Dry Hire Insurance Brokers
Cover built around equipment you hire out, not just equipment you own
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What Is Dry Hire Insurance and Who Needs It?
Dry hire insurance covers machinery and equipment you own and rent out to someone else without supplying an operator. The hirer controls how the equipment is used, but you still carry ownership risk, damage, theft and liability can all come back to you even though someone else was running the machine. Standard business or plant policies aren’t built around this specific risk, so dry hire needs its own structure.
Coverscope works with civil contractors, plant owners and earthmoving businesses hiring out excavators, skid steers, rollers, trailers and attachments across Australia. Whether hire is a side income or the core of the business, the cover is matched to the actual hire conditions and contract terms.
What Does Dry Hire Insurance Cover?
- Equipment Damage and Theft: accidental damage, malicious damage, fire and theft while the machine is out on hire.
- Public and Products Liability: legal costs and compensation if hired-out equipment injures someone or damages property.
- Attachments and Accessories: buckets, augers, forks and other attachments hired out alongside the main machine, provided they’re specifically listed on the policy.
- Transit Cover: damage or loss while equipment is being transported between sites or delivered to the hirer.
- Loss of Use (optional): a daily or weekly payment while a damaged machine is off-hire being repaired or replaced.
- Recovery Costs: retrieving or repossessing equipment from a site if the hirer walks away from the contract or refuses to return it.
- Contractual Liability Review: identifying liability you’ve taken on under your own hire agreement wording.
- Windscreen and Glass Cover: cracked or broken cab glass on enclosed machinery.
Who Needs Dry Hire Insurance?
Dry hire insurance is for anyone who owns equipment and hires it out without an operator, whether that’s a handful of trailers or a full multi-asset fleet. It’s a genuinely different product to hiring equipment in from someone else, where the risk runs the other way and the relevant cover sits with your own plant policy instead.
- Civil contractors offering dry hire as a side income
- Plant owners with multiple assets out on hire
- Small businesses hiring out trailers, diggers or attachments
- Earthmoving contractors and owner-operators
- Businesses that also hire equipment in from other owners, which needs hired-in plant cover rather than dry hire insurance
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What We Cover
Our dry hire policies are set up to protect against the key risks that come with equipment hire.
What's the Difference Between Dry Hire and Wet Hire Insurance?
Dry hire means you supply the equipment only, the hirer provides their own operator and takes on operational control. Wet hire means you supply the equipment and a trained operator, so the operator stays under your control and your own public liability and plant cover generally responds to their actions. The insurance structure differs because the person actually running the machine is different, dry hire cover needs to account for someone outside your business operating your equipment.
Does Dry Hire Insurance Cover Equipment I Hire From Someone Else?
No, that’s a different risk entirely. Dry hire insurance protects equipment you own while someone else uses it. If you’re the one hiring machinery from another owner, you generally need hired-in plant cover instead, since most hire contracts make you responsible for the full replacement cost if that equipment is damaged, lost or stolen while it’s in your care.
Is Theft by the Hirer Covered Under Dry Hire Insurance?
Not always as standard, but it can be arranged. General theft, someone stealing the equipment while it’s on-site, is typically covered. Theft or unauthorised disposal by the hirer themselves is a different exposure that many standard plant policies don’t address on their own. Talk to your broker directly if this matters to you, it’s usually available as a specific dry hire extension rather than assumed to already be included.
What Happens If a Hirer Refuses to Return My Equipment?
You generally have both contractual and insurance responses available. Recovery cost cover can help fund retrieving equipment from a site, and a properly worded hire agreement gives you a stronger legal position to pursue unpaid hire fees or the equipment’s replacement value if the hirer won’t cooperate.
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Dry Hire Insurance Cover Types Explained
Equipment Damage and Theft
Covers your machinery against accidental damage, malicious damage, fire, rollover and theft while it’s out on hire. This is the core of a dry hire policy, protecting the asset itself rather than just the liability that comes with hiring it out.
Public and Products Liability
Covers legal costs and compensation if equipment you’ve hired out causes injury or property damage and you’re held responsible, in whole or in part. Many hire contracts set a minimum liability limit before they’ll deal with you at all, commonly in the range of $10 million to $20 million, though the right limit depends on your own client base and contract terms.
Attachments and Accessories
Covers buckets, augers, forks and other attachments hired out alongside the main machine, provided they’re specifically listed on the policy rather than assumed to be included automatically with the base equipment.
Transit Cover
Covers damage or loss while equipment is being transported between sites, delivered to the hirer, or collected at the end of the hire period, distinct from damage that happens once the machine is actually on-site and in use.
Loss of Use
Pays a daily or weekly amount while a damaged machine is off-hire being repaired or replaced, rather than leaving that income gap entirely on you. This is typically an optional addition rather than a standard inclusion, and benefit periods and daily caps vary significantly between insurers.
Recovery Costs
Covers the cost of retrieving or repossessing equipment from a difficult or remote site if a hirer walks away from the contract or refuses to return the machine, on top of whatever legal steps are available under the hire agreement itself. Registering ownership on the Personal Property Securities Register is a separate but useful protection if a hirer becomes insolvent.
Windscreen and Glass Cover
Covers cracked or broken cab glass on excavators, loaders and other enclosed machinery. Treatment genuinely varies by insurer, some include it as part of standard accidental damage cover, others require it to be specifically listed or endorsed before it responds, so it’s worth confirming which applies rather than assumed either way.
What Usually Isn't Covered?
Exclusions, excess amounts and limits of liability vary between insurers, so always check the current Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) before relying on a policy summary. Common exclusions include:
- Theft or unauthorised disposal by the hirer themselves, not always covered as standard, let your broker know if this matters so it can be arranged as a specific extension
- Equipment operated by someone without the proper licence, certification or training for that machinery
- Mechanical or electrical breakdown, unless a specific extension has been added
- Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, rust or corrosion
- Damage arising because the hirer wasn’t given adequate operating instructions or safety guidance
- Unregistered plant used on public roads, which generally needs separate road risk cover rather than relying on a standard dry hire policy
- Illegal, reckless or unauthorised use of the equipment
- Claims where no valid, compliant written hire agreement was in place, which can affect cover significantly rather than just weakening a claim
FAQ
What's the difference between dry hire and wet hire insurance?
Dry hire means you supply the equipment only and the hirer provides their own operator. Wet hire means you supply both the equipment and a trained operator, so the operator stays under your control. The cover differs because who’s actually running the machine differs.
Does dry hire insurance cover equipment I hire in from someone else?
No. That’s covered under hired-in plant liability instead, since you’re the one responsible for someone else’s equipment rather than someone else being responsible for yours.
Does dry hire insurance cover loss of income while equipment is being repaired?
It can, through optional loss of use or downtime cover, but this is typically an add-on rather than a standard inclusion, and the payout period and daily rate vary by insurer.
What happens if a hirer refuses to return my equipment?
Recovery cost cover can help fund retrieving the equipment, and a properly worded hire agreement strengthens your legal position to pursue the hirer for unpaid fees or the equipment’s replacement value.
Does dry hire insurance cover attachments like buckets and augers?
Generally yes, but only if they’re specifically listed on the policy alongside the main machine, rather than assumed to be automatically included with the base equipment.
Get in Touch
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Suite 10B, Level 10, 2 Corporate Court, Bundall QLD 4217
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PO Box 7005, Mount Crosby QLD 4306
Our team continues to work remotely but you are welcome to arrange an appointment with one of our consultants.
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