In the cab all day
Running an excavator, dumper, roller or telehandler means hours of sitting with whole-body vibration and constant twisting to check behind you. Climbing in and out of the cab, slipping on mud and getting struck by other plant are common causes of injury on site.
Long term, backs and necks suffer. A bad disc or shoulder can keep you off the machine for weeks, because you cannot operate safely while in pain or on strong painkillers.
Hand-arm vibration from breakers and compactors can damage nerves and blood vessels in the fingers, above all for operators who also use hand tools. If you have had tingling or white fingers, mention it. The insurer may ask for more detail.
Day rates without a safety net
Many operators work self-employed under CIS or through plant hire agencies. That brings good day rates but no sick pay. Operators employed by a contractor or hire firm may get statutory sick pay or a company scheme.
If you own your own machine, your finance payments carry on when you are off. Make sure your income protection benefit leaves room for those as well as your household bills.
Plant work also follows the weather and the building cycle. A wet winter or a slow quarter can thin out bookings. Insurers base benefit on your average earnings over time, so one lean year does not rule you out.
- Self-employed: no sick pay, so look at short deferred periods
- Owner-operators: factor in machine finance
- Employed: check whether company sick pay applies
Driving versus labouring
Insurers see a pure machine driver differently from someone who drives in the morning and digs out by hand in the afternoon. Describe your mix of work accurately. It affects your risk class, the price and the claim test.
Your competence cards show what you are qualified to operate, and an insurer may ask about them. The claim decision depends on whether you can do your job as the policy defines it, which differs between own and suited occupation wordings.
Your age, health and the deferred period you choose have a bigger effect on price than years of safe operating. A longer benefit term costs more, and a shorter one costs less.
Life cover for operators
Self-employed operators have no death in service. A personal policy can clear a mortgage, pay off machine finance or provide a monthly income for your family. If you run your own limited company, relevant life cover lets the business pay the premiums.
How Hi Tomorrow can help
We look at your machines, how you are paid and what you owe, then compare insurers on our panel who take on plant work. You get a plain explanation of each option and help completing the forms.
If you take on staff or set up a hire business, we can talk about business protection too.
Owner-operators sometimes ask whether to insure the machine finance or the household. With income protection you insure your earnings, and you decide what that money pays for each month.