What is hired in plant insurance?
Hired-in plant insurance covers equipment you've rented for a project — excavators, generators, cherry pickers, scaffold towers — rather than machinery you own outright. Most contractors all risk policies automatically cover a contractor's own plant, but hired equipment is frequently excluded or capped low unless this section is added separately.
- Hired-in plant cover is a distinct add-on, not a default feature of most CAR policies.
- Plant hire firms often won't release equipment without proof of this cover.
- CPA (Construction Plant-hire Association) conditions of hire typically make the hirer responsible for the machine from the moment it leaves the depot.
- It usually also covers loss of hire income the hire firm charges while a damaged machine can't be re-let.
- Cover limits should match the replacement value of the most expensive item you're likely to hire.
Why it's easy to miss
What the hire agreement actually makes you liable for
What to check before you sign for delivery
Excavator tips over on soft ground
Scenario: A hired mini-excavator toppled over while working on waterlogged ground on a groundworks job, damaging the hydraulic arm and cab.
Resolution & Judicial Outcome: The contractor's hired-in plant extension covered the repair cost billed by the hire firm plus two weeks of continuing hire charges while the machine was off-hire, avoiding a five-figure bill the contractor would otherwise have been personally liable for under the CPA conditions of hire.
What You Should Do: Step-by-Step Action Plan
Critical Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming a CAR policy's plant section automatically extends to rented equipment.
- Signing a hire agreement without reading the damage-liability clause.
- Under-declaring the value of specialist or high-value hired machinery.
- Ignoring continuing hire-charge exposure while a damaged machine sits off-hire for repair.