Insure dozers, cranes and excavators with Liberty General Insurance through Desi Machines — CPM cover, risk-engineering, premiums, claims and Indian norms.
Liberty General Insurance is a joint venture that brings together Liberty Citystate Holdings — part of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, a large and long-established American insurer — with the DP Jindal Group and Enam on the Indian side. It has been writing business in India since 2013, runs out of Mumbai, and holds IRDAI registration number 150. As a mid-sized private insurer, it sits in the bracket of companies that are big enough to settle serious claims yet small enough to stay close to the customer.
The company operates a pan-India branch network and leans on a wide service footprint — more than 4,300 cashless garages and over 5,000 network hospitals — so an owner with machines and crews across several states usually finds support within reach. Carrying the Liberty Mutual name under licence also brings a certain discipline to how it underwrites and prices risk, which tends to show up in the way it handles engineering accounts.
What sets Liberty General apart for plant owners is the risk-engineering side. Beyond simply selling a policy, it offers construction risk-engineering and loss-prevention advisory, including site surveys — the kind of input that helps you spot a fire hazard near the fuel store or a parking layout that invites overturning before it costs you a machine. Fewer incidents mean fewer claims, and over time that helps keep your premium sensible too.
Pair that with a clean engineering line — CPM that covers dozers, cranes, excavators and compressors against sudden physical damage while they’re working, at rest, or during dismantling and re-erection — and you get an insurer that cares about both the cover and the conditions the machine works in. The global Liberty Mutual backing adds the financial reassurance you want behind a high-value fleet.
The core product is Contractors’ Plant & Machinery (CPM). It pays for sudden, unforeseen physical loss or damage to listed plant — dozers, cranes, excavators, compressors and the rest — whether the machine is in operation, standing idle, or being dismantled or re-erected. The triggering perils are the familiar ones: fire and allied perils, theft and burglary, accidental external damage, overturning, and natural catastrophes such as flood and storm. Each machine carries its own sum insured, generally on a replacement-value basis.
On top of the base cover, Liberty General offers optional extensions including third-party liability, earthquake, terrorism, debris removal and escalation. For project work it writes Contractors’ All Risk (CAR) for civil construction and Erection All Risk (EAR) for installation and commissioning, into which plant can be built where appropriate. Internal electrical or mechanical breakdown — outside CPM by design — is handled through separate Machinery Breakdown cover, and motor insurance is available for the road-going units in a fleet.
A plant policy is not a catch-all, and the exclusions are where claims go sideways if you haven’t read them. CPM doesn’t meet the excess you carry on each loss. It excludes normal wear and tear, rust, corrosion and gradual deterioration, along with consumables and wear parts such as tyres, ropes, belts, drill bits, fuel and lubricants. Internal breakdown is out unless Machinery Breakdown is added. The policy also won’t pay for losses from overloading or working a machine past its rated capacity, wilful negligence, testing, transit between sites without the relevant add-on, or war and nuclear perils. And damage to a road-licensed vehicle while it’s on a public road sits with a motor policy, not with CPM.
There isn’t a flat rate, because the risk profile of each machine sets the price. As a rough guide, CPM premiums in India tend to run somewhere around 0.5% to 1.5% of the insured value each year. Just as an illustration, a machine insured for ₹50 lakh might fall in the ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 range annually before GST. The figure that applies to you depends on the equipment type and age, the sum insured, where and how it works — hilly, flood-prone, mining and tunnelling sites carry higher rates — your claims history, the excess you take on, and the add-ons you select. A higher voluntary excess brings the premium down, and a clean loss record helps. Crucially, Liberty General’s loss-prevention advice can improve your risk picture over time. The real number needs a quote, and that’s where Desi Machines steps in.
If a machine is damaged or stolen, report it to Liberty General without delay — a day or two is the safe window — and file an FIR immediately for theft, burglary or any third-party loss. The insurer appoints an IRDAI-licensed surveyor to examine the damage and assess cause and quantum. You can intimate a claim on the toll-free line 1800-266-5844, and the LivMobile app plus the branch and garage locators help you find support and track progress. Have the paperwork ready: the policy copy, a completed claim form, registration documents where applicable, the FIR for theft, repair estimates and bills, and dated photographs together with operating records. Where liability is clear, an on-account payment can be released before the final settlement so your project doesn’t stall.
24×7 claims: 1800-266-5844
A few rules sit behind every equipment policy regardless of insurer. Only IRDAI-registered companies can issue them, and Liberty General is one such insurer, with a UIN on every policy. The premium carries 18% GST — the GST reform of September 2025 removed the tax only on individual life and individual health cover, so commercial engineering and motor insurance remains at 18%, although a GST-registered business can usually reclaim it as input tax credit. If a machine such as a mobile crane, dumper or certain backhoe loaders travels on public roads, the Motor Vehicles Act requires registration and mandatory third-party motor insurance in addition to CPM; a unit confined to an enclosed site generally doesn’t need that. And because construction is hazardous work, an Employees’ Compensation (Workmen’s Compensation) policy is the standard cover for operators and crew.
We're the link, not the insurer — we gather quotes from IRDAI-registered companies like Liberty General Insurance and help you read what's genuinely covered before you decide.
Desi Machines is a facilitator that helps equipment owners connect with IRDAI-registered insurers. We are not an insurer and do not issue policies — cover, eligibility, premium and claim decisions rest with the insurer under its policy terms. Premium figures shown are indicative, not quotes, and 18% GST applies. Please confirm current terms with the insurer before you buy.
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