Kotak General Insurance Construction Equipment Insurance

About Kotak General Insurance

Kotak General set up shop in 2015 and holds IRDAI registration number 152, with its head office in Mumbai. It began life as Kotak Mahindra General Insurance, the general-insurance arm of the Kotak group, and built out a solid service base — more than 6,300 cashless garages and over 22,600 network hospitals.

The shape of the company changed in 2024. Zurich Insurance Group acquired 70% for roughly ₹5,560 crore — the biggest foreign investment India’s general insurance industry has seen — and the business was renamed Zurich Kotak General Insurance, with Kotak Mahindra Bank holding the remaining 30%. That pairing is the real selling point: Zurich brings more than 150 years of insurance experience across 200-plus countries and very strong financial ratings, while Kotak brings deep Indian distribution. For an equipment buyer, it means global commercial-lines discipline delivered through a local bank-backed network.

Why insure with Kotak General Insurance

The headline reason is the backing. Engineering and plant claims can be large and technical, and a global parent with Zurich’s financial strength is exactly the kind of balance sheet you want standing behind a high-value machine. Global insurers also tend to bring a structured, well-documented way of underwriting commercial risk, which can work in a careful contractor’s favour.

The product range fits the work, too. Kotak General writes Engineering cover with filed IRDAI products — Erection All Risk, Contractors’ All Risk and Contractors’ Plant & Machinery — so both the project phase and day-to-day plant operation are catered for. There is real Indian reach as well: a 6,300-plus garage network and tens of thousands of network hospitals mean help is rarely far when a machine needs repair or an operator needs care. Global standards, local hands — that is the pitch for a plant owner.

Coverages available

The core annual cover is Contractors’ Plant & Machinery (CPM). It protects owned or hired plant against sudden, accidental physical loss or damage at the insured site — the machine working, idle, or down for maintenance — from fire, theft and burglary, accidental impact, overturning and natural perils such as flood and storm. Each machine carries its own sum insured on the schedule, usually on a replacement-value footing.

For project work, Kotak General writes Contractors’ All Risk (CAR) for civil construction and Erection All Risk (EAR) for installation, testing and commissioning, both tied to the contract period; plant can be slotted into those covers where it fits. Internal electrical or mechanical failure — which CPM leaves out — is picked up by a Machinery Breakdown cover. There is also a notable motor angle: Kotak General’s Commercial Vehicle product explicitly extends to road-going machines such as tractors, excavators, shovels, grabs and mobile rigs, which is genuinely useful for plant that travels under its own power. Add-ons worth asking about include third-party liability, debris removal, escalation and an anywhere-in-India extension so cover follows a roaming machine.

What's usually not covered

What it's likely to cost

There is no flat rate for plant cover — risk decides the price. As an indicative range, annual CPM premiums in India tend to sit between 0.5% and 1.5% of the machine’s insured value. By way of illustration only, a machine insured for ₹50 lakh might fall somewhere around ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 a year before GST. Where you land turns on the machine type and age, its insured value, the working environment (hilly, flood-prone, mining and tunnelling sites cost more), your claims history, the excess you choose and the add-ons you bolt on. A higher voluntary excess lowers the premium. The honest answer to ‘what will it cost’ is a quote, and Desi Machines is set up to get you one.

How claims work

Tell the insurer promptly when a machine is damaged or stolen, and lodge an FIR straight away for theft, burglary or a third-party incident. An IRDAI-licensed surveyor is appointed to assess the cause and the amount. Kotak General runs a toll-free claims line on 1800 2120, a WhatsApp channel on 7998879988, and online claim registration with a status tracker. For motor-type losses it aims to arrange inspection within 24 hours on a working day and to reimburse within about seven working days of receiving complete documents. Keep the file ready: policy copy, claim form, registration papers where they apply, the FIR for theft, repair estimates and bills, and photographs. Where liability is clear, an on-account payment can be released before final settlement so your work keeps moving.

Rules & paperwork worth knowing

Frequently asked questions