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Insurance Designed for Forging & Heat Treatment Risk
Steel forging and heat treatment operations sit at the highest end of industrial risk. Processes involving furnaces, induction heating, quenching, tempering and controlled atmospheres introduce extreme temperatures, heavy plant, molten metal, hydraulic systems and complex automation.
A single incident - furnace failure, hydraulic fire, quench tank ignition, power surge or temperature control fault - can cause catastrophic damage to equipment, destroy work in progress, compromise metallurgical integrity and lead to major contractual and business interruption losses.
Insure24 arranges specialist insurance programmes for forging shops and heat treatment facilities, ensuring that property, machinery breakdown, business interruption and liability covers reflect the true severity and complexity of thermal processing operations.
Who Needs Steel Forging & Heat Treatment Insurance?
This cover is designed for businesses carrying out high-temperature forming and metallurgical processing of steel and specialist alloys, including:
- Open-die and closed-die steel forging operations
- Press forging and hammer forging facilities
- Induction heating and billet reheating lines
- Heat treatment shops (annealing, normalising, quenching, tempering)
- Controlled atmosphere and vacuum heat treatment
- Case hardening, carburising and nitriding processes
- Subcontract heat treatment service providers
Core Insurance Covers for Forging & Heat Treatment Plants
Forging and heat treatment risks demand an integrated insurance structure that recognises high-value plant, severe fire exposure, and the knock-on impact of process failure.
Property & Thermal Plant
- Buildings, furnaces, refractory linings and flues
- Forging presses, hammers, manipulators and handling systems
- Induction heaters, burners, power supplies and control cabinets
- Quench tanks, oil systems, cooling and extraction equipment
- Fire, explosion, accidental damage and insured perils
Machinery Breakdown
- Sudden mechanical or electrical breakdown of furnaces and presses
- Failure of temperature control, drives, hydraulics and induction systems
- Motor burnout, electrical arcing and control system failure
- Coverage structured for high-energy, specialist equipment
- Optional engineering inspection where required
Business Interruption
- Loss of gross profit following insured damage
- Indemnity periods reflecting long repair and rebuild times
- Increased cost of working (outsourcing, overtime, alternative processing)
- Customer dependency and contract penalty considerations
- Protection against extended downtime scenarios
Liability & Workforce Protection
- Employers’ liability for high-risk industrial environments
- Public and products liability for supplied forged components
- Third-party property damage from fire or explosion
- Contractual liability where required by OEM customers
- Claims support for technically complex incidents
Key Forging & Heat Treatment Risks Insurers Assess
Underwriters focus on severity-driven loss scenarios and how well risks are controlled in extreme thermal environments.
Fire, Explosion & Thermal Risk
- Furnace fires and refractory failure
- Hydraulic oil ignition and spray fires
- Quench oil flash fire or vapour ignition
- Gas supply failures and burner faults
- Hot works control and fire suppression systems
Process Failure & Product Loss
- Incorrect temperature profiles and metallurgical failure
- Batch rejection and scrap due to control system faults
- Power interruption mid-cycle
- Damage to work in progress during breakdown
- Clarifying insured vs uninsured quality losses
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Is heat treatment failure covered by insurance?
Insurance typically covers physical damage from insured events. Metallurgical failure or incorrect treatment is often classed as a quality issue and may be excluded unless linked to insured damage such as breakdown or fire.
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Does machinery breakdown cover furnaces?
It can, depending on policy wording. Sudden and unforeseen failure of electrical or mechanical components may be covered, but wear, refractory deterioration and gradual defects are usually excluded.
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What indemnity period is typical for forging operations?
Many forging and heat treatment plants require 12–24 months or longer due to specialist equipment lead times and rebuild complexity.