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Mid-market insurance
Industrial machinery manufacturer insurance is a programme covering makers of machine tools and production equipment for factory, people, product, installation and transit risks. It matters because machine failures injure operators and halt customers' production.
Part of: Manufacturing insurance
In short
UK makers of machine tools, cutting and forming equipment, service industry machinery and printing, paper or textile machinery usually need property, business interruption, employers' liability, products liability, marine cargo and erection all risks. Professional indemnity or a financial loss extension helps with performance and design claims. The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 set the compliance baseline, and integrators can become the manufacturer of a whole line. Installing abroad, North American sales and liquidated damages are the gaps most worth checking.
A maker of machine tools, cutting and forming equipment, packaging lines, service industry machinery, or printing, paper and textile machinery usually needs property and business interruption, employers' liability, and public and products liability. Most also need professional indemnity or a financial loss extension, erection or contract works cover for installation, and marine cargo or transit cover for shipping machines. Export credit and management liability often complete the programme.
Two features set the sector apart. Machines are designed to cut, press, roll, wind or crush, so a guarding or control failure can cause serious injury to the customer's staff. And many machines are built to order, installed by your engineers, often abroad, against performance guarantees. That combination puts injury claims, financial loss claims and overseas exposure in the same contract. The manufacturing insurance guide covers the general programme.
| Exposure for a machinery maker | Cover that usually responds |
|---|---|
| Fire or flood at the assembly hall, paint shop or test bay | Property damage and business interruption |
| Operator injured by a machine you supplied, for example at an in-running nip | Products liability, subject to territorial limits |
| Machine fails to meet its stated output, accuracy or uptime | Professional indemnity or a financial loss extension, where available |
| Damage to the machine during installation, testing or commissioning | Erection all risks or contract works |
| Damage to a customer's building or other plant during installation | Public liability, with cover for work abroad declared |
| Machines lost or damaged in transit or at sea | Marine cargo or goods in transit |
| Engineers injured on overseas sites | Employers' liability, with any local compulsory cover arranged separately |
| Retrofit or safety campaign across an installed fleet | Product recall or guarantee cover, subject to terms |
| Overseas buyer fails to pay for a delivered machine | Export credit or trade credit |
| Remote access to controllers or theft of design data | Cyber (see cyber for manufacturers) |
| Prosecution or civil claims against directors | D&O and management liability |
The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 sit at the centre of a machinery maker's liability in Great Britain. Government guidance says the responsible person, the manufacturer or its authorised representative, must not place machinery on the market or put it into service unless it is safe. In practice that means:
HSE explains that a person who assembles machines into a functionally linked assembly with a common control system becomes the manufacturer of that assembly. Line builders and integrators therefore carry the whole assembly's compliance, not just their own machines. Where specific product law does not apply, section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places general supply duties on designers and suppliers of articles for use at work. Civil liability for defective products also arises under section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987, and the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998 require at least £5 million of employers' liability cover per occurrence.
Illustrative example 1: guarding failure. A customer's operator is injured when an interlock on a guillotine is bypassed. The customer's insurer pursues the manufacturer, alleging a design that made bypassing easy. Products liability usually responds to the claim, and the technical file and risk assessment become the core of the defence.
Illustrative example 2: missed performance guarantee. A printing line installed overseas runs at well below the contracted speed. The buyer withholds payment and claims liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are commonly excluded or limited by insurers, and the dispute is financial, so cover depends on whether PI or a financial loss extension was arranged and on how the contract caps liability.
Illustrative example 3: commissioning damage. During trial runs a textile machine's drive fails and damages the frame. Erection all risks usually responds to the physical damage to the machine during commissioning, subject to the testing period and exclusions for the defective part.
Review when you win a large export order, enter North America, start integrating complete lines rather than single machines, add a service and retrofit business, change who installs overseas, or buy or sell a product line. Each changes products, financial loss or territorial exposure. An insurance programme review checks contract terms, limits and declared activities together. See also manufacturers insurance, stock throughput and the sister pages on food processing machinery and materials handling equipment.
Apex arranges insurance programmes for machine tool and industrial machinery manufacturers; a broker reads every enquiry.
Usually property and business interruption, employers' liability, public and products liability, and marine cargo or transit cover. Most also need erection or contract works cover for installation, professional indemnity or a financial loss extension for performance and design risk, and management liability. Exporters often add export credit insurance and local cover in the countries where they install.
Not automatically. Many UK products policies exclude or restrict North American exposure, or apply higher deductibles and limits that include defence costs. If machines reach the United States or Canada, directly or through customers and distributors, declare it so the policy can be extended or a separate solution arranged.
Usually not. Liquidated damages are a contractual promise, and most liability policies exclude liability you accept under contract beyond what you would have at law. Professional indemnity may respond to a negligent design that causes underperformance, subject to terms. Negotiating a cap in your terms of sale is the main protection.
HSE guidance says that a person who assembles machines into a functionally linked assembly with a common control system becomes its manufacturer under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. That brings responsibility for the assembly's conformity, so tell your insurers if you integrate lines.
Send us your current schedules or renewal pack and we will review the whole programme and tell you plainly what to keep and what to change. No fee and no obligation. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Book a programme review Get a quoteApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
