Forklift Insurance

If you hire, lease, or own forklift trucks, your business faces a number of unique hazards and risks which can cost you a lot of money, and majorly impact your business operations. 

FleetCover offers bespoke forklift fleet insurance plans, designed to meet your specific needs and protect your business against all eventualities, no matter what. 

What is Forklift Insurance?

Forklift insurance is a form of cover which is dedicated to protect businesses who rent, lease or hire forklift trucks.

These policies protect your fleet of forklifts against theft, damage and liability problems, depending on your desired level of cover. It can protect your business financially if a third party, such as a customer, site visitor or anybody else, gets injured by a forklift truck you or your business is liable for at the time.

Does a forklift need insurance?

If your forklift is used at all on a public road, then it must legally have a minimum of third party insurance (we’d recommend a higher level of coverage than this). 

If the forklift is only used on private land, such as in a warehouse or private building plant, it doesn’t technically need to be insured from a legal standpoint. However, from a business point of view, it is vital to insure all of your heavy and expensive equipment and machinery, because this protects you against significant claims or damage harming your business financially. 

Check out our fleet insurance guide for more details.

Construction and special types plant fleet insurance

At FleetCover, we specialise in industries such as construction and agricultural fleet insurance. This means that we understand the specific needs and details of working with heavy machinery and vehicles, and the insurance requirements that come with this. Our knowledge and expertise allows us to protect your business against a number of different types of threats, including accidental damage, loss, theft and much more. 

Familiarise yourself with our owned and hired plant insurance checklist.

We also specialise in van fleet insurance, which can also be useful in the construction industry.  

What does Forklift Insurance cover?

Forklift insurance can cover a number of different risks and hazards, but here are some of the most common things covered:

• Physical damage coverage

• Liability coverage

• Hired-in plant coverage

• Inland marine insurance

Forklift insurance plans can be made bespoke to the individual needs of your business, depending on how many you have, what they are used for, where they are used, and more.

Types of cover for forklift fleets

Some of the main types of cover for forklift fleets include:

• Hired in-plant – Will cover the rental costs of hiring a replacement forklift if your current one breaks down.
• All risks – Protection against risks such as fire, theft, malicious damage and more. 
• Public liability insurance – Provides cover against claims resulting from a member of the public experiencing injury or property damage as a result of your forklift use.
• Road risks insurance – If your forklift is driven on a public road, this insurance type will protect in the same way it would protect a normal car on a public road.

FleetCover also offers crane fleet insurance!

Can a forklift be insured for moving to different sites?

A forklift can be insured for moving to different sites, either under a policy known as ‘inland marine insurance’ or ‘road risks insurance.’ Inland marine insurance is specifically to protect machinery, tools and and equipment against damage, theft, or loss whilst they are being transported between job sites. 

Road risks insurance, or commercial auto insurance, is a legal requirement which covers any vehicles, including forklifts, which are driven on public roads to any extent. 

Singular plant cover vs full construction fleet cover

Singular plant cover usually only covers one piece of equipment, such as a forklift, digger, crane, or any other related equipment. It may cover physical damage, liability, and hired-in plant pay-outs, but it’s likely that your construction site has a whole variety of vehicles and heavy machinery which needs covering, making it very inefficient both cost and admin-wise to use individual cover.

On the other hand, full construction fleet cover insures a number of different pieces of equipment under one plan, and can be bespoked to cover exactly what you and your business needs. 

Speak to FleetCover today to create your personalised insurance plan for a number of forklifts, cranes, or other construction and agricultural material.