Insure excavators, loaders and cranes with United India Insurance via Desi Machines — coverage, costs, claims and Indian norms explained for plant owners.
United India Insurance Company Limited traces its origins to 1938, but the company in its present form took shape in 1972, when twelve Indian insurers were consolidated into it on nationalisation. That history makes it one of India’s older insurers, carrying decades of underwriting experience under one roof. It is wholly owned by the Government of India, headquartered in Chennai, and registered with IRDAI as a non-life insurer.
Its strength is its footprint and its people. United India runs more than 1,500 offices and employs in the region of 12,500 staff, with a branch network that reaches deep into tier-2 and tier-3 towns — the kind of places where roads, irrigation and small infrastructure projects keep plant busy but where insurers’ offices can be thin on the ground. For an equipment owner working away from the big metros, having a servicing office nearby is a practical advantage, not a footnote.
Bringing twelve insurers together at nationalisation gave United India a broad, full-line book from the outset, and its engineering cover for plant and projects has been part of that mix for a long time.
The strongest argument is reach into the places machines actually work. United India’s deep rural and tier-2/3 presence means that when a loss happens on a site far from a metro, there is often a branch within a reasonable distance to register and pursue it. For contractors on highway stretches, irrigation works or small-town projects, that closeness can be the difference between a claim that moves and one that drags.
Heritage backs it up. With roots to 1938 and twelve insurers absorbed at nationalisation, this is a long-established full-line public-sector insurer, not a specialist newcomer. Its engineering department has been writing Contractors’ Plant & Machinery and project cover for years, and it offers a CPM floater that follows machines around India — a real plus for owners whose fleet rarely stays in one district.
The mainstay is the Contractors’ Plant & Machinery (CPM) policy. It covers sudden, accidental physical loss or damage to the machines you list — working, idle or being moved for maintenance — from fire and allied perils, theft and burglary, accidental external damage, overturning, and natural events such as flood, storm and landslide. Each machine carries its own sum insured, usually on a replacement-value basis. United India writes CPM both as a single-location policy and on an anywhere-in-India floater, so the cover can travel with a machine that keeps shifting between jobs.
Its engineering line goes beyond the core. The company also offers Contractors’ All Risk (CAR) for civil works under construction, Erection All Risk (EAR) for installation and commissioning, and Machinery Breakdown for the internal electrical and mechanical failures CPM leaves out. As a full-line insurer it covers motor and commercial vehicles too, which helps when a fleet mixes site-bound plant with road-going units. That breadth lets an owner keep most of the cover under one roof.
A plant policy is not a catch-all, and knowing where it ends keeps claim time straightforward. CPM does not pay the excess you agree to bear on each loss. It excludes ordinary wear and tear, rust, corrosion and gradual deterioration, and it sets aside consumables and wear parts — tyres, ropes, belts, drill bits, fuel and lubricants. Pure internal breakdown is out unless you have added Machinery Breakdown. Also excluded: loss from overloading or running a machine past its rated capacity, wilful negligence, war and nuclear perils, transit between sites unless specifically added, and the on-road liability of a road-licensed vehicle — which sits with a motor policy, covered just below.
There is no flat price, because no two machines carry the same risk. As a broad guide, annual CPM premiums in India usually fall somewhere between roughly 0.5% and 1.5% of a machine’s insured value. As an illustration only, a machine insured for ₹50 lakh might sit in the ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 band a year before GST. Your actual figure depends on the machine’s type and age, its insured value, where and how it works — hilly, flood-prone, mining and tunnelling sites rate higher — your claims history, the excess you accept, and the add-ons you choose. A higher voluntary excess lowers the premium. The only figure you can rely on is a quote, and lining one up is where Desi Machines helps.
When a machine is damaged or stolen, tell United India quickly — within a day or two is the safe habit — and file an FIR straight away for theft, burglary or any third-party incident. The company runs a 24/7 toll-free claims line on 1800-425-33333, and you can also use its branch locator or portal to reach a servicing office. It then appoints a surveyor to inspect the loss and assess cause and quantum. United India works to its own service marks here: it aims to acknowledge a claim within about 15 days and to settle within around 30 days of receiving complete documents. Keep the paperwork ready — the policy copy, a filled claim form, registration papers where they apply, the FIR for theft, repair estimates and bills, and dated photographs. Where liability is clear, an on-account payment can be released ahead of the final settlement.
24×7 claims: 1800-425-33333
A handful of rules apply whichever insurer you go with. Only IRDAI-registered companies can issue these policies, United India included, and every policy carries a UIN. The premium attracts 18% GST — the September 2025 reform removed the tax only on individual life and health cover, so commercial engineering insurance remains at 18%, though a GST-registered business can normally recover it as input tax credit. If a machine such as a mobile crane, a dumper or certain backhoe loaders travels on public roads, it must be registered and carry mandatory third-party motor insurance alongside CPM; a unit confined to an enclosed site usually does not. And because construction is hazardous work, an Employees’ Compensation (Workmen’s Compensation) policy is the standard way to cover operators and crew for injury or death on the job.
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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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