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• What Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance?
• What Is the Average Cost of Equipment Breakdown Insurance in Illinois?
• What Does Equipment Breakdown Insurance Cover?
• Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance Coverage Included in Illinois Home Insurance?
• Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance Coverage Included in Illinois Commercial Insurance?
• What Is Farm Equipment Breakdown Insurance?
• How an Illinois Independent Insurance Agent Can Help You

There are more than 1,200,000 small businesses in Illinois. Last year, more than $16 billion in commercial insurance claims were made. Equipment breakdown is becoming a more common claim for businesses. That's why it's important for Illinois business owners to protect their equipment and machinery with a good equipment breakdown insurance policy.

A breakdown can cost your business thousands of dollars in repairs and lost income. An Illinois independent insurance agent can help you find business insurance that includes the proper equipment breakdown coverage. 

What Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance?

Equipment breakdown insurance is a type of business insurance that helps pay for the costs to repair or replace any damaged or broken equipment or machinery. It's also referred to as boiler and machinery insurance.

According to insurance expert Paul Martin, equipment breakdown insurance can be purchased for businesses or households and ultimately is designed to fill gaps that exist in homeowners and property insurance. "Property insurance generally has an exclusion for mechanical breakdown and electrical injury," says Martin. "Equipment breakdown insurance covers this and other unexpected and accidental events."

What Is the Average Cost of Equipment Breakdown Insurance in Illinois?

The cost of equipment breakdown insurance will vary greatly depending on whether you're insuring multiple pieces of business equipment, heavy machinery, or just some basic appliances in your building. Ultimately, the more expensive the item you're needing coverage for, the higher your premiums will be. A construction company looking to get equipment breakdown insurance on their five excavators and backhoes will pay more than a restaurant looking to insure their commercial refrigerator.

An Illinois independent insurance agent can provide you with quotes on what equipment breakdown insurance might cost you. Depending on your situation, it can range anywhere from $25 per year for $50,000 in coverage to several thousand dollars for a business with millions of dollars worth of machinery.

What Does Equipment Breakdown Insurance Cover?

For Illinois businesses, equipment breakdown insurance covers mechanical or electrical breakdowns of machinery, tools, appliances, electronic devices, and systems such as furnaces. If your equipment breaks down as a result of the following events, it will be covered:

• Power surges
• Improper installation
• Pressure system breakdown
• Mechanical breakdowns
• Short circuits
• Motor burnouts

Should your equipment experience any of the above events, this coverage can help pay for 

• Repair and replacement costs
• Lost business income
• Time and labor costs associated with repairing or replacing damaged equipment
• Cost to replace spoiled food if a commercial freezer or refrigerator breaks down

It's important to note that your equipment breakdown insurance will not cover any damage or breakdowns related to wear and tear, deterioration, mold, rot, pest damage, or similar scenarios. It also won't pay for machinery and appliances that break simply because they're old. 

Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance Coverage Included in Illinois Home Insurance?

The type of coverage and benefits you receive from equipment breakdown insurance is not included in a standard homeowners policy. In fact, typically, mechanical and electrical breakdowns are excluded from home insurance, which is why equipment breakdown insurance is important to consider. 

Equipment breakdown coverage is similar to a home warranty policy, which is offered when you purchase new appliances. 

According to Martin, the best thing you can do is work with your independent insurance agent to compare the cost of a warranty policy to equipment breakdown coverage to determine which provides more thorough coverage for you. "Your agent can check to see if your homeowners carrier represents appliance breakdown coverage in your policy," explains Martin. 

Is Equipment Breakdown Insurance Coverage Included in Illinois Commercial Insurance?

Commercial insurance does not cover equipment breakdown. A commercial property insurance policy is designed to cover any damage that may occur to your property, including your equipment, in an event such as a fire, tornado, storm, etc. Equipment breakdown coverage is designed to cover internal forces like electrical shorts, mechanical breakdowns, and the like. 

What Is Farm Equipment Breakdown Insurance?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS), there are 72,000 farms in Illinois. In fact, farms cover 27 million acres and take up about 75% of the state's total land area. For this reason, farm equipment breakdown is a crucial type of farm insurance to understand.

Similar to equipment breakdown insurance, a farm equipment policy is designed to cover items like silos, conveyors, pumps, feeders, and other machinery and other equipment you'd typically only find on a farm. Ultimately it's just an expanded form of equipment breakdown insurance to make sure that your expensive and heavy machinery is also included in the policy.

How an Illinois Independent Insurance Agent Can Help You

Not every person or business needs equipment breakdown insurance. However, if it's coverage that you do need, you want to make sure you have the proper amount and coverage to protect all of your equipment. An Illinois independent insurance agent can help you compare prices between warranties and equipment breakdown coverage and shop quotes. They'll reach out to multiple carriers to gather the best policy coverage and work with you to pick the protection that best fits your needs. Work with an independent insurance agent in Illinois today.