Your assets leave the depot every morning.
Commercial insurance for plant and tool hire businesses of any size: a single yard, or a network of depots. We’ll quote it either way.
Plant & tool hire insurance
Usually includes
Public liability
Employers’ liability
Premises & contents
Business interruption
Hire stock
Tools, plant & equipment
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
The tools, the van, your liability and the work in progress, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is plant & tool hire insurance?
Hire is a business where your kit spends most of its life somewhere else, in someone else’s hands. That shapes everything, what you own, the terms you hire under, and the place it all comes back to. It works the same way whether you run one yard or a dozen. Cover for it comes as a commercial combined policy: property, liability and business interruption in one, with fleet alongside, sized to what you actually run.
Protects your hire stock
Plant and tools on hire, in the depot and in transit, the asset the whole business rests on.
Protects the depot
Premises, contents, workshop and the yard your operation runs from.
Protects the income
If the depot can’t dispatch, revenue stops. Business interruption covers the gap.
Who it’s for
Whatever you hire out.
✓
Tool hire businesses
Hand and power tools, hired to trade and public.
✓
Plant hire businesses
Excavators, dumpers, rollers and site plant.
✓
Access equipment hire
Towers, podiums and powered access.
✓
Site accommodation hire
Cabins, welfare units and secure stores.
✓
Event & specialist hire
Generators, heaters, pumps and temporary services.
✓
Multi-depot operators
More than one depot, and equally, businesses running just the one.
What we cover
Cover built around your hire fleet.
We get to know your hire stock, depot and delivery fleet first, then build the policy around them.
Public liability
Injury or damage arising from your equipment or your depot.
Employers’ liability
Depot, workshop and delivery staff, required by law from your first employee.
Premises & contents
The depot, workshop and yard, plus contents and fit-out.
Business interruption
If the depot can’t dispatch, revenue stops. This covers the income while it’s fixed.
Hire stock
Plant and tools on hire, in the depot and in transit, your core asset.
Tools, plant & equipment
Workshop equipment, forklifts and depot plant.
Legal expenses
Hire disputes, unpaid accounts, employment matters and defending a claim.
Fleet
Delivery vehicles, HIABs and vans on one fleet policy alongside the main cover.
Cyber & data
A payment diverted to someone posing as a subcontractor, and an attack on the office systems that hold your contracts and payroll.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by plant and tool hire businesses at any size, from a single yard to a network of depots. Not every part will apply to every business, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant rather than sell you cover you don’t need.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Hire conditions matter
Who carries the risk while equipment is on hire depends on the terms you hire under.
Stock values move
Hire fleets change through the year. Sums insured need to keep up.
Theft from site
Plant left on customer sites is a common and costly loss.
Operated vs. dry hire
Supplying an operator changes the risk considerably.
Every hire fleet is different.
A tool hire counter and a plant yard with excavators don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Tool hire
Plant hire
Access equipment
Powered access
Site accommodation
Welfare units
Generator hire
Pump hire
Tool hire
Plant hire
Access equipment
Powered access
Site accommodation
Welfare units
Generator hire
Pump hire
Excavator hire
Dumper hire
Roller hire
Operated hire
Dry hire
Multi-depot hire
Event hire
Temporary services
Excavator hire
Dumper hire
Roller hire
Operated hire
Dry hire
Multi-depot hire
Event hire
Temporary services
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
Hire terms change the premium
One yard or a dozen. We know what moves the premium and what doesn’t.
02
Stock covered wherever it is
On hire, in the depot and in transit. We make sure all three are actually covered.
03
Cover that reflects your hire terms
Operated and dry hire carry different risk. We place it around the terms you actually hire under.
04
We present the risk right
Fleet values, wageroll, hire mix and claims history. How it’s framed changes what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your plant and tool hire cover and costs.
Cover spread across separate policies? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
Who carries the risk while equipment is on hire depends on the terms you hire under, so it’s worth checking yours.
Plant left on customer sites is one of the most common and costly losses in this trade.
We approach insurers on our panel who write plant and tool hire risks, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Plant & tool hire questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a plant hire business need?
Is my equipment covered while it's out on hire?
Does supplying an operator change my cover?
Can my delivery vehicles go on the same arrangement?
What happens if my hire fleet grows during the year?
How is business interruption calculated?
Are my materials and stock covered, or just tools?
What does this cover if I lease my premises?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.