Dozer insurance starts with a big number. Dozers and graders sit among the highest-value machines in an earthmoving fleet, they work on steep, remote and rough ground, and when one is damaged the repair can wait on parts from overseas. Our earthmoving insurance page sets out how plant cover is structured. This guide looks at the exposures specific to dozers and graders, and the policy decisions that matter when a single machine carries a large part of the business’s capital.
Setting the Dozer Insurance Sum Insured
The sum insured should reflect what it would cost to replace the machine today with a comparable one, delivered and ready to work, including the blade, ripper, winch or other attachments you rely on. Finance payout figures and depreciated book values are the wrong reference points.
- Agreed versus market value. Agreed value fixes the amount payable on a total loss when the policy starts; market value leaves it to be worked out after the loss. On older machines that are hard to price, an agreed value removes an argument. Our explainer on market value versus agreed value covers the trade-off.
- Machine control systems. GPS and laser grade control components are high value, easy to remove and attractive to thieves. List them separately with serial numbers, and check the theft conditions for components taken off the machine.
- Recovery and removal. A dozer rolled into a gully or bogged on a steep batter can be expensive to recover before any repair starts. Check the limit for recovery, removal of debris and salvage.
For how these choices feed into price, see our guide to heavy equipment insurance costs. There is no list price for a dozer or grader; the premium is built from the machine, the work and the controls around it.
Steep and Remote Sites: Rollover
Dozers work on slopes, batters, stockpiles and clearing sites where ground can give way. Graders work on road shoulders, table drains and crossfalls. Rollover and slide-off are the defining losses for both.
- ROPS and FOPS certification, seat belts and daily pre-start checks are what underwriters ask about.
- Operator experience on the type of work matters. Tell your broker if operators move between clearing, bulk earthworks and fine trim.
- Declare work near water, cliffs or unstable ground, particularly on mine, quarry and land-clearing jobs.
- Remote sites lengthen response times and increase recovery costs. Know your nearest heavy recovery option before you need it.
Fire From Debris Build-Up
Land clearing, vegetation work and scrub rolling pack leaves, bark and fine fuel into belly pans, engine bays and around exhausts and turbochargers. Heat does the rest. Machine fires are a recognised loss for dozers and graders working in vegetation, and a fire on a clearing site can spread well beyond the machine.
- Fire suppression systems may be required, or viewed favourably, for machines doing clearing work. Keep service records for them.
- Daily clean-downs with compressed air, and records showing they happened, are strong evidence at claim time.
- Carry extinguishers and have a hot work and fire danger procedure, including stopping work on high fire danger days where restrictions apply.
- Check the public liability wording on fire spreading to neighbouring land, and whether firefighting costs are included.
Float Transport
Loading, unloading and float moves are a real exposure for heavy plant: sliding off ramps, contact with overhead structures, restraint failure, or the float rolling on a rural road. Two things decide who pays.
- Who moves the machine. If you float it yourself, check that the plant policy responds during transit and that the float and prime mover are insured on the motor side. If a third-party carrier moves it, the carrier’s liability may be limited by its terms, and your plant policy may be the one that responds.
- Oversize movements. Wide and heavy loads bring permit, escort and route conditions that vary by state. Breaching them can affect claims, so check the current requirements for each move.
Graders on Public Roads
Graders doing road maintenance for councils and shires work in live traffic, often early in the morning or late in the day. That brings motor and liability questions together: collisions with passing vehicles, damage to signs and drainage, stones thrown by the blade, and traffic management. Graders driven between jobs may need registration or permits, which vary by state. Tell your broker whether each grader travels on the road and under what arrangement, so the motor and plant covers line up. Councils commonly ask for specific liability limits and certificates of currency before work starts.
Hiring Dozers Out, With or Without an Operator
Dozers and graders can be hired out with an operator for clearing, dam building and road work. When your operator runs the machine on someone else’s job, liability for how it is operated generally stays with you, so your public liability occupation description needs to include the work being done. Dry hiring a large machine without an operator shifts responsibility for damage to the hirer only if the hire agreement says so and has been signed. Our guide to wet hire vs dry hire insurance explains the difference.
Parts Lead Times and Downtime
A damaged final drive, undercarriage or transmission on a large dozer can take weeks or months to source, depending on the model and supply at the time. Meanwhile the contract carries on without you, or with a hired replacement at your cost.
- Machinery breakdown. Plant policies typically exclude mechanical and electrical breakdown. Separate machinery breakdown insurance can respond to sudden internal failure, subject to its terms and maintenance conditions.
- Hire of a substitute machine. Some policies offer an extension for the extra cost of hiring a replacement while yours is repaired after an insured event. Check the limit and any waiting period.
- Loss of hire income. If you hire machines out, consider cover for lost hire income while a machine is off the fleet after insured damage.
Our machinery and equipment insurance page explains how these extensions sit alongside the main plant policy.
Common Questions
Should a dozer on a clearing site have fire suppression?
Underwriters commonly ask about it for vegetation work, and some may require it. It also reduces the chance of losing the machine and starting a wider fire.
Does my plant policy pay if the dozer breaks down?
Typically not for breakdown alone. That is what machinery breakdown cover is for. Accidental damage, such as a rollover, is a different question.
Can a grader sit on a motor policy instead of a plant policy?
It depends on how it is registered and used. Tell your broker how each grader travels and works so the right policy responds on the road and on site.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will set up earthmoving insurance for your dozers and graders around where they work and how they travel.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.