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Insurance Buying Guide for Manufacturing and Robotics Businesses
Before leasing a shop, installing a robot cell, shipping equipment, or bringing a customer’s operators into a pilot, list the machines, movable tools, customer property, and work after delivery. Give the broker those activities and ask how property, breakdown, transit, worker, and product exposures appear in the quote.[1][2][3]
Which Insurance Should You Consider?
Consider commercial property, equipment breakdown, product liability, tools, equipment and inland marine, workers’ compensation, and product recall. Start with the coverages tied to your day-to-day operations, then use the situations and buying questions below to compare your options.
Commercial property
You lease a workshop or factory, install production machinery, or hold prototypes, parts, and customer property.
A commercial property quote may distinguish building interests, installed machinery, movable business property, and property of others. Valuation, covered causes, declarations, and exclusions affect what a property form addresses.[1]
Ask Before Buying
Are building interests, machines, prototypes, stock, spare parts, and customer-owned property scheduled at accurate values and locations?
Equipment breakdown
A machine, robot, controller, or test cell failure could interrupt production or commissioning.
Machinery-breakdown terms may address specified malfunctions, which commercial property may exclude. Ask about named equipment, covered causes, and any resulting-loss terms.[1]
Ask Before Buying
Which machines and failure modes are covered, and do terms include repair, temporary replacement, resulting damage, or extra expense?
Product liability
A shipped machine or completed integration could injure someone or damage another party’s property.
CGL products and completed-operations terms can address bodily injury and property damage. That general guidance does not prove robot-specific or integration-errors coverage.[1]
Ask Before Buying
How are our machines, software-controlled features, installation work, and completed integrations described, and what exclusions or aggregate limits apply?
Tools, equipment and inland marine
Tools, test rigs, or customer machines move between your site, integrator, and pilot location.
Inland-marine forms may address transit property and equipment or installation floaters. The schedule and form control what is addressed during transit, installation, and off-site work.[1]
Ask Before Buying
Which items, trips, carriers, loading, installation stages, and customer-owned equipment are included, and what limits apply?
Workers’ compensation
Employees service machines, teach operators, clear jams, or commission robot cells.
California workers compensation and employers liability are separate considerations. Use the servicing, troubleshooting, and customer-site tasks to describe job roles, then ask how the proposed policy treats those duties.[1][2][3]
Ask Before Buying
Which worker duties and states are listed, and how does the application describe non-routine servicing, integration, and customer-site work?
Product recall
A safety or defect concern could lead you to locate, retrieve, or repair installed units.
CGL products and completed-operations terms can address bodily injury and property damage. Ask separately whether a recall-expense form is available and which costs it includes.[1]
Ask Before Buying
Is any recall expense form available for our machines and installed base, and which inspection, notification, retrieval, repair, or replacement costs are included?
State Whether You Make, Integrate, or Operate
Describe whether you manufacture a robot or machine, integrate components at a customer site, operate the cell, or train customer staff. Identify the handoff point and who owns the machine and surrounding property. Ask the broker to check actual products, completed work, and site activities instead of treating all roles as one exposure.[1]
CGL products and completed-operations terms concern bodily injury or property damage, while machinery breakdown and property address different questions. Ask the broker to show form language and exclusions for each scenario; line names alone do not establish a response.[1]
Include Service and Recovery Tasks
List maintenance, troubleshooting, programming changes, jam clearing, and work inside or near a robot cell. OSHA identifies non-routine tasks such as programming, setup, testing, and maintenance as robot hazard contexts. Include these duties in the operations description.[2]
For hazardous-energy servicing, describe maintenance and repair tasks and who performs them. Ask the broker how the proposed policy and worker classifications treat those operations.[3][1]
Schedule the Cell and Its Movements
Separate fixed installed machinery from movable tools, prototypes, inventory, customer-owned components, and equipment travelling to a pilot. Ask how property values are determined, which causes are covered, and whether transit or installation terms follow equipment between sites.[1]
Providers to Compare by Coverage
Commercial property
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
CFC
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Equipment breakdown
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Product liability
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Tools, equipment and inland marine
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Workers’ compensation
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Product recall
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Common Questions
Does commercial property automatically cover a robot or machine breakdown?
A machinery-breakdown form may address specified malfunctions; commercial property may exclude them. Check whether the quote names your robot, controller, or production line.[1]
Read the Full AnswerAfter a robot safety review, what should we tell the insurance broker?
Describe who programs, tests, services, and operates the cell, including non-routine work and customer-site activities. OSHA identifies these as hazard contexts; it does not say which insurance applies.[2]
Read the Full AnswerSources and Further Reading
- Commercial Insurance Guide — California Department of Insurance. Revised June 14, 2024: commercial property, inland marine, boiler and machinery, commercial general liability, products/completed operations, commercial auto, umbrella, and workers compensation.
California commercial coverage explanations for property, inland marine, machinery breakdown, CGL, and workers compensation.
- Robotics — Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Robot hazards, non-routine work conditions, and OSHA standards specific to the robotics industry.
Robot-specific workplace hazard and non-routine task context to improve the operations description.
- The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) — Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147: hazardous-energy servicing and maintenance scope, exclusions, and conditions.
Hazardous-energy servicing scope and exclusions; operational context only.
Spot, a product of Tools for Enlightenment, publishes this guide and works in the commercial insurance market. This is general buyer education; policy terms and state-specific obligations determine coverage and requirements.
Updated 2026-09-28. Editorial Policy
Get Help With Insurance Buying and Renewals.
Get help buying coverage and managing renewals, with less paperwork for your team. Start with a free consultation.