and automotive PCB underwriting.
Traceability & Record Retention
- Lot/batch control for laminates, prepregs, chemicals and critical materials
- Serialisation (where feasible) for high-reliability boards or critical builds
- Controlled rework logs and non-conformance history
- Record retention aligned to customer and sector expectations
- Clear link between process data, test results and shipped lots
Traceability reduces recall scope. In high-reliability contexts, targeted containment can be the difference between a manageable event and a business-threatening one.
Testing, Calibration & Change Control
- Documented test methods (electrical test, impedance verification, microsectioning where used)
- Calibration logs for inspection and test equipment
- Change management: materials, suppliers, process parameters, CAM revisions
- CAPA workflow: containment, root cause, corrective and preventive actions
- Supplier approval and counterfeit mitigation where relevant
A strong change control story is especially important in aerospace and automotive supply chains, where unauthorised changes can trigger immediate rejection and investigation.
Specialist Add-Ons Common in Aerospace & Automotive PCB Programmes
High-reliability manufacturers often benefit from additional covers that address modern exposures: cyber dependency, transit risk, customer property, and sudden breakdown of critical equipment. These can be structured as separate policies or extensions depending on insurer appetite.
Machinery Breakdown and Downtime Exposure
Specialist plant can be a single point of failure. Machinery breakdown cover can assist with repair costs for sudden breakdown events (subject to policy terms), and can sometimes be paired with BI considerations. Underwriters will look at maintenance, age/condition and criticality.
If you cannot quickly replace or outsource a critical process step, downtime risk should be addressed in your programme.
Cyber & Data Liability
Aerospace and automotive supply chains often require secure handling of technical data (drawings, CAM files, specs, test records). A cyber event can stop production and create contractual fallout. Cyber insurance can provide incident response and certain cover for cyber BI and liability (subject to terms).
Underwriters commonly require baseline controls: MFA, backups with tested restores, patching discipline and controlled remote access.
Customer-Owned Goods / Goods in Trust
High-reliability programmes often involve customer-owned materials, tooling, jigs or consignment stock. If you are responsible under contract, you must disclose it. Solutions may be available under goods-in-trust/custody style arrangements, subject to wording and insurer acceptance.
Goods in Transit and Global Logistics
Urgent shipments, prototypes and high-value boards increase transit exposure. Transit cover can be arranged for inbound and outbound shipments (subject to terms), and should reflect max consignment values, territories and packaging controls.
If your supply chain involves frequent international shipping, transit should be treated as a core element of risk management rather than an afterthought.
Recall / Remediation (Where Available)
Where suitable and available, recall/remediation solutions may help with certain costs of withdrawing, repairing or replacing affected products subject to specific triggers and terms. High-reliability underwriting will closely examine traceability, testing evidence, change control and supplier management. The strongest programmes are built on practical evidence.
“Our customers demanded high limits, worldwide territory and strong evidence. Insure24 helped us structure cover that matched our quality system and contracts — and made renewal far less painful.”
Managing Director, High-Reliability PCB ManufacturerWhy Choose Insure24 for High-Reliability PCB Insurance?
High-reliability PCB insurance is about detail: product description, end use, territories, limits, and evidence. Insure24 helps you present the risk clearly, align cover to OEM requirements, and negotiate competitive terms from insurers who understand manufacturing.
- Manufacturing-focused broking for PCB fabrication and electronics supply chains
- Support aligning limits and territories to customer onboarding
- Help evidencing quality controls and traceability in submissions
- Guidance on recall/remediation expectations and boundaries
- Clear documentation for OEM and Tier 1 procurement teams
Get a Quote for Aerospace & Automotive PCB Insurance
The quickest route to strong terms is a clear underwriting pack. If available, share your process overview, sectors served, turnover split by territory, liability limits required by customers, plant and stock values, quality controls and claims history. Don’t worry if you don’t have everything — we can guide you.
- 1. Turnover split (UK/EU/Worldwide; any US/Canada exposure)
- 2. Sector split (aerospace/defence/automotive/industrial) and top end uses
- 3. Required limits and key contract clauses
- 4. Plant and stock/WIP values (including peak)
- 5. Quality controls: testing, calibration, traceability, change control, CAPA
- 6. Cyber controls: MFA, backups, patching, remote access
- 7. Claims history and any near-miss incidents
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What makes high-reliability PCB insurance different from standard PCB cover?
High-reliability supply chains can involve higher claim severity, stricter customer contracts, higher liability limits and wider territories.
Underwriters focus heavily on quality evidence, traceability, change control and end use. The policy must be structured to match real distribution and contract requirements.
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Do we need worldwide products liability if we only sell to UK customers?
Possibly. If your boards are integrated into equipment exported by OEMs, your liability exposure can follow the end product.
Territory should reflect where the finished equipment is sold or operated, not just where your invoice address is. US/Canada exposure should be identified early.
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Does products liability cover recall, containment and requalification costs?
Standard products liability is primarily designed for bodily injury or property damage claims caused by your product, subject to policy terms.
Containment, replacement, expediting and requalification costs may require specialist recall/remediation solutions where available, and strong traceability and quality evidence.
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We hold customer-owned materials and tooling — can we insure it?
Sometimes. If you are responsible under contract for customer-owned materials, tooling or consignment stock, disclose it at quote stage.
Solutions may be available under goods-in-trust/custody arrangements, subject to wording and insurer acceptance, and will usually require clear declared values.
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What quality evidence do underwriters typically want to see?
Common evidence includes traceability and record retention, documented testing methods, calibration logs, controlled change management,
non-conformance and CAPA records, supplier approval controls and a clear view of end use and territories. The depth depends on your sector and required limits.
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How quickly can Insure24 obtain quotes for high-reliability PCB risks?
With clear information (turnover split, end uses, territories, required limits, plant/stock values and quality controls), indicative terms can often be obtained quickly.
More complex risks (high limits, worldwide territories, recall/remediation discussions, environmental exposure) may take 1–2 business days for specialist underwriting.