Insuranks

Heavy Equipment Insurance: Cost, Companies & Quotes From $11

Working with heavy equipment is risky as bad things can easily happen. This is where heavy equipment insurance gets into the fray - tailored business insurance that mitigates costs associated with accidents and other exposures so that your business's valuation won't decrease.

Over the course of this guide, we're going to cover the details of business insurance for heavy equipment.  Also, we’ll review the companies offering the best and cheapest heavy equipment insurance. Let’s start this discussion by answering the most pertinent question: how much does heavy equipment insurance cost?


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How Much Does Heavy Equipment Insurance Cost?

The cost of heavy machinery insurance varies since it depends on the type of equipment the business is looking to insure. That being said, a full-sized excavator, bulldozer, or a huge dump truck will undoubtedly be more expensive than insuring a small tractor or   skid steer. Business size, industry, and years of business operation are other factors one needs to consider also when looking for the best heavy equipment insurance. 

The average heavy equipment insurance cost is $256 per month or $3,072 per year for a $1 million general liability coverage. This is just generalized pricing though and if you want to know the specific pricing of carriers,  here’s a table that will help you with heavy equipment insurance quote comparison. 

CompanyInsurance Rates per MonthInsurance Rates per YearBest for
CoverWallet $225$2,700Heavy equipment insurance online quotes comparison
The Hartford$230$2,760Heavy equipment insurance discounts
Progressive$247$2,964Commercial auto coverage for heavy equipment

Liberty Mutual$268$3,216Large construction firms
State Farm$280$3,360Custom heavy equipment insurance
Average$256$3,075



We know that aside from generic heavy equipment insurance rates, you also want to get an idea of heavy construction equipment insurance rates.  These are what you’ll have to pay for based on the coverages needed:

Coverage Insurance Rates per MonthInsurance Rates per Year
General liability+equipment breakdown$108$1,296
General liability+commercial auto$156$1,872
General liability only$89$1,068
General liability+commercial auto+equipment breakdown$190$2,280


Let’s talk about contractors equipment insurance cost. On average, this is $17 a month or $204 a year. Pricing absolutely depends on the number of equipment needing coverage and how long a contractor was using them.


Also Read:Equipment Rental Insurance: Coverage, Cost & Quotes From $11


Heavy Equipment Rental Insurance

Those who rent bulldozers, snow plow, backhoes, and other types of heavy equipment can never trust the owner to provide coverage if something goes wrong. The owner of rented heavy equipment has liability. However, this is only the case if injuries or deaths happen due to defects. And so, it might be difficult to file a claim against the equipment owner’s construction equipment insurance coverage. 

However, if it turns out that the accident was due to the mistake of those who rented the heavy equipment, there’s no legal responsibility on part of the heavy equipment owner. 

Those who rent heavy equipment should get heavy equipment rental insurance. This policy provides coverage for the cost of accidents and injuries associated with rented heavy equipment. Also, this insurance takes care of repair and replacement. A heavy equipment insurance policy providing comprehensive coverage offers the following:

  • General liability insurance

  • Equipment breakdown insurance

  • Inland marine insurance


Heavy equipment insurance can be availed as a short-term construction equipment rental insurance policy that’s very useful for construction companies and other businesses, which specialize in doing projects from one place to the next. The terms of this policy aren’t different from the terms of heavy machinery insurance policy. The only difference is that the policyholder can set its effective date at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, up to a maximum of 1 year. 


Also Read:Non Trucking Liability Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $11

Compare Heavy Equipment Insurance Quotes Online

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General Liability Insurance for Heavy Equipment

Getting general liability insurance is very crucial for construction firms, mining companies, earthmovers, and other businesses relying on heavy equipment to operate. This insurance will account for the costs of personal injury claims or property damage third parties file. By the way, many carriers commonly offer general liability as a primary inclusion in heavy construction equipment insurance policies. 

Studies exploring heavy equipment and pedestrian safety are few. Nonetheless, it’s a known fact that heavy machinery causes third-party accidents.  A survey conducted by the US Department of Transport Federal Highway from 1997 - 2000 states that 17% of fatalities in workplace accidents are pedestrians. The most common heavy equipment-related pedestrian accidents are:

  • Rollover/runovers

  • Vehicular collisions

  • Getting struck 


Most of the time, these accidents result in injuries that can severely affect the victim’s quality of life and require costly treatment. The table below shows the injuries and their estimated settlement cost, which is very costly without construction equipment insurance policy and other related coverages.

Type of Injury Settlement Cost 
Head and Neck$85,000
Spinal Cord Injury$313,567
Broken Bones$13,452
Concussion $800.10
Burns$208,231
Cuts and Lacerations $5,423
Amputation $89,563
Death$1,000,000


Commercial Auto Insurance for Heavy Equipment

Backhoes and dozers are the most common heavy equipment involved in road accidents. Injuries these machines cause are fractures, head injuries, amputations, cuts, lacerations, and deaths.  The table below shows the importance of earthmoving insurance with commercial auto coverage by outlining the cost of settlement according to the severity of injuries. 

Severity of Injury Person-Injury or Per-Vehicle Cost
Death$1,567,833
Disabling$83,023
Evident $21,445
Possible$21,321
Cost per vehicle damage$3,213


Earthmoving equipment insurance offers commercial auto insurance coverage. Commercial auto insurance is useful because the law treats bulldozers, backhoes, skid steers, and other heavy equipment as commercial vehicles the moment they traverse public highways. This insurance policy provides the following protection to the policyholder while dump trucks, dozers, tractors, and other heavy machinery are running on highways:

CoverageFunction 

Auto Liability Coverage 
Heavy machinery such as backhoes and dozers are hard to control. These can potentially cause road accidents and leave third parties injured or properties damaged. Commercial auto insurance has auto liability coverage that will pay for the medical expenses of third parties and will reimburse the value of damaged property 

Physical Damage Coverage
Though built to be damage resistant, backhoes, dozers, dump trucks, tractor-trailers, and other heavy machinery will incur dents and other types of damage. This is why commercial auto insurance for heavy equipment includes physical damage coverage. Physical damage coverage has two forms - collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage covers parts repair or replacement if backhoes and other types of heavy equipment incurred damage due to a collision. On the other hand, comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement if fire, lightning, hail, wind, storm, vandalism, and other covered perils damaged heavy equipment

Emergency Roadside Assistance
While running on the highway, dump trucks, dozers, and backhoes might experience issues and stall. Of course, they have to reach the project site or else, they’ll miss important tasks. Commercial auto insurance includes emergency roadside assistance coverage that reimburses the expenses for tire repair, tire delivery and replacement, gas delivery, battery jump start service, and more 

MedPay/Personal Injury Protection 
Operators might get injured when the heavy equipment they’re driving causes an accident or gets involved in an accident. MedPay and personal injury protection are inclusions in commercial auto insurance that takes care of the operator's medical expenses. Note that, unlike personal injury protection, MedPay covers lost income compensation


Workers Compensation Insurance for Heavy Equipment Operators and Technicians

Workers' compensation insurance is a common inclusion in heavy construction equipment insurance, which covers backhoes, dump trucks, bulldozers, compactors, pavers, tower cranes, excavators, and graders. Heavy equipment might injure operators and technicians and workers' compensation insurance will help with this. The coverages of workers' compensation insurance are as follows:

CoverageFunction 

Employee Treatment/Medical Procedure 
Operators and technicians of heavy equipment experience accidents such as falls, getting caught behind, rollovers, etc. These usually result in severe injuries that need extensive medical treatment/procedure. One of the functions of workers' compensation insurance is to cover the surgeries and therapies of an injured heavy equipment technician or operator

Hospitalization 
Heavy equipment technicians and operators might need to stay at the hospital after extensive surgery or therapy. In line with this, workers' compensation insurance takes care of hospital bills 

Medication 
The attending physician will always require the intake of medicines for faster healing. Workers' compensation insurance pays the expenses for a heavy equipment operator or technician’s medication 

Rehabilitation 
Heavy equipment-related accidents might result in the technician or operator incurring injuries that result in impairment. If rehab is needed to correct such impairment, workers' compensation insurance will pay for the fees of the therapist 

Lost Income Compensation 
Impairment or hospitalization will result in the temporary unemployment of a heavy equipment technician or operator. Workers' compensation covers this peril. It supplements lost income by providing a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds of the average weekly wage. For example, if a heavy equipment technician or operator earns $946 per week, then the weekly allowance from workers comp will be $633.82 

Death Benefits
Workers' compensation insurance provides death benefits if an operator or technician dies because of a heavy-equipment related accident. Death benefits include but are not limited to funeral payments and financial support to dependents (e.g. wife and biological children, adopted children, and elderly parents)


Equipment Breakdown Insurance for Heavy Equipment 

Physical damage coverage in commercial auto insurance doesn’t apply if a dump truck, bulldozer or any other heavy equipment incurred damage on its own due to frequent use. For this reason, insurance companies also include equipment breakdown insurance. Equipment breakdown insurance covers parts repair or replacement if a heavy equipment incurs damage because of use. 

Equipment breakdown insurance isn’t only coverage for valuable business assets such as heavy equipment. This also works as insurance for cheap equipment such as drills, electric saws, and other related objects. When it covers cheap items, equipment breakdown insurance can provide a replacement piece or unit if the scheduled equipment is less than three years old. 

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Bobtail Insurance for Heavy Machinery

Freighters, large trucks, and tractor-trailers are covered by bobtail insurance. The terms of this insurance apply the moment the said machines get involved in an accident while traveling with no trailer attached to get another load. 


Related: Unladen Insurance: Liability Cost & Quotes From $11


Inland Marine Insurance for Heavy Equipment

Some businesses haul dump trucks, dozers, and other heavy equipment and take them to distant project sites. Commercial auto insurance doesn’t provide coverage when a heavy equipment loaded on a transport trailer becomes damaged during the trip. So what insurance provides a solution to this problem? Inland marine insurance.

Inland marine insurance will reimburse losses of the owner if his or her heavy equipment got damaged during the trip. This insurance covers destruction or damage due to fire, theft, vandalism, other types of malicious mischief, and acts of nature. 


Contractors Tool and Equipment Insurance

Contractors' tools and equipment insurance caters to the needs of construction contractors, piping contractors, house building contractors, and many more.  Equipment covered under this insurance policy are:

  • Power tubing cutters

  • Helmets

  • Power drills

  • CNC routers

  • Blowtorches

  • Saws

  • Welding machines

  • Grinders

  • Cement mixers

  • Ladders 

  • Field lighting


This insurance policy also offers contractors' equipment rental insurance coverage. As the name implies, the coverage applies when the above-mentioned equipment is rented or borrowed.  Contractors' equipment rental insurance becomes useful when the equipment owner demands reimbursement or replacement of the rented equipment after it got broken. 

Contractors' tools and equipment cease to provide coverage the moment contractors use machines such as backhoes, bulldozers, mobile cement mixers, and other similar machines.  To get coverage, contractors decide to have heavy contractors equipment insurance. 

Compare Heavy Equipment Insurance Quotes Online

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Best Heavy Equipment Insurance Companies

Here’s a review of some of the best heavy construction equipment insurance companies in America. Know about each company's pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage. 


To get the best value for your money, click the 'Get Quotes' button on this page, complete the questionnaire and compare heavy equipment insurance quotes online from heavy equipment insurance companies!


CoverWallet Heavy Equipment Insurance

 

Insuranks Rating10/10
Average Cost$225 per month 
Best ForHeavy equipment insurance online quotes comparison 
Year FoundedSeptember 2015 and acquired by AON at 2020
CEOInaki Beringuer (former)
Headquarters101 Avenue of the Americas 18th Floor New York, NY 10013 United States
Customer Support(646) 844-9933
AM Best RatingA ( excellent)
BBB RatingA+
Number of Complaints158


Pros

  • Cancel a policy anytime 

  • Stable rates 

  • Easy policy management with the MyCoverWallet app 

Cons

  • Doesn’t have tailored heavy equipment insurance


CoverWallet is an online insurance broker. With this company, you can get quotes and compare the pricing of different insurance companies offering tailored heavy equipment insurance. The best part is that there’s no need to contact the representatives of the companies providing quotes because CoverWallet allows you to buy any insurance products from any carrier at its website. As soon as you get insured, CoverWallet grants you access to the MyCoverWallet app where you can pay premiums, check the status of insurance policies, and get certificates of insurance online.


Liberty Mutual Heavy Equipment Insurance


Insuranks Rating9/10
Average Cost$268 per month 
Best ForHeavy equipment insurance discounts
Year Founded1912
CEODavid H. Long
Headquarters175 Berkeley StreetBoston, Massachusetts 02116
Customer Support617-357-9500
AM Best RatingA (excellent)
BBB RatingB
Number of Complaints608

Pros

  • Offers coverage for leased, loaned, or rented equipment 

  • Deductible depends on the type  of equipment and the cause of damage or loss

Cons

  • Claims take time to be processed


Liberty Mutual provides heavy equipment policies through its contractor’s equipment insurance package. Heavy equipment covered are cranes, skid steers, dump trucks, bulldozers, backhoes, loaders, and many more. Liberty Mutual’s insurance for heavy equipment protects you from losses related to repair or replacement of crucial construction tools, as well as contractors plant and machinery insurance.


Progressive Heavy Equipment Insurance


Insuranks Rating8/10
Average Cost$247 per month 
Best ForCommercial auto coverage for heavy equipment
Year Founded1937
CEOTricia Griffith
HeadquartersMayfield, Ohio, United States
Customer Support1-800-444-4487 and customer service portal
AM Best RatingA+  ( superior)
BBB RatingD -
Number of Complaints 1,313


Pros

  • In-house adjusters for fast claims process

  • Rates can be discounted if the business if running for more than three years 

Cons

  • Only available for trucks


Progressive's heavy equipment insurance is worth the try even though it only offers coverage for trucks.  One reason why it's great is that customers are sure to enjoy fast processing of claims. Also, progressive offers federal and state filings - documents your business need to comply with to attract clients and initiate ambitious building projects.


The Hartford Heavy Equipment Insurance


Insuranks Rating7/10
Average Cost$268 per month 
Best ForLarge construction firms
Year Founded1810
CEOChristopher J. Swift
Headquarters690 Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT 06155
Customer Support855-440-1078 and  The Hartford customer complaint portal
AM Best RatingA+  ( superior)
BBB RatingA+
Number of Complaints 163


Pros

  • Covers rented equipment, small tools, and employee safety gears aside from heavy equipment

  • Pays for debris cleanup after an accident

Cons

  • Doesn’t insure small contractors


The Hartford's heavy equipment insurance is very comprehensive. Aside from backhoe insurance, trucks, cranes, and other equipment, it also ensures handheld tools, rented equipment, and employee safety gear. You're also covered in cases of disaster too because.The Hartford's heavy construction equipment insurance policies covers debris cleanup.


State Farm Heavy Equipment Insurance


Insuranks Rating6/10
Average  Cost$280 per month 
Best ForCustom heavy equipment insurance
Year Founded1922
CEOMichael L. Tipsord
HeadquartersBloomington, Illinois, United States
Customer Support800-782-8332 and  customer service portal
AM Best RatingA++  ( superior)
BBB RatingB
Number of Complaints 538


Pros

  • Two type of heavy equipment insurance

  • Customizable

Cons

  • Doesn’t insure heavy equipment for businesses in the construction industry


State Farm has two types of heavy equipment insurance. If you’re using heavy equipment for agribusiness, then there’s State Farm/Ranch property insurance that covers equipment like tractors and trailer trucks. On the other hand, the State Farm Contractor insurance is what you need to get if you're business is concerned with electrical services, plumbing, HVAC installation, interior decoration, or lawn care service. 


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