Batching plant cover
Mobile batching plant insurance for concrete made on site
Towable and lorry-mounted plants making concrete on site. A short form links you with specialist brokers who handle lorry and plant risks.
- Trailer and lorry-mounted plants
- Road moves and site work
- Own projects or contract supply
Quick answer
Mobile batching plant insurance covers a concrete batching plant built on a trailer, a lorry chassis or a portable frame, so it can be moved between sites and produce fresh concrete where the work is. The policy usually has to deal with two very different stages: the plant travelling by road, where motor or trailer cover applies, and the plant set up and running as site equipment. On site, damage to the plant, theft, and harm to other people or property are typically handled by contractors' plant cover and public liability (opens in a new tab).
Batching plant cover at a glance
- A mobile batching plant makes concrete on site, unlike a drum mixer that carries it ready-made from a fixed plant.
- Moving the plant on the road and running it on site are often insured under separate sections or separate policies.
- The plant can be worth more than the lorry or tractor unit that moves it, so its value is usually agreed up front.
- Cement, aggregates and admixtures stored on site may need cover of their own.
- Supplying concrete to other firms brings questions about faulty batches that a contractor mixing for its own job may not face.
What mobile batching plant insurance covers
A batching plant spends a short time on the road and a long time parked on a site, working. Policies are usually built around that split, and the points where one section stops and another starts vary between insurers.
Batching plant types and what insurers look at
How a plant travels changes how its road risk is insured, while its size and output shape the site risk.
| Plant type | How it moves | What insurers look at |
|---|---|---|
| Trailer-mounted batching plant | Built on its own axles and towed by a tractor unit between sites | Trailer cover for the road, the tractor unit's use, set-up time on site |
| Lorry-mounted batching plant | Plant fitted to a rigid chassis that drives itself to the pour | Combined value of chassis and plant, driver and operator, site access |
| Containerised or modular plant | Carried in sections on a low loader or flatbed and assembled on site | Transit damage, cranage during assembly, length of stay on each site |
| Compact mobile plant | Smaller unit moved on a trailer or flatbed for short-term or remote work | Security on unattended sites, who operates it, output and mix types |
Different concrete vehicles are covered elsewhere: concrete mixer lorry insurance for drum mixers, volumetric mixer insurance for lorries that carry dry materials and mix at the point of discharge, and concrete pump lorry insurance for placing the concrete.
Batching plant cover for your own concrete or contract supply
Who the concrete is for is a big factor in the liability picture. A civils contractor batching for its own foundations carries its own risk, whereas a firm producing concrete for other contractors can be blamed if a pour fails.
Batching for your own project
Contractors who run a plant to feed their own works usually insure it as their own equipment, and the lorry that moves it for carriage of own goods. See own goods cover.
Supplying or hiring out
Selling concrete to other firms, or hiring the plant out with an operator, adds liability for the concrete produced and for plant in someone else's control. Brokers will ask which applies.
Which class of use usually fits a lorry moving your own batching plant between sites?
- NoSocial, domestic and pleasureNo commercial movement of plant is included.
- YesCarriage of own goodsMoving plant and materials that belong to your business.
- NoHaulage, or hire and rewardNeeded when the lorry moves other firms' equipment or goods for payment.
Operator licence
A lorry moving your own plant usually needs an operator licence for own goods; moving other firms' equipment for payment needs a standard licence. Some lorry-mounted plants that carry only their own fixed equipment are treated differently, and a broker can confirm which applies.
Records brokers may ask to see
Insurers often want the plant's value and serial details, recent servicing and calibration records for the weighing equipment, and evidence that operators are trained to run it. Insurers may ask whether any environmental permit applies to the plant. Having these to hand makes it easier when you start a batching plant quote (opens in a new tab).
What affects the price of batching plant insurance
The cost reflects what the plant is worth, how exposed it is on site and how much responsibility you carry for the concrete it makes.
Set up on site
Unfenced sites, plant left running unattended, slopes and soft ground under the silo, and neighbours close to dust or washout.
Between sites
Wide or heavy loads, how often the plant moves, and whether it travels assembled or in sections.
- Value of the plantMixers, silos, conveyors and control systems together can exceed the value of the vehicle that moves them.
- How often it movesA plant that relocates every few weeks spends more time on the road and being rigged than one parked for a long project.
- Site securityLocked cabins, fencing, lighting and immobilised generators can help with theft cover.
- Operator experienceTime spent running batching plants and producing the mixes your customers order.
- Who receives the concreteBatching only for your own works is a narrower risk than supplying other contractors.
- Claims historyPast plant, liability and motor claims all count. Several plants and lorries can sit on HGV fleet insurance.
Cover that often sits alongside batching plant insurance
A batching operation usually depends on other vehicles and other covers. These are the ones that tend to come up with a mobile plant.
Before you buy
Questions worth asking about batching plant cover
Batching plant policies often differ in what happens once the plant is rigged and running. These are the points brokers and insurers usually go through.
- Is the plant covered on site and on the road?Or does one policy stop at the site gate and leave the other part uninsured?
- Is mechanical breakdown included?Mixer gearboxes, conveyor motors and control electronics are not always covered for failure.
- Are cement and aggregates insured?Stock in the silo and bins may need a separate limit or a declared value.
- What security conditions apply?Some theft cover depends on fencing, locks or the plant being attended.
- Is concrete supplied to others covered?Liability for a batch that fails on someone else's job may need its own cover.
- Who may operate the plant?Named operators, training and experience requirements vary between insurers.
- Is the plant covered while rigged or dismantled?Damage during assembly, lifting and folding for travel can be treated separately.
- Is hired-out plant included?Plant hired to another firm, with or without an operator, often needs to be declared.
How it works
How to get a mobile batching plant insurance quote
HGV Insure is an information site, not an insurer or a broker. We link you to MyMoneyComparison.com, a comparison service that can match batching plant operators with brokers who handle plant and HGV risks.
- 1
Start your quote
Get my batching plant quote takes you to our partner, MyMoneyComparison.com.
- 2
Describe the plant and how it moves
The form asks about the vehicle or trailer, the plant's value and set-up, who operates it and whether the concrete is for your own works or for customers.
- 3
Compare and decide
A specialist broker contacts you with options, subject to insurers' acceptance criteria. There is no obligation to buy.
FAQs
Mobile batching plant insurance FAQs
What is a mobile batching plant?
It is a concrete plant designed to be moved, on a trailer, a lorry chassis or in modules, so that cement, aggregates, water and admixtures can be weighed and mixed into concrete on the site where it is needed.
How is a mobile batching plant different from a drum mixer?
A drum mixer carries concrete that was batched at a fixed plant and keeps it turning until it is poured. A mobile batching plant does the batching itself on site. See concrete mixer lorry insurance.
Is a volumetric mixer the same as a mobile batching plant?
No. A volumetric mixer is a single lorry that carries dry materials and mixes small quantities at the discharge point. A mobile batching plant is set up on site to produce larger volumes, which mixers or pumps then place. See volumetric mixer insurance.
Does my HGV insurance cover the plant while it is working?
Usually not on its own. A motor or trailer policy is built for the road, and once the plant is set up and producing concrete many insurers treat it as contractors' plant, needing a separate section or policy. A broker can confirm where the cover changes over.
Who is liable if a batch of concrete is faulty?
It depends on who supplied it and on the contract. A firm selling concrete to other contractors may face claims if a pour fails, which is usually a matter for product or wider liability cover rather than the plant policy.
Are stored cement and aggregates covered?
Some policies include materials on site up to a limit, and others leave them out. Insurers usually ask for the value of a full silo and stockpiles so the limit fits.
Do batching plant operators need training?
Insurers commonly ask whether operators are trained and experienced on the plant they run, both for safe working and for producing concrete to the mix ordered.
Can a batching plant sit on the same policy as my lorries?
Sometimes. Some insurers will combine the plant with the tractor units, tippers and mixers that support it, while others keep plant cover separate. See HGV fleet insurance.
Does HGV Insure sell mobile batching plant insurance?
No. HGV Insure is an information site and an affiliate of MyMoneyComparison.com, which matches operators with specialist brokers. When you start a quote you continue to MyMoneyComparison.com, and we may be paid a small commission if you are matched with and speak to a broker.
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