Machinery Breakdown Insurance
Critical plant failure damages equipment, halts production, destroys perishable stock, and creates downstream costs that can dwarf the repair bill. Machinery Breakdown insurance covers the sudden and unforeseen mechanical or electrical failure of your key plant, and the losses that follow.
The repair bill and what the downtime costs
One motor, and a line that stopped
An illustrative example of how Ardent can make the difference in a time of need.
A main drive motor failed on a production line. The replacement carried a twelve week lead time from overseas and the line could not run without it.
We had the machine scheduled at replacement value with the resultant damage extension, and pushed the insurer to approve air freight on the replacement rather than sea.
The motor landed in under three weeks. The policy covered the repair, the expediting cost and the profit lost while the line was down.
This is an illustrative example. Every claim is assessed by the insurer on its own facts and under the terms of the policy.
Our Machinery Breakdown experts
QPIB · Dip. Fin. Serv. (Ins Broking) · ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) CIP
Mining, aviation, construction, retail and property
Steve has 40 years in insurance, most of it in construction and civil engineering, with underground mining, aviation, national retail and property development alongside. He is one of Ardent's founders, works from inside a client's business and keeps those relationships for the long term.
QPIB · Dip. Fin. Serv. (Ins Broking) · Dip. Integrated Risk Management · ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) CIP
Risk management and program design
Stephen co-founded Ardent and has 17 years in insurance, with clients from sole traders to multinational corporates. He works through the risks a business faces and helps decide what to avoid, reduce, retain or insure, balancing cover against cost. He has served on the committee of NIBA's NSW Mentoring Program.
Cyber, property, motor fleet and technology
Kye has two and a half years in insurance broking, after working in retail management, and is studying for his diploma in insurance broking. He looks after a general book of clients, with a focus on cyber, property, motor fleet and technology. Clients find him thorough, efficient and understanding.
What a client says about Ardent
Professional, great communication and went the extra mile to get me the best outcome they could. Thanks Stephen and team.
Machinery Breakdown FAQ
No. Property insurance covers physical damage to your plant caused by external events such as fire, flood and storm. Machinery Breakdown insurance covers sudden and unforeseen internal failure of the machine itself: seized bearings, electrical burnout, hydraulic failure. These are mutually exclusive covers, and many businesses with critical plant hold both. A fire that destroys your production line is a property claim; a bearing failure that destroys it is a machinery breakdown claim.
Almost any fixed or mobile mechanical or electrical plant can be scheduled: production machinery, CNC machines, compressors, generators, boilers, pressure vessels, HVAC systems, refrigeration plant, pumps, elevators, and electronic control systems. Ardent reviews your plant schedule, identifies the equipment most critical to your operations, and sets limits and expediting expense cover to match each item's replacement cost and downtime impact.
No. Normal wear and tear, gradual deterioration, and lack of maintenance are excluded from machinery breakdown insurance. The cover is for sudden and unforeseen breakdown events. This distinction matters: if a bearing fails because it hasn't been lubricated for 12 months, that may be a maintenance issue rather than an insured event. We can tell you which maintenance records an insurer may ask for at claim time.