Hired-In Plant Insurance
Hired-in plant insurance covers damage or loss to plant and equipment you hire or lease from someone else. If you're responsible under the hire agreement, you need the right cover in place before something goes wrong.
What Is Hired-In Plant Insurance?
Hired-in plant insurance protects you against liability for damage or loss to plant and equipment you've hired or leased from another party. If a machine you've hired gets damaged on site, the hire agreement usually makes you responsible for it, and that liability can be significant.
Key things to understand:
- Cover applies to hired or leased machines, not plant you own
- A signed written hire agreement is typically required to be in place at the time of any loss
- Policy conditions vary widely: limits per machine, aggregate caps, excess levels, and hire period restrictions all differ between insurers
- Loss of hire income owed to the plant owner may also be covered under some policies, but this is usually a separate sub-limit
- How this sits alongside contract works insurance matters, there can be overlap or gaps depending on how your project is structured
This is general information only. For advice tailored to your situation, get in touch with our team.
How this could protect you
Cover for damage to hired or leased machines while they're in your possession and control
Protection against the hire company's loss of income while their machine is being repaired
Quotes compared across up to 20 insurers so you get the right conditions, not just the cheapest price
Annual policy review to catch gaps as your hire arrangements change year to year
Claims advocacy, we work for you, not the insurer, when a hired plant claim gets complicated
Advice on how hired-in plant cover sits alongside your contract works and owned plant policies
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Clients protected
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What's covered
What's Covered Under Hired-In Plant Insurance
Hired-in plant insurance responds to your liability for physical damage or loss to plant and equipment you've hired, leased, or rented from another party. Cover typically applies while the machine is in your possession and control, during the hire period, and subject to a signed written hire agreement being in place at the time of loss.
Depending on the policy, cover may extend to:
- Repair or replacement costs for the damaged machine, up to the per-machine limit
- The hire owner's loss of income while their machine is out of action (usually a separate sub-limit)
- Legal costs associated with a liability claim from the plant owner
Policy conditions vary. Most wordings include per-machine limits, aggregate caps across the policy period, and excess levels that may differ from your owned plant cover. Some policies restrict cover to a set number of events per year, and many require damage to be reported within a defined timeframe.
This is general information only. For advice tailored to your situation, get in touch with our team.
Why you need this
Why Hired-In Plant Cover Matters
Most hire agreements put the risk squarely on you. If a machine is damaged while it's in your possession, you're liable, for repair costs, for replacement value, and often for the hire company's lost revenue while the machine is off the road.
Without the right cover, a single incident involving a high-value hired machine could mean a significant out-of-pocket cost at exactly the wrong time. And standard public liability or contract works policies don't always fill that gap.
Contractors who hire plant regularly, whether for civil works, earthmoving, construction, or roading, need to know that their policy actually extends to hired-in equipment, that the limits are adequate for the machines they're working with, and that the conditions align with how their hire agreements are structured.
That's not something to leave to assumption. Talk to your broker about whether this applies to your situation.
How We Sort Out Your Hired-In Plant Cover
Straightforward process, same-day response. Here's what working with Gerrards looks like.
Tell Us How You Work
We ask about the types of plant you hire, how often, the value of machines involved, and what your hire agreements typically say about liability.
We Compare the Market
We go to our panel of up to 20 insurers and compare policy wordings, limits, excess structures, and conditions, not just premiums.
We Explain What You're Getting
No jargon, no assumptions. We walk you through what the policy covers, what the conditions are, and where the limits sit relative to your actual exposure.
We Review It Every Year
Your hire arrangements change. We check your policy annually to make sure it still fits, and flag anything that needs updating before it becomes a problem.
Pricing factors
What Affects the Premium for Hired-In Plant Insurance
Several factors influence what you'll pay for hired-in plant cover. Understanding them helps you have a more informed conversation with your broker.
- Value of plant being hired: Higher-value machines mean greater potential liability, which affects both the limits you need and the premium you'll pay.
- Frequency and volume of hiring: Contractors who regularly hire multiple machines simultaneously carry more exposure than those who hire occasionally. Some insurers adjust premiums based on estimated total hiring charges for the year.
- Type of work and site conditions: High-risk environments such as civil construction, roading, or underground work typically attract higher premiums than lower-risk applications.
- Claims history: A history of plant damage claims will affect pricing. Insurers assess this as part of their risk evaluation.
- Hire agreement terms: The extent of liability you accept under your hire agreements influences the scope of cover required and how insurers price the risk.
- Whether loss of hire income is included: Adding cover for the plant owner's lost revenue while a machine is being repaired increases the potential claim size, and premiums reflect that.
This is general information only. For advice tailored to your situation, get in touch with our team.
Local brokers, New Zealand-wide
From our Christchurch head office to our teams in Auckland East, Bay of Plenty and Manawatu, Gerrards brokers arrange cover for businesses across New Zealand. Find the team closest to you.
Related FAQs
The answers that matter when you're deciding on coverage.
Not always. Hired-in plant claims often carry a higher excess than owned plant, and some policy wordings apply a percentage-based excess rather than a fixed amount. That means the larger the loss, the more you contribute out of pocket. It's worth understanding the excess structure before you hire anything significant, a percentage excess on a high-value machine can still leave you with a meaningful bill even when the claim is accepted.
It applies to where the damage occurs. Most plant policies define a territorial limit, typically New Zealand, and cover only responds if the loss happens within that area during the hire period while the machine is in your possession and control. If you're working on projects near ports, remote locations, or across regional boundaries, confirm your policy wording is clear on where cover starts and stops.
You'd be responsible for the difference between the per-machine limit and the actual repair or replacement cost. Standard policy extensions often set per-machine limits that work fine for smaller plant but fall short on high-value equipment like cranes or specialised rigs. If you're regularly hiring machines above that threshold, it's worth reviewing whether your limits are realistic before you sign the hire agreement.
This is a scenario some policy wordings specifically address, but cover isn't guaranteed. Whether your hired-in plant cover extends to on-hired arrangements depends on your specific policy conditions. Some insurers do include this as an additional benefit, but it typically needs to be in place before the machine is on-hired. Talk to your broker before you sub-hire anything, not after the damage happens.
Some policies do extend to cover the hire owner's loss of income during the repair period, but it's not automatic. Many plant wordings treat it as a separate sub-limit that needs to be specifically included. Check your policy wording carefully, because hire agreements commonly include this as a recoverable cost, and if your policy doesn't match, that gap sits with you.
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When the Machine Isn't Yours, But the Risk Is
Hiring plant is standard practice in construction, civil works, and earthmoving. You need a machine for a project, you bring it in on hire, you get the job done. Simple enough.
Except when something goes wrong.
Because the moment that hired excavator rolls into a trench, or that crane gets damaged in a storm, you'll find out very quickly what your hire agreement actually says. And in most cases, it says you're responsible. Not the hire company. You.
That's where hired-in plant insurance comes in, and where a lot of contractors discover they're not as covered as they thought.
What Hired-In Plant Insurance Actually Covers
Hired-in plant insurance is designed to cover your legal liability for damage or loss to plant and equipment you've hired or leased from another party. It's not about your own machines. It's about the ones you've borrowed, and the financial exposure that comes with them.
The cover typically responds when:
- A hired machine is damaged while in your possession and control
- You're liable under the hire agreement for the cost of repair or replacement
- The damage occurs during the hire period and within the agreed territorial limits
Some policies also extend to cover the plant owner's loss of hire income, the revenue they lose while their machine is being repaired. This is usually treated as a separate sub-limit, and it's worth checking whether your policy includes it, because hire companies often have this written into their agreements as a recoverable cost.
The Hire Agreement Is Everything
Plant insurance wordings that extend to hired-in equipment can include a critical condition: a formal written hire agreement, signed by both parties, must be in place at the time of the loss.
Verbal arrangements don't count. Informal understandings don't count. If you can't produce a signed agreement, some insurers won't respond to the claim.
This matters more than people realise. On busy sites, plant sometimes gets moved between contractors informally. A machine gets lent for a day. A favour gets done. And then something breaks. Without that signed agreement, you're exposed, and your insurer may have grounds to decline.
Get the paperwork right before the machine moves.
Per-Machine Limits and Aggregate Caps
Hired-in plant cover almost always comes with limits. There's typically a maximum payable per machine per claim, and a separate aggregate limit across all hired-in plant claims for the policy period. Some policies also restrict cover to a set number of events per year.
These limits exist because hired-in plant is inherently harder for insurers to assess, they don't know in advance what machines you'll hire, what they're worth, or how many you'll have on site at once. The limits are a way of managing that uncertainty.
The practical implication? If you regularly hire high-value plant, large excavators, cranes, specialised drilling rigs, the per-machine limit in a standard policy extension may not be enough. That's something to work through with your broker before you sign a hire agreement, not after.
Excess Levels on Hired-In Plant
It's common for the excess on hired-in plant claims to be higher than the excess on owned plant. Some policies apply a percentage-based excess rather than a fixed dollar amount, which means the larger the claim, the more you're contributing out of pocket.
This is worth understanding before you hire anything significant. If you're hiring a machine worth several hundred thousand dollars and the excess is a percentage of the loss, a major damage event could still leave you with a meaningful bill even after insurance responds.
How This Sits Alongside Contract Works Insurance
Hired-in plant and contract works insurance are related but distinct. Contract works cover typically protects the works themselves, the physical construction project, against damage during the build. Plant insurance, including hired-in plant, protects the machines doing the work.
The overlap question comes up regularly. Say a flood hits your site and damages both the partially completed structure and a hired excavator sitting next to it. Which policy responds to what?
Generally, the contract works policy responds to damage to the works, and the plant policy responds to damage to the machines. But the boundaries aren't always clean, and some contract works policies do include limited plant cover. The risk is assuming one policy covers everything when it doesn't.
If you're running a project where both policies are in play, it's worth having someone map the two policies against each other and identify where the gaps might be. That's exactly the kind of review a broker should be doing for you.
Dry Hire vs. Wet Hire, Does It Change Your Cover?
It can. Dry hire and wet hire arrangements carry different risk profiles, and some policy wordings treat them differently.
On a dry hire, you take possession of the machine and operate it yourself. You're in control, so you carry the risk. Most hired-in plant policies are designed with dry hire in mind.
On a wet hire, the machine comes with an operator supplied by the hire company. The question of who's responsible for damage becomes more complicated, and some policies have specific conditions around wet hire arrangements.
If you regularly work with both hire types, check that your policy addresses both. Don't assume that cover for one automatically means cover for the other.
What to Check Before You Hire
Before you bring any hired plant onto a site, run through this checklist:
- Do you have a signed written hire agreement? Both parties need to have signed it before the machine arrives.
- What does the hire agreement say about liability? Most will make you responsible for damage during the hire period, confirm this.
- Does your policy extend to hired-in plant? Not all plant policies include this automatically. Some treat it as an extension that needs to be specifically added.
- What are the per-machine and aggregate limits? Make sure they're adequate for the value of the machines you're hiring.
- What's the excess? Understand what you'd be contributing in the event of a claim.
- Is loss of hire income covered? If the hire company can claim lost revenue while their machine is being repaired, you want to know whether your policy covers that exposure.
- Is there a reporting timeframe? Some policies require damage to be reported within a set period. Missing that window can affect your claim.
- Does cover apply if the machine is on-hired to another party? If you're sub-hiring plant to others, check whether your policy extends to that scenario.
The Machinery Insurance Picture
Hired-in plant cover doesn't exist in isolation. It's one piece of a broader machinery insurance framework that most plant-heavy businesses need to think about carefully.
Owned plant, hired-in plant, machinery downtime cover for lost revenue when a machine breaks down, these all interact. And for specific machine types, like skid steer loaders or roading plant, there are often specialist wordings that handle things differently to a standard commercial plant policy.
The mistake most contractors make is treating insurance as a single policy decision rather than a set of interlocking covers. You end up with gaps, sometimes significant ones, that only become visible when a claim happens.
What Gerrards Does Differently
We work with up to 20 insurers. That means when we're placing hired-in plant cover, we're not limited to one policy wording or one set of conditions. We can compare how different insurers treat hired-in plant, what their limits look like, how their excess structures work, and whether their conditions align with how you actually operate.
We also review policies annually. Hire arrangements change. Projects change. The machines you're bringing onto sites this year might be very different to last year. A policy that was adequate twelve months ago might have gaps today.
And if something goes wrong and you need to make a claim, we're in your corner, not the insurer's. That distinction matters when you're dealing with a complex claim involving a hire agreement, a damaged machine, and a hire company asking for compensation.
Get the Right Cover Before the Machine Arrives
Hired-in plant claims tend to surface at the worst possible time, mid-project, under deadline pressure, with a hire company chasing you for a damaged machine. The time to sort out your cover is before any of that happens.
Every business is different, and your policy needs will depend on your specific circumstances. Talk to your broker about whether your current plant policy extends to hired-in equipment, what the conditions are, and whether the limits are realistic for the machines you work with.
If you'd like us to take a look, we aim to respond the same day. Get in touch with the Gerrards team and we'll work through it with you.
Secure the exact cover your business needs
We'll review your current policy, check the conditions against your hire agreements, and help you avoid carrying risk you don't know about. Same-day response, 8am-7pm, seven days a week.
