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WHEN A SINGLE MACHINE STOPS, THE WHOLE PCB LINE FEELS IT
Why Machinery Breakdown Cover Matters in PCB Manufacturing
PCB manufacturing is equipment-intensive. From drilling and routing, imaging and exposure, plating and etching lines, dryers and ovens, lamination presses, AOI and electrical test — most operations rely on a handful of “single points of failure”. When one of those machines fails, the problem is rarely just the repair invoice. It’s the knock-on effect: late deliveries, line re-sequencing, rushed outsourcing, requalification, expediting costs, and the stress on customer relationships.
Standard property insurance is usually designed for insured perils like fire, flood and theft. A sudden internal breakdown (a motor burn-out, pump failure, compressor seizure, inverter failure, control board failure, bearing collapse) may not be covered under a basic property policy unless you specifically arrange machinery breakdown / engineering cover (subject to the specific policy wording).
Insure24 helps PCB manufacturers arrange machinery and equipment breakdown insurance as part of a combined programme (or as a standalone section where appropriate), designed to reflect the realities of your plant, maintenance regime and downtime exposure. Call 0330 127 2333 or request a quote online.
What Is Machinery & Equipment Breakdown Insurance?
Machinery breakdown (often called “engineering insurance”) is designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing certain insured machinery following a sudden and unforeseen breakdown, typically arising from internal causes rather than external perils (cover is always subject to policy terms, conditions and exclusions). Think of it as insurance for the moment when a critical machine stops because something inside it fails — not because the building caught fire.
In PCB manufacturing, breakdown events can be expensive because the equipment is specialist and the failure is rarely isolated. A pump or valve failure can cause secondary damage. A control board failure can immobilise a whole line. A chiller issue can affect process stability. A press fault can force rework or scrap. And if the machine is older or imported, spare parts may have long lead times.
Machinery breakdown policies can be structured in different ways depending on insurer and appetite. Some programmes focus on “named” equipment values. Others structure cover around categories of plant with total sums insured. Some can be extended to include elements of deterioration of stock in certain circumstances, or “additional increased cost of working” style extensions. The exact structure matters, which is why presenting your plant properly to underwriters is a major advantage.
Common Examples of Breakdown Events
- Motor failure, bearing collapse, gearbox seizure
- Pump/valve failure on plating/etching lines causing line shutdown
- Compressor or vacuum system breakdown affecting multiple machines
- Chiller/temperature control failures leading to process instability
- Electrical inverter/drive failure, PLC/control system faults
- Press faults (hydraulic failure, control failure, mechanical damage)
- Critical inspection equipment failure (AOI, X-ray, test system) causing throughput collapse
These events can be sudden, expensive, and operationally disruptive — even when the rest of the building is fine.
What It’s Not (and Why That Matters)
Machinery breakdown is not a warranty, and it’s not intended to pay for routine wear and tear, maintenance, or gradual deterioration. It also doesn’t automatically cover every downstream cost your contract might impose (for example, liquidated damages for late delivery).
The purpose is to protect you against the shock of sudden failure — the sort of event that creates immediate repair bills and stops production unexpectedly. When structured well, it complements your property and business interruption programme by covering the “internal failure” gap.
The key is to align expectations: we’ll help you understand what’s typically insurable, what’s usually excluded, and what evidence insurers want.
PCB Equipment Bottlenecks That Drive Downtime Risk
Underwriters don’t just want a list of machines. They want to understand bottlenecks and critical dependencies. Two manufacturers can own similar kit, but the downtime impact can be completely different depending on capacity, redundancy, spares, and outsourcing options.
In PCB manufacturing, a handful of machines often control throughput. If one goes down, the business either stops or becomes inefficient: partial production piles up, delivery promises slip, and overtime costs rise.
When we arrange machinery breakdown cover, we map your critical kit and ask: which machine failures would stop shipments? Which would cause quality risk? Which could you bypass with backup equipment? This approach typically leads to better underwriting outcomes because it shows the risk is understood and managed.
Examples of Common Single Points of Failure
- Lamination press – if you cannot laminate, multi-layer output stops
- Plating line / chemical process line – essential for metallisation and copper build
- Drill / route machine – hole production and profiling constraints can be severe
- Imaging / exposure equipment – bottlenecks in pattern transfer
- AOI / test – inspection bottlenecks can halt shipments even when production continues
- Utilities – compressors, chillers, extraction and vacuum systems that support multiple machines
Even where you have multiple drills or multiple imaging units, a shared utility (air, vacuum, chilled water) can still be the true bottleneck.
Why Utilities Matter as Much as Production Machines
Many PCB businesses focus on the “headline” machines and forget the supporting infrastructure. But utility failures can stop production instantly:
- Compressor failure affecting pneumatic controls and vacuum systems
- Chiller failure affecting temperature stability and process repeatability
- Extraction system failure creating safety and compliance shutdown risk
- Power conditioning and UPS failure affecting control systems
A good machinery breakdown presentation includes these dependencies, because insurers price the *real* operational risk — not only the asset list.
What Machinery Breakdown Insurance Can Cover (and How It’s Structured)
The “headline” feature of machinery breakdown insurance is repair or replacement of insured machinery following sudden breakdown — but the practical value depends on how the cover is structured, the sums insured, and whether you align it to the realities of your plant. The following is a practical overview of common elements and how they apply in PCB manufacturing. Cover is always subject to the policy terms, conditions and exclusions, and insurers differ.
Some businesses want machinery breakdown purely for major shock losses: if the press fails, they want a repair fund. Others want a broader approach that considers how breakdown interacts with business interruption exposure. We’ll structure a solution that fits your appetite and budgets, and that underwriters can support.
Repair / Replacement of Insured Machinery
At its core, machinery breakdown cover is about the cost to fix the failed machine: parts, labour, and sometimes related costs of dismantling/reassembly (subject to policy wording). For PCB manufacturers, the biggest concern is often parts availability: specialist controllers, imported components, proprietary pumps, and custom line parts.
Underwriters will want declared values and an understanding of maintenance. If equipment is older, insurers may look more closely at condition and whether spares are available. This isn’t a “no” — it’s about underwriting confidence and pricing.
Where appropriate, we can help present maintenance contracts, inspection routines, and documented preventative maintenance schedules. That supports acceptance.
Optional Extensions That Can Add Real Value
Depending on insurer appetite and your risk profile, machinery breakdown solutions can sometimes include extensions such as:
- Additional increased cost of working – extra costs incurred to keep production moving (where applicable)
- Deterioration of stock – where stock is damaged due to certain breakdown circumstances (policy-specific)
- Expediting expenses – premium freight or urgent sourcing to reduce downtime (policy-specific)
- Electrical breakdown emphasis – to reflect control-system heavy equipment (policy-specific)
Not every insurer offers these. The right approach is to identify the exposures that would genuinely hurt your business and structure accordingly.
Machinery Breakdown vs Property & Business Interruption: How They Fit Together
Many PCB businesses assume “business interruption” will respond if a machine breaks. In reality, BI is often linked to insured property damage triggers (for example fire/flood) and may not automatically respond to pure machinery breakdown unless the programme is structured to include it (subject to the policy wording). That’s why machinery breakdown is often the missing piece.
The most resilient programmes treat these as complementary:
Property protects against external insured perils (fire/flood/theft). Business Interruption protects gross profit after those insured perils. Machinery Breakdown protects against sudden internal failure of key equipment (and may be packaged with related extensions depending on the insurer).
Insure24 helps you avoid duplication where it’s unnecessary and close gaps where they matter. The outcome should be a programme that behaves predictably under stress.
What Underwriters Ask for (and How to Get Better Terms)
Machinery breakdown underwriting is practical. Insurers want to understand: what kit you have, how old it is, how you maintain it, what it would cost to replace, and how a breakdown would impact output. If you can answer these clearly, you typically get better outcomes: broader acceptance, more competitive pricing, and fewer restrictive conditions.
Below are the most common areas underwriters focus on in PCB manufacturing — and how to frame them in a way that supports your application.
Plant Schedule and Values
Underwriters usually want a basic schedule of key machinery: description, year, replacement value, and (where relevant) location/line. The goal is not perfection — it’s enough detail to price the risk sensibly.
- List key bottleneck machines first (press, plating line, drills, AOI/test)
- Include major utilities (compressors, chillers, extraction, vacuum systems)
- Declare realistic replacement values, not “depreciated book value”
- Flag any very old or bespoke kit and explain spares/maintenance approach
If you don’t have a formal schedule, we can help you compile a practical version for underwriting.
Maintenance and Inspection
Strong maintenance reduces both frequency and severity of breakdowns. Underwriters commonly ask about:
- Preventative maintenance routines (in-house and/or contracted)
- Inspection intervals for pumps, compressors, press hydraulics
- Control system backups (PLC programs, parameter sets, vendor access)
- Critical spares held on-site (pumps, bearings, drives, sensors)
If you can show discipline and planning, insurers are more comfortable providing meaningful cover.
Redundancy and Contingency Planning
Two businesses with identical machines can have completely different downtime exposure. Insurers care about resilience:
- Do you have backup capacity (spare drill, spare AOI, spare compressor)?
- Can you outsource temporarily (and at what cost and lead time)?
- How quickly could you install a replacement machine?
- Would you need customer requalification before resuming shipments?
Even a simple contingency plan improves underwriting confidence, because it shows a breakdown won’t automatically become a catastrophic revenue loss.
Claims History and Near Misses
Insurers typically ask about prior breakdown incidents, repairs, and any patterns. The best approach is to be transparent and show learning: what failed, what you changed, and what controls you added.
If you’ve had a major incident, it doesn’t mean you can’t get cover. But it does mean your submission must show root cause, corrective action, and a plan to prevent recurrence. This is where Insure24’s underwriting presentation support makes a difference.
How to Reduce Machinery Breakdown Risk (and Improve Premium)
Insurers price what they can’t see. When you can demonstrate structured controls, your breakdown risk becomes more predictable — and underwriters often respond with better terms. These are practical steps PCB manufacturers use to reduce breakdown exposure and improve insurability.
Not every business needs every control. The goal is to focus on what protects your bottlenecks, because that’s where the claim severity comes from.
Operational Controls That Make a Real Difference
- Critical spares list for each bottleneck machine (and a minimum stock strategy)
- Service partner relationships with agreed response times for key equipment
- Condition monitoring where practical (vibration, temperature, oil analysis on certain systems)
- Utility redundancy (N+1 compressors, spare pumps, bypass options)
- Control backups (PLC programs, machine parameters, secure vendor access)
- Documented restart and validation procedures to reduce requalification delays
These measures don’t need to be complicated. Underwriters want to see that you have thought about failure points and planned for them.
Insurance Strategy Controls
Premium is also influenced by how you structure the policy:
- Set realistic equipment values (avoid underinsurance and claim disputes)
- Choose an excess that reflects your appetite and cash reserves
- Separate “minor nuisance” risk from “major shock” risk
- Align machinery breakdown with BI strategy (indemnity periods, recovery time reality)
The goal is not to buy the broadest cover by default. It’s to buy cover that responds meaningfully when your business is under stress.
“A single chiller failure nearly stopped shipments for weeks. Once we mapped our bottlenecks and added breakdown cover, our risk profile — and our conversations with customers — improved.”
Operations Director, UK PCB ManufacturerWhy Choose Insure24 for PCB Machinery Breakdown Insurance?
Machinery breakdown is one of those covers that looks simple on paper but behaves very differently depending on how it’s set up. Insure24 helps PCB manufacturers present plant risk properly, avoid common underwriting pitfalls, and build a programme that supports recovery in the real world.
- PCB-aware understanding of bottlenecks, wet processes and utilities
- Support building an insurer-ready plant schedule and valuation approach
- Alignment of breakdown cover with property/BI strategy to reduce gaps
- Guidance on risk improvements that can reduce premium and improve acceptance
- Access to a broad market of UK insurers for competitive terms
How to Get a Quote for Machinery Breakdown Cover
You don’t need perfect data to start — but the clearer the information, the faster and stronger the underwriting outcome. If you can, gather the following details. If you can’t, we’ll guide you through a practical approach.
- 1. List of key machines (bottlenecks first) with year and approximate replacement value
- 2. Major utilities (compressors, chillers, vacuum, extraction) and whether you have redundancy
- 3. Maintenance approach (in-house/contracted), service intervals and any inspection records
- 4. Critical spares held and typical lead times for major components
- 5. Claims/breakdown history (even minor incidents) and what changed afterwards
- 6. Your view of maximum tolerable downtime for each bottleneck machine
Once we have this, we approach insurers for terms aligned to your operation and your budget.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Is machinery breakdown insurance the same as property insurance?
Not usually. Property insurance is commonly designed around insured perils like fire, flood and theft. Machinery breakdown focuses on sudden internal failure
of insured plant and equipment (for example motor, pump, drive or control failures), subject to policy terms. The two covers are often complementary.
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Does machinery breakdown cover downtime and lost profit?
The core purpose is typically repair or replacement of the failed machinery (subject to wording). Some programmes can be structured to consider related
increased cost of working or BI-style extensions, but this varies by insurer and policy. We’ll help you structure cover aligned to your actual downtime exposure.
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What equipment should a PCB manufacturer include on a breakdown schedule?
Focus first on bottlenecks and shared utilities: lamination presses, plating/process lines, drills/routers, imaging, AOI/test equipment, compressors, chillers,
vacuum and extraction systems. Underwriters care about what stops shipments, not only what is expensive.
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Will breakdown cover pay for wear and tear or routine maintenance?
Typically, no. Breakdown insurance is generally intended for sudden and unforeseen failure, not gradual deterioration, routine servicing, or predictable wear and tear.
The exact position depends on the policy wording. Good maintenance records can improve underwriting confidence and terms.
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How do insurers price machinery breakdown for PCB manufacturing?
Pricing is influenced by the total values at risk, age and condition of equipment, maintenance regime, claims history, and the operational impact of failure
(bottlenecks, redundancy, spares availability). Clear schedules and evidence of preventative maintenance often help improve acceptance and pricing.
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Can you include older or bespoke imported machines?
Often yes, but underwriting may be more detailed. Insurers may ask about spares availability, service support, condition, and what would happen if the machine failed.
A clear maintenance plan and realistic replacement values are important. We’ll guide you on how to present this to insurers.
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How quickly can Insure24 obtain terms?
If you can provide a basic plant schedule, maintenance approach and claims history, indicative terms can often be obtained quickly.
More complex risks (large values, older plant, high downtime exposure) may take longer for specialist underwriting review.