Business equipment insurance

What is business equipment insurance?

What equipment is covered?

Business equipment cover is best suited to professionals as it covers equipment needed for your job – typical portable equipment such as laptops, mobile phones and cameras.

Business equipment insurance

With this optional extra that can be added to your business insurance, you’ll get protection for any equipment needed to keep your business running, no matter what your job description is. 

Examples include:

Own plant, tools, and equipment cover

If you’re a tradesperson, own plant tools and equipment offers protection in case of accidental loss, theft or damage to your owned tools, including;

• Constructional plant
• Machinery
• Trailers
• Tools
• Site huts
• Caravans (including their contents)
• Portable tools and equipment (including electronic communication and computing equipment)

Hired-in plant cover

If you’re renting specialist gear, our hired-in equipment cover will protect them if they’re damaged or destroyed in your care. We’ll provide cover for a variety of hired-in equipment, such as:

• Constructional plant
• Machinery
• Tools and equipment
• Site huts or caravans you have hired to use in connection with the business

What is stock in trade cover?

With this cover, you can protect stock up to a value of £2,000. Stock in trade cover is an automatic extension that you get with both business equipment and tools insurance.

Who needs business equipment insurance?

We cover a broad spectrum of professions with our business equipment insurance, everything from consultants and bookkeepers to stylists and tutors.

Every business has equipment that they need to keep business running, so no matter what equipment you need to protect – we’ve got something to suit you.

Business equipment cover, or tools insurance, can be added to whichever covers you have with us.

Is rental equipment and tools covered?

With our hired-in plant and tools insurance, we’ll help tradespeople and construction workers protect things like constructional plant, machinery, tools or site huts if they’re damaged or destroyed whilst in your care.

How much business equipment cover do I need?

Every business is different, and so is the level of cover you need. That’s why we let you tailor your level of cover to what’s right for your business.

It’s important when you’re deciding on cover levels to get the right value for your equipment so you aren't left under, or over, insured.

Underinsuring your equipment could result in not getting the right level of cover to suit the potential damage, whereas over insuring can leave you paying a higher premium than necessary.

To get this right, we suggest making sure you know the accurate value of the equipment you want to cover as well as keeping detailed records and evidence of their condition.

What else should you consider when buying business equipment insurance?

When you’re buying business equipment insurance there may be other factors to consider.

Excess details

You might think that it makes more sense to have a high excess on your policy, however, if your excess is costing you more than it would cost you to replace the damaged or stolen equipment, then you’re not getting the value you should be. So, always check your excess.

At AXA our excess is variable, offering 10% of every claim subject to a minimum of £250 and a maximum of £500.

Possible exclusions

Some policies come with certain exclusions, so be sure to always check your policy wording to be crystal clear on what we do and don’t cover.  As with most insurance policies, for a claim to be accepted there must be signs of forced entry in cases of theft.

Know the value of your equipment

It's important that you keep your receipts from any purchased items and photographs of the equipment. Doing so could help you get a claim settled faster. Over or underestimating the value of your tools could lead to paying too much, or not having enough cover should you need it.

What types of business insurance can I add this to?

You can add this to any of our covers, to create the right policy for your company – meaning you only pay for the things you need.

*Not all occupations are eligible for £10 million coverage, the best way to find out which level of cover you are eligible for is to get a quote. Existing customers may want to consult their policy documents.