Hired in plant insurance
Join nearly a million customers like you – we offer public liability cover from £4.95*
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- Compare hired in plant insurance from trusted brands
10% of customers pay the equivalent of £4.95 a month*
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Rated 4.6/5
Based on 39.9K reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why is hired in plant insurance important?
Hired-in or your own, plant cover is a specialist type of plant and machinery insurance, built to cover larger equipment like a digger or forklift. These bits of kit often carry a high price tag and specific set of risks, so expert cover is a popular back-stop for potentially expensive claims.
Need own plant insurance for machinery belonging to you? We provide this too, just select ’own plant’ when building your quote.
- digger insurance (including mini diggers) for your essential hired equipment
- cover for theft or flooding, plus public liability for accidents and injuries
- own plant insurance also available – just tell us what you need
What does hired in plant insurance cover?
Hired-in or your own, plant insurance is designed to help cover expensive costs and charges, if your equipment gets damaged, lost, or stolen. From diggers to forklifts, this can be on-site or in transit, and usually comes as part of a tradesman insurance policy, which includes popular covers like public liability insurance, and employers’ liability, if you need it.
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Theft
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Flood
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Public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
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Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does hired plant insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £4.95 per month
Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes
The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £59.34 or less annually between 1st Feb – 30th April 2025. Equivalent to £4.95 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 82% of customers have a £1 million limit and 18% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.
Example hired in plant insurance quotes, real prices
£83.42 /month
£834.25 /year
A small ground working firm who use a variety of owned and hired-in plant machinery, with one office-based employee
- 2-3 years’ experience
- Sole trader
- 1 employee
- Based in Leicester
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Owned Plant
£250,000
Hired-in plant
5,000
£233.21 /month
£2,332.11 /year
A self-employed builder using hired-in plant machinery for work on residential properties
- 5+ years’ experience
- Limited company
- 3 employees
- Based in Leicester
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Hired-in plant
40,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 18/03/2025). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
How it works
Pick what goes into your policy
Only pay for what you need
Get prices from a range of insurers
Choose the best fit for you
Buy online in minutes
Get your documents the same day
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Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm
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How do hired in plant insurance claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
£68 million in claims paid out in 2024
76% of claims were settled in 2024.
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. “Settled” covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 26/02/2025.
Example hired plant insurance claim
Having plant insurance through Simply Business has saved small business owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Andy saved more than £15,800
Andy (not his real name) reported an electrical fire at his rented workshop, caused by a small cooker. The fire caused significant damage to his tools, including items of hired plant and equipment. The optional hired-in plant insurance in Andy’s tradesman insurance policy helped cover the hire company’s charges.
Insurance payout
£15,800.43
Covering the cost of fire damage
Andy’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Andy’s policy terms
Chosen by nearly one million small business and landlord customers
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly a million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
Hired in plant insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying insurance or you’ve been operating your business for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about plant hire insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
This will depend on your individual situation – for example whether you own the forklift yourself, or hire it – and what type of forklift you’re insuring. This type of plant does tend to be expensive, with new forklifts costing tens of thousands of pounds to buy. And with specific vehicle insurance being a legal requirement if you’re driving it on a public road, and often a requirement even on private land, cover is an important aspect.
Yes. We insure various types of mini diggers, from smaller excavators to more industrial-level equipment. Your mini digger insurance can factor in theft, public liability and employers’ liability risks, as well as disasters like fire and flood.
Plant insurance covers your own plant and equipment against risks like fire, flooding, and theft – these items are often more expensive than your other tools, and financial losses can run into tens of thousands of pounds. Plant hire insurance is slightly different, and works to help with the costs attached to loss or damage to plant and equipment you’ve hired-in.
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
- Driver – heavy goods vehicle
- Bricklayers insurance
- Handyman insurance
- Plasterers insurance
- Glazier insurance
- Flooring contractors insurance
- Scaffolding insurance
Other types of insurance
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
