I see why this company have sooo many 5 star reviews, they go above and beyond, work weekends and after hours to get their clients what they need. Debbie was very patient with me while trying to consolidate our vehicles and plant insurance. Couldn't recommend her enough!
Plant & Equipment Insurance Australia
Plant and equipment insurance covers mobile machinery and tools of trade, excavators, bobcats, forklifts, generators, scaffolding, against damage, theft, and fire wherever they work: on a site, in transit, in the yard, or in storage. It exists because standard business property cover protects things at your business address, and mostly stops looking after a machine the moment it leaves to go to work.
Google reviews, word for word
1 of 21
We had excellent service in obtaining insurance on a newly purchased commercial property. Clayton Rowlings explained everything so clearly and very patient with many questions regarding different options. Highly recommended! Thanks Clayton.
Tracey helped me sort out professional indemnity and public liability insurance for my new business - she was super helpful throughout the process helping me navigate for the first time.
Deja provided a prompt and professional service in securing a policy that suited my requirements.
Terrific experience with Gina. I had a difficult policy which other brokers couldn't find a solution for. Gina had an option for me within a few hours. I would highly recommend.
Thank you so much Cyndie for your help/advice/service. You made the whole process so easy. Thank you again. Jason Armstrong
Alison was a life-saver for us, staying after hours to make sure that we could get the building insurance coverage we urgently needed for a property purchase.
Debbie was always happy to help with my questions and very prompt with her service.
Hi I can highly recommend Aimee Spencer for all your insurance needs she has done a fantastic effort on keeping my insurance policy once again Many Thanks for all your work
Saskia Van Oostveen was efficient, professional, accurate, helpful and friendly throughout the entire process. Highly recommend!
A great experience with Tori, attaining some tricky commercial insurance, she was very professional in catering to your needs, whilst also having a quick turn around.
Jade was wonderful, finding me insurance coverage for a commercial property. Greatly appreciated her excellent service.
I contacted Tracey E from Consolidated Insurance Brokers for some commercial property quotes. Tracey was super helpful helpful, friendly and provided great advice. Highly recommend for all your insurance needs!
Thanks for your assistance Dylan with car insurance inquiry you have been really helpful and professional.
Shona was always available and answered all my queriers. A1 service and happy to recommend.
I contacted Renay after she was recommended by a family friend, for home and contents insurance. She was prompt and helpful and had me all sorted in a couple of days. Highly recommend!
I needed fast transit insurance this week and Daniel Roussounis was outstanding in his immediate response and getting this organized for me. Can't recommend Daniel and Consolidated Insurance Brokers highly enough!
Second year organising insurance with Jim K., did not have any issues and a smooth transition. I recommend
May Lewong at the Emerald office was amazing. Easy to deal with and was quick and efficient.
Reena was absolutely fantastic during the entire process helping me set you our new home and contents insurance. Would definitely recommend to anyone.
Natasha as always, gives us professional, exceptional service and would recommend her to any business :-)
Read every review, word for word as it was written on Google
Written by William Paull, QPIB
Co-Founder & Account Director · Read William’s full profile
Your excavator disappears from the site overnight. No forced gate, no witnesses, just an empty patch of dirt where a $180,000 machine sat yesterday. A standard business property policy protects things sitting still at your business address, but the moment a machine leaves that address and goes to work, most property cover has already stopped looking after it.
Plant and equipment insurance is built for machines that move: excavators, bobcats, forklifts, scaffolding, generators, and the tools of trade that go where the job goes. Consolidated Insurance Brokers builds this cover around what you own, what you hire in, and what you hire out, so the day something disappears from a site is not the day you find out you were carrying the risk alone.
What it covers
Owned machinery is settled at whichever is lower: the machine's market value at the time of loss, or the sum insured you set when you took the policy out. There is one exception on the wording we place: if a machine is written off within three years of being bought new, you can choose to have it replaced with an equivalent new machine instead of taking the cash. The wording we place does not say the same for a stolen machine, so we check yours. On every plant policy we place, we add a "market value plus" option as standard, which lifts the payout to market value plus 15 per cent (as at July 2026), capped at your sum insured. That buffer tops a depreciated machine up above straight market value. The gap between a machine's insured value and its replacement cost can open up quickly as it ages. The buffer is built for depreciation, so it does not apply on the highest-value machines, or where the market value at the time of loss is already close to the sum insured.
If you hire machines in or out, you need hired-in or hired-out plant liability. Dry hire carries conditions of its own, and loss of hire is a separate benefit: plant hire insurance sets out both sides of a hire agreement.
If any of your machinery is registered and travels on public roads under its own power, rather than on a trailer, you also need road risk cover. Compulsory third party insurance covers injury to people, not damage to other vehicles, fences, or property. So a registered excavator or roller needs its own property damage cover for the road, separate from its cover on site.
The biggest risk
The first risk is who pays when the machine is not yours: if you hire one in, the hire agreement usually decides, as plant hire insurance explains.
The second risk sits inside the fine print of whatever policy you hold. Some plant insurers still require specific security conditions before they will pay a theft claim: a locked compound, an immobiliser, sometimes a tracking device. If a machine is left on an open site overnight because that is how the job works, and the policy assumed a locked compound, the claim can be declined on the conditions rather than on the theft itself.
How we do it differently
When you dry hire, in or out, we read the hire agreement first, because that document decides who pays if the machine is damaged or stolen.
We also do not leave you to discover a valuation gap at claim time: we add the market value plus buffer as standard where it applies, so you do not have to ask for it.
As a rule, we prefer not to place clients with insurers that make a locked compound, an immobiliser, or a tracking device a condition of paying a theft claim, or that load a blanket excess onto every theft claim for it. The plant insurers we favour work on the same general duty of care that applies to the rest of your business.
Who needs this
We place this cover for earthmoving and civil contractors more than anyone, most of them owner-operators and small, family-run businesses running their own excavators, bobcats, and rollers on both dry hire and wet hire terms. This cover also suits builders and landscapers running smaller plant and tools of trade (see Construction Insurance and Trades Insurance for the broader package those trades usually need alongside this). The same cover suits standalone plant hire businesses hiring equipment out to others, and farmers running tractors, harvesters, and other mobile agricultural machinery (see Farm Insurance). Plant cover also suits warehouse or industrial operators running forklifts and other yard equipment (see Warehouse Insurance and Industrial Building Insurance).
Common mistakes
Setting the sum insured too low on a financed machine. If you still owe more on a financed machine than the amount it is insured for, a total loss can leave you short, even with the "market value plus" buffer. That buffer tops up market value, but it does not fix a sum insured that was set too low from the start. The proper plant and equipment policies also carry a finance-protection option built for this gap. On the plant policies we place, we turn it on.
Treating security conditions as boilerplate. If a theft condition requires a locked compound, an immobiliser, or a tracking device and that is not how your business operates on site, a theft claim can be declined on that condition.
Forgetting road risk on registered machines. If a machine is registered for the road and drives itself between sites, compulsory third party insurance only covers injury to people, not damage to another vehicle or property.
Short answers
Am I liable if I damage a machine I hired from a plant hire company?
In most cases, yes, and hired-in plant liability is the cover that protects you, so ask Consolidated Insurance Brokers whether your policy carries it. Standard hire agreements make the hirer responsible for the machine's full replacement cost if it is damaged, lost, or stolen in their care, custody, or control, regardless of fault. Plant hire insurance sets out both sides.
What is the difference between dry hire and wet hire, and does it change my insurance?
Dry hire means the machine goes out without an operator, so the hirer's own staff run it; wet hire means the owner's operator goes with it. Consolidated Insurance Brokers places this cover for earthmoving contractors running their machines on both dry hire and wet hire terms, and wet hire is largely automatic under most plant policies. Dry hire carries conditions, set out in plant hire insurance.
Does my plant and equipment policy cover theft from a building site?
Yes, but some insurers attach security conditions, such as a locked compound, immobiliser, or tracking device, and can decline a claim if they were not met. Consolidated Insurance Brokers tries not to place clients under them, and a decline still has to be proven: in one published AFCA determination, a machinery damage decline was overturned because the insurer had not established that the cause it relied on caused the incident, or adequately investigated the operator's alternative explanation.
How does my insurer actually settle a total loss on my excavator?
Usually at the lower of market value at the time of loss or the sum insured. Consolidated Insurance Brokers adds "market value plus" as standard on the plant policies it places, paying market value plus 15 per cent (as at July 2026), capped at your sum insured. That option does not apply on the highest-value machines, or where market value at loss is already close to the sum insured.
Do I need separate insurance for machinery that travels on the road?
Yes, if a machine is registered and drives itself between sites, so tell Consolidated Insurance Brokers which ones do. Compulsory third party insurance covers injury to people, not damage to another vehicle or property, so a registered excavator, roller, or mobile crane needs road risk cover. Road risk is written to a registered machine, so an unregistered one gets nothing, as the earthmoving and heavy machinery insurance page explains.
What happens to my insurance if I hire my own equipment out to someone else?
You need hired-out plant liability. Cover for theft or damage by the hirer generally depends on the paperwork, which Consolidated Insurance Brokers reads first when you dry hire. Dry hire generally carries a higher liability exposure, because you have less control over how the machine is used. The paperwork dry hire needs is in plant hire insurance.
If my hired-out machine is damaged, does my policy cover the income I lose while it is off the road?
Some plant policies do, as a benefit separate from the repair: a flat weekly amount you choose up front, or a figure worked from what the machine earned over the past twelve months. Ask Consolidated Insurance Brokers whether this is included or needs adding. Plant hire insurance explains both, as well as the dry hire exclusion.
Is a machine I have just bought automatically covered before I get around to adding it to my policy?
Often yes, for a limited period and up to a set amount, because most plant policies include a short automatic-cover window for newly acquired plant while you arrange to add it. Tell Consolidated Insurance Brokers as soon as you buy or lease a new machine, so it goes on the schedule at the right value from day one.
Know who's covered before the job starts.
When you have just bought your first machine or your renewal has you looking around, ring 07 3292 1111 to see how we would insure your plant and equipment.