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Machinery Breakdown Insurance - are your machines and equipment covered for breakdown?

Business Insurance Small Business Insurance Trades Insurance Business Interruption Insurance Heavy Machinery Insurance

You rely on your machinery, you need the machines and equipment you use to work to enable you to get your job done right and on time. So when a machine that you rely on breaks down, it is costly, has a huge impact on your business and can have wide-reaching consequences to your production lines.

What is Machinery Breakdown?

Breakdown means unforeseen and sudden damage to your equipment which needs to be repaired or replaced.

So before you look to claim on your machinery breakdown insurance policy, it is worth determining if there has been a breakdown or if the damage to the machine is from some other cause.

What does Machinery Breakdown typically not cover?

Your machinery needs to be maintained, serviced and cleaned in line with the manufacturer’s requirements. If you don’t maintain your equipment, then it is highly likely that it will breakdown, leading to costly repairs and the potential for a significant business loss.

Machinery Breakdown Insurance won’t typically cover your equipment for:

Wear and Tear from general usage
When normal maintenance is required
When you fail to undertake normal maintenance
When expendable or consumable parts need to be replaced
When a machine gets stolen - you can get other insurance that covers equipment theft.
Deliberate or intentional damage

Why Machinery breakdown insurance matters for small and medium-sized businesses

Your business has invested capital to acquire the machinery and equipment that you rely on to get the job done. When it breaks down and causes your business to suffer it can become very costly very quickly.

In addition, the cost to repair and fix complex machinery is also expensive and you may not be in a position to finance the cost of the repair if there wasn’t insurance in place to provide the funding in a timely fashion. When you need it fixed fast, you want to know that you have the cash and funding required to get the job done.

An insurance broker can assist you in making sure that your maintenance schedules are appropriate to maintain your machinery insurance coverage with your existing insurance policy. Or alternatively, an insurance broker can guide you to a machinery insurance policy that is fit for purpose and matched to your individual requirements.

General Advice Warning: This advice is general and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether the advice is appropriate for you and your personal circumstances. Before you make any decision about whether to acquire a certain product, you should obtain and read the relevant product disclosure statement.

All information above has been provided by the author.

Channelle Ricketts, Urban Insurance, AFSL 233750