Insurance for Manufacturers and Fabricators

What you make leaves the workshop and keeps working for years, which means your risk does not end when the invoice is paid. Add a factory full of fixed plant that the whole operation depends on, raw materials and finished goods sitting in the shed, and hot work happening every day, and there is a lot riding on how the policy is put together.

We arrange insurance for manufacturers, metal fabricators and engineering workshops, from small shops to businesses running multiple lines and a delivery fleet. We take the time to understand what you make, who you make it for and how it gets to them, compare options across the market, and stand beside you if you need to make a claim.

Key covers to consider

• Public and Products Liability: injury or property damage caused by your operations, and by the products you make once they are in use
• Business Pack: your factory or workshop, plus contents, raw materials, work in progress and finished stock
• General Property and Tools: welders, plasma cutters, grinders and portable machinery away from your premises. Cover can often extend to tools stolen from a locked vehicle or job site, which is worth checking in your wording before you rely on it.
• Machinery Breakdown: sudden damage to the fixed plant your production depends on, such as presses, compressors and extraction
• Commercial Motor: utes, vans, trucks and trailers delivering to customers and sites
• Marine Transit: goods in transit, whether you cart them yourself or send them with a carrier
• Professional Indemnity: where you design or engineer to a specification as well as fabricate
• Workers Compensation: compulsory cover for businesses with employees and apprentices
• Management Liability: employment disputes, OH&S, and claims against the business and its owners and managers for alleged mismanagement
• Cyber Liability: quoting, invoicing and payment systems, and the customer details you hold

Common questions

Are the things we make covered after they leave the workshop?

That is the products half of a public and products liability policy. It responds to injury or damage caused by a product you supplied once it is out in the world. What it does not do is pay to replace or repair the faulty product itself, so if a recall or a rework is the risk that worries you most, tell us and we will talk about what else is available.

What happens if a key machine breaks down and we cannot produce?

Two covers work together there. Machinery breakdown deals with the damage to the machine itself, and business interruption deals with the income and the fixed costs while production is stopped. Neither is automatic in a business pack, so it is worth naming the machines you genuinely cannot work without.

Do I need Home Warranty / Home Building Compensation cover?

This applies to residential work you contract directly with the owner above your state's threshold, such as extensions, garages, fences or retaining walls. It must be in place before work starts. It is compulsory for any residential building or renovation work valued over $20,000 (including GST) in New South Wales.

Does a policy cover defective work?

As with any trade, the cost of redoing your own defective work usually isn't covered. Only the resulting damage or injury is. This exclusion is commonly known as Faulty Workmanship.

Do I have to use Dial Before You Dig?

Almost all policies include an exclusion for the damage to pipes and cables when you do not seek appropriate evidence or check that there are pipes or cables below. You should always check before you dig.

What if there is an issue with the design?

Some insurers can offer additional coverage for Errors and Omissions (E&O). E&O cover protects your business against third-party financial losses caused by a product's failure or defect, even when there is no bodily injury or physical property damage.

What if the product needs to be recalled?

Some insurers can offer additional coverage for Products Recall. Products Recall covers the direct financial costs of withdrawing, shipping, storing, and destroying or replacing unsafe or defective products from the marketplace.

How Much Public & Products Liability Cover Do I Need?

It depends on the work you do and who you do it for. Many head contractors, councils, property managers and commercial sites set a minimum amount in their contracts before you can start. If you lease your premises, your lease will usually set a minimum level of public liability you must hold as a tenant, and often asks for the landlord to be noted on your policy. So check your contracts, your lease and any tender or site requirements first. Also think about the worst injury or property damage your work could realistically cause.

Cover level	When it's usually needed
$5 million	Small or hobby-sized businesses with lower-risk work, few or no visitors to their premises, and no lease or contract asking for more.
$10 million	Suits most trades and businesses working on client premises or dealing with the public. Often the minimum set by commercial leases, markets and event organisers, and many subcontract agreements.
$20 million	Suits higher-risk work such as specialist trades, construction, mining, transport operators, or working at heights. Often required by head contractors, government bodies, councils, shopping centres, mine sites and larger commercial clients.

We'll look at your contracts, your lease and your work, and help you choose a limit that fits.

Talk to a broker who knows manufacturing

Tell us about your business and we'll do the comparing, the paperwork and the advocating.

Request a quote for your manufacturing business