Does Your Business Need Boiler & Machinery Insurance?

Savvy business owners often secure several types of insurance, such as property insurance, workers’ compensation, and product liability insurance. Though, what’s often overlooked is the coverage needed for when your essential equipment breaks down. Boiler and machinery insurance, also called equipment breakdown insurance, offers specialized protection for the collateral damage associated with critical disruption to your equipment’s functionality.

At Doeren Mayhew Insurance Group, we deliver essential risk management solutions to business owners like you. Our well-established industry knowledge allows us to provide the guidance you need to protect your business’ long-term financial stability. With boiler and machinery insurance, you’ll be covered for physical damages caused by any number of malfunctions.

According to The International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), equipment breakdown insurance is increasingly replacing traditional boiler and machinery (BM) insurance, in part simply because the title is more descriptive of the coverage provided. Also, today's equipment breakdown policies typically provide slightly broader coverage than traditional BM policies, and they usually do not use the specialized terminology found in traditional BM policies.

What Does Equipment Breakdown Insurance Cover?

Equipment breakdown insurance helps cover financial losses incurred by repairs and replacements, lost income, spoiled inventory, and expenses associated with operations slowdown. It also covers much more than the objects listed in its name. Coverage is generally broken out into five main categories of damage.

1. Boilers & Pressure Equipment: Pressure gauges, boilers, and valves
2. Mechanical Breakdown: Machines, motors, cash registers, copiers, generators, engines, and other machines used to operate a business
3. Technology: Computers, telephones, smart technology systems, and fire alarm systems
4. Air Conditioners & Refrigeration Systems: HVAC and refrigeration systems
5. Electrical Issues: Cables, transformers, short circuits, and electrical panels

It’s important to note that while you may have adequate commercial property insurance coverage, it only protects you against damages due to external causes, such as fires, weather, or natural disasters. That’s why it’s important to safeguard your physical property and financial health with an equipment breakdown policy, which offers coverage for damage due to other causes, such as mechanical breakdowns or other issues listed above.

Does Your Business Need Equipment Breakdown Insurance?

Think about it this way: insuring your employees is not only ethical, it’s the law — and, for good reason. But when they are away from the office, it’s the equipment they leave behind that continues to uphold the ongoing operations of your business — and should be equally protected. If your machinery, smart technology systems, electrical systems, and HVAC systems are essential to running your business, you need equipment breakdown insurance to mitigate the financial fallout associated with the potential breakdown of these various systems.

How We Can Help

Because this type of insurance is almost never included with related coverage such as commercial property insurance, it covers critical things that other policies simply do not. Get ahead of costly expenses such as direct property loss, lost product value, or business recovery expenses by working with us to secure equipment breakdown insurance. Contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our trusted insurance agents today!