Insurance and liability on hired heavy equipment
Who carries the risk on hired plant depends on whether it is wet or dry hire. A clear guide to where liability sits, what cover you need, and the gaps that catch hirers out.
7 min read · 2026-07-04
Insurance is the part of an equipment hire that nobody thinks about until something goes wrong, and then it is the only thing that matters. Who pays when a hired crane is damaged, or when a load drops, depends almost entirely on one decision made at the start: whether the machine came on wet hire or dry hire. Understanding where the risk sits before the job is far cheaper than discovering it after.
This is a general guide to how liability tends to split on hired plant. The exact position always follows your contract and the law that applies, so confirm the detail with your supplier and insurer before the job. What follows is the shape most hires take.
Wet or dry decides who carries the risk
Wet hire keeps much of the operational risk with the supplier and their operator. Dry hire moves it to you, because your crew runs the machine. Know which you have signed up for.
Who carries the risk: wet vs dry
On wet hire the supplier provides the operator and crew, so they carry much of the responsibility for how the machine is used. On dry hire you provide the operator, so the operational risk and the duty to use the machine correctly move to you. The table below sets out where each responsibility tends to land.
| Responsibility | Wet hire | Dry hire |
|---|---|---|
| Operating the machine safely | Supplier and operator | Hirer and its crew |
| Operator competence and certification | Supplier | Hirer |
| Damage from misuse | Often supplier | Hirer |
| The machine itself while on hire | Shared per contract | Often hirer |
| Daily checks and correct use | Supplier crew | Hirer crew |
2
models, very different risk
Contract
sets the exact split
Dry
puts more risk on you
Wet
keeps more with supplier
What cover you need
Whichever model you choose, a few cover types come up again and again. On dry hire especially, you need to be sure your own policies extend to the hired machine and the work it does.
- Cover for the hired machine itself while it is in your care on dry hire.
- Public liability for damage or injury caused by the work.
- Confirmation that operating the plant is within your policy on dry hire.
- Clarity on excess and what is excluded before the job starts.
Maintenance and misuse are usually on you
Hire cover rarely pays for damage from poor maintenance, misuse or abuse of the machine. Those costs typically fall to the hirer regardless of the model, so run the plant by the book.
If you are unsure which model puts you in the safer position, tell us the job and we will quote both ways and set out clearly where the risk sits on each, so there are no surprises if something goes wrong.
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