Excavator Insurance
An excavator is a high-value machine working in one of the harshest environments there is.
We arrange excavator insurance that covers the machine on site, in transit and against theft, from a 1.7 tonne mini digger up to a 30 tonne tracked machine.
Specialist mobile plant cover, not a bolt-on to a car policy.
Cover for Diggers That Work and Move
Excavators spend their life on rough ground, in confined spaces and on the back of a float between jobs.
Each phase, digging, idle on site, and transport, carries a different risk of damage or theft.
A 1.7 tonne mini digger and a 30 tonne tracked excavator are the same policy in shape and nothing alike in exposure. The mini fits on a plant trailer behind a ute, which is exactly why it is the size most often stolen, while the big machine is at its most vulnerable on and off a float.
We structure cover that follows the machine through all of it, so an incident does not park your earning asset.
“An excavator is most exposed when it is being moved and when it is left on site overnight.”
Paul CohalanFounding Principal Broker, All Trucks Insurance
What Excavator Insurance Typically Covers
Mobile plant cover is tailored to the machine and how you work, and generally includes the following.
- Accidental damage, collision and overturning
- Fire, theft and attempted theft, including on site
- Damage while the machine is in transit on a float or trailer
- Mini and midi diggers towed on a plant trailer behind a ute
- Attachments such as buckets, rippers, augers and hammers
- Quick hitches, tilt hitches and grabs scheduled with the machine
- Vandalism and malicious damage
- Hire costs to keep a job moving while repairs happen, where arranged
- Damage from operating on difficult or unstable ground
- Cover across multiple sites Australia wide
Cover varies by insurer and how you operate. We confirm exactly what is and isn’t included before you rely on it.
The Risks an Excavator Faces
Earthmoving plant carries exposures a road vehicle never does.
Theft From Site
Minis are the worst hit, because a machine that fits on a plant trailer can be hooked up and gone in minutes. Machines and attachments go from unsecured sites overnight and over long weekends, and recovery is rare.
Transit Damage
Loading, chaining down and moving a machine is one of the highest-risk moments in its life. A digger that has never had a claim on site can still be damaged in the ten minutes it spends going up a set of ramps.
Overturning and Ground Failure
Slopes, trench edges and ground that has been rained on will roll or bog a machine. The damage is rarely small, because the weight that makes an excavator useful is the weight that lands on it.
Cover Types That Work With Excavator Insurance
Earthmoving operators usually arrange one or two of these alongside the machine cover.
Get Excavator Insurance Sorted Properly
Talk to a specialist transport and plant broker who knows what your asset is worth and how it works.
Call 1300 78 78 25Other Vehicles & Equipment We Cover
Most operators run more than one type of asset. These are the ones most often insured alongside it.
Get an Excavator Insurance Quote
Tell us about your asset and how you use it. We’ll arrange cover that fits and respond within 1 business day.
Call us1300 78 78 25Excavator Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions
All of them. A 1.7 tonne mini digger, a 3 or 5 tonne midi, a 20 tonne tracked machine and anything above it are all written as mobile plant. Tell us the tonnage and the year, because size and age are what set the sum insured and the premium.
It is the same policy in shape and a different risk in practice. A mini is towable, so theft dominates the claims, and it usually travels on a plant trailer behind a ute rather than a float. A large machine claims more often on transit and ground failure. We rate the machine you actually run rather than the category.
Machine value and age first, then where it sleeps. A digger locked in a yard or a shed is a different proposition to one left on an open site overnight. After that it is the attachments scheduled with it, whether you hire it out, your claims history and the excess you choose. We will price it properly rather than guess it.
That is dry hire, and it is a different exposure to running the machine yourself, because someone else is operating it and the damage happens out of your sight. We arrange dry hire cover for it. Ask us and we will point you at the right policy rather than stretch this one over it.
Yes. Transit is one of the highest-risk phases, so cover while the machine is on a float or trailer is a core part of the policy. We confirm it is included.
They can be. Attachments are scheduled as part of the machine so buckets, rippers, hammers, augers and quick hitches are covered for damage and theft. Tell us what you own, because an unscheduled attachment is the gap people find at claim time.
Yes. Theft from site, including overnight and weekends, is a common claim and a key reason to insure mobile plant properly.
No, a backhoe loader has its own cover. It is a wheeled machine that digs at one end and loads at the other, usually road registered, so it carries a different risk to a tracked excavator. See backhoe insurance for that machine.
It can be. A wheeled excavator may be registered to travel on public roads, which brings registration and compulsory third party into the picture, and those rules are set state by state. A tracked machine that only ever travels on a float stays purely mobile plant.
That is a liability exposure. We arrange public liability cover alongside the machine policy so striking services or damaging property is covered.
Usually yes. Hired-in plant cover means the hire company's claim does not land on you while the machine is in your care, and it is worth arranging before the machine turns up rather than after.
Compliance Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before making any decision.