Hired-In Plant Insurance UK: CPA Conditions Explained
What is hired-in plant insurance?
Hired-in plant insurance covers your responsibility for machinery and equipment you hire from someone else. If a hired excavator, dumper, telehandler or generator is stolen, damaged or destroyed while it is in your care, the policy pays the hire company for repair or replacement, and can also pay the hire charges that keep running until the machine is replaced.
Under standard hire terms that responsibility is yours from the moment the plant leaves the hire depot until it gets back, including nights, weekends and time in transit.
Most contractors hire far more plant than they own. Each hire contract shifts the risk of that machine onto you, and hire companies know it. That is why the counter asks for a certificate showing your hired-in plant cover, and adds a damage waiver charge to every hire if you can't produce one. Getting this cover right saves money on every hire and stops one stolen machine from becoming a five or six-figure bill.
What the hire contract makes you responsible for
Most UK plant is hired under the Construction Plant-hire Association's CPA Model Conditions, or under terms based on them. Smaller tools are often hired under Hire Association Europe (HAE) conditions. Exact wording varies by version and by hire company, but the pattern is consistent:
- Loss and damage. The hirer is responsible for loss of or damage to the plant during the hire period, however it happens, apart from fair wear and tear.
- The hire period. It usually runs from when the plant leaves the owner's premises until it is returned, so transit, evenings, weekends and bank holidays are all your risk.
- Continuing hire charges. If a machine is stolen or written off, hire charges can keep running until the claim is settled or the plant is replaced.
- Third-party claims. The hirer is usually responsible for injury and damage caused by the plant while it is in use, which falls to your public liability policy.
- Insurance requirement. Most hire contracts require the hirer to insure the plant, and the hire company will ask for evidence.
Damage waiver or your own policy?
When you can't show hired-in plant cover, the hire company charges a damage waiver, often called loss and damage waiver or hire insurance, as a percentage of every hire. It reduces what you owe if the plant is damaged, but it is a contract term, not an insurance policy, and the detail matters:
| Hire company damage waiver | Your own hired-in plant policy | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is paid | A charge on every hire | One annual premium covering all hires |
| Theft | Often excluded or limited, especially from unsecured sites | Covered, subject to security conditions you agree up front |
| Your share of a loss | Can still leave a large percentage or excess with you | Fixed excess set at placement |
| Continuing hire charges | Often not included | Can be included, with a limit you choose |
| Works across hire companies | No, each company's terms differ | Yes, one certificate for every hire desk |
For a business that hires occasionally, the waiver can be the simpler route. For anyone hiring most weeks, an annual policy is usually cheaper overall and gives clearer cover. Paying for both is the most common waste we see.
What a good hired-in plant policy covers
- Theft, accidental damage, fire and vandalism to plant and equipment you have hired in.
- A per-item limit high enough for the most valuable machine you hire, not just the typical one.
- An overall limit covering everything you might have on hire at once across all your sites.
- Continuing hire charges for a set period while a stolen or written-off machine is replaced.
- Transit, loading and unloading, if you collect or move the plant yourself.
- Recovery and removal costs after an accident, such as lifting an overturned machine.
It sits alongside your other covers rather than replacing them. Injury and damage caused by the plant fall to public liability, injury to your own staff falls to employers' liability, and the works themselves fall to contractors all risks. Plant you own is covered under the own-plant section; our plant and machinery insurance guide covers both together.
Why hired-in plant claims go wrong
- The limit is too low. A per-item limit set years ago for mini diggers will not cover a modern 13-tonne excavator.
- Security conditions weren't met. Keys left in the cab, no immobiliser, or plant left on an open site overnight when the policy required a locked compound.
- No continuing hire cover. The machine is paid for, but weeks of hire charges until replacement are not.
- Operated hire assumed to be the hire company's risk. The hirer finds they were responsible for the operator and the lift.
- Late notification. Theft not reported to the police and insurer promptly, or damage not reported before the plant went back to the depot.
How to set up hired-in plant cover properly
List what you hire
The machines you hire most, the most valuable single item, and the most you might have on hire at once.
Check the contracts
Which conditions your hire companies use, how they treat continuing hire, and what certificate they need.
Set the limits
Per-item and total limits that match reality, and a continuing hire period that matches replacement lead times.
Agree security you can meet
Immobilisers, compounds, key control and tracking that fit how your sites actually work.
Stop paying the waiver
Send your certificate to each hire company so the damage waiver comes off your hires.
For demolition, groundworks and civils firms, where hired plant is often worth more than the rest of the business put together, see our guides to groundworks and demolition contractor insurance. If you hire equipment out rather than in, our equipment hire business guide is the better fit.
Frequently asked questions
Hired-in plant insurance covers your legal responsibility for plant and equipment you hire from someone else. If a hired machine is stolen, damaged or destroyed while it is in your care, the policy pays the hire company for repair or replacement, and can also pay the hire charges that keep running until the machine is replaced.
Not necessarily, but you need one or the other. A damage waiver is a charge added to each hire that reduces your liability to the hire company. It is not insurance, it often excludes theft from unsecured sites or carries a high excess, and across a year it usually costs more than an annual hired-in plant policy. Most regular hirers are better off with their own policy and a certificate to show the hire company.
Under the CPA Model Conditions, the hirer is generally responsible for loss of or damage to the plant from the moment it leaves the owner's premises until it is returned, and must pay hire charges until the plant is returned or the claim is settled. The exact terms depend on the version of the conditions and the hire contract you sign, so always read it.
Many contractors combined policies include a hired-in plant section, but often with a low limit per item and in total, a high excess, and security conditions. Check the limit against the most valuable machine you are likely to hire, and check whether continuing hire charges are included.
Under CPA terms for crane hire, the hirer is responsible for planning and supervising the lift, even though the crane comes with an operator. Under a contract lift, the crane company takes on that responsibility. Many contractors assume an operated crane hire is a contract lift and find out otherwise after an accident.
Usually, but theft is where most hired-in plant claims fail. Policies often require immobilisers, secure overnight storage, keys removed and kept securely, or tracking devices on higher-value machines. If the plant was left unsecured on site, the claim can be refused.
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