New India Assurance Construction Equipment Insurance

About New India Assurance

The New India Assurance Co. Ltd was founded on 23 July 1919 by Sir Dorabji Tata, of the Tata group — a pedigree few insurers anywhere can match. It was nationalised in 1973 and folded into the public sector, and in 2017 it listed on the stock exchanges while the Government of India kept its majority holding. Today it stands as India’s oldest and largest general insurer, headquartered in Mumbai, holding IRDAI registration number 190. The regulator has designated it a Domestically Systemically Important Insurer (D-SII), a status reserved for the handful of insurers considered most central to the market.

For an equipment owner, the standout is its reach. New India runs around 1,600 offices across India and operates in roughly 25 to 28 countries — it is the only Indian general insurer with that kind of overseas spread, including a London branch that has been running for about a century. It is also rated CRISIL AAA. When a high-value machine or a large project is on the line, dealing with a long-established market leader of that size is a reassuring place to start.

Why insure with New India Assurance

The case rests on scale, longevity and trust. This is a century-old insurer founded by Sir Dorabji Tata, the long-standing leader of India’s non-life market, and one the regulator treats as systemically important. For owners running expensive plant or insuring machines on a large infrastructure job, that standing carries real comfort — a big engineering claim is less daunting when the company behind the policy has been settling them at scale for decades.

Its international reach sets it apart too. With operations across more than 25 countries and a London branch dating back roughly a hundred years, New India is the only Indian general insurer with that breadth abroad. For a contractor or fleet owner whose ambitions or projects cross borders, that span is worth weighing. And whether your machines work a metro corridor or a remote dam site, its wide domestic office network means there is usually a branch within reach to register and pursue a claim.

Coverages available

The core product is the Contractors’ Plant & Machinery (CPM) policy, written for construction and material-handling machinery. It answers for sudden, accidental physical loss or damage to your listed machines whether they are operating, at rest, or being shifted — covering fire, theft and burglary, accidental external damage, overturning, and natural events such as flood and storm. Each machine carries its own sum insured on the schedule, usually on a replacement-value basis, and you can add third-party liability and cover for surrounding property alongside.

Its engineering suite runs wider than the core policy. New India also writes Electronic Equipment insurance, and through a branch or on a quote it offers Contractors’ All Risk (CAR) for civil works, Erection All Risk (EAR) for installation and commissioning, Machinery Breakdown for the internal failures CPM excludes, and Marine-cum-Erection cover for projects where plant and materials travel before they are installed. That spread lets an owner sit a moving fleet, a fixed project and the high-value gear on it under one insurer.

What's usually not covered

What it's likely to cost

There is no fixed tariff, since every machine carries a different risk. As a general guide, annual CPM premiums in India tend to fall somewhere around 0.5% to 1.5% of a machine’s insured value. By way of illustration only, a machine insured for ₹50 lakh might land in the ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 range a year before GST. Where you actually settle depends on the machine’s type and age, its insured value, where and how it works — hilly, flood-prone, mining and tunnelling sites attract a higher rate — your claims history, the excess you opt for, and the add-ons selected. A higher voluntary excess trims the premium. The dependable figure comes from a quote, and that is where Desi Machines comes in.

How claims work

When a machine is damaged or stolen, tell New India promptly — within a day or two is the safe rule — and file an FIR straight away for theft, burglary or any third-party event. The company runs a toll-free claims line on 1800-209-1415, and it has built out digital intake too: an online Claim File Portal, a ‘My Claims’ login to track progress, and claim intimation over WhatsApp on 98333 19191. It then appoints an IRDAI-licensed surveyor to inspect the loss and assess cause and quantum. Keep the documents to hand — 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 before the final settlement so the work need not stall.

24×7 claims: 1800-209-1415

Rules & paperwork worth knowing

Frequently asked questions