Insurance for tool hire and machinery rental in Germany
Your capital rarely stands in your own yard. Plate compactor, mini digger, cherry picker and party marquee are with customers who are using them for the first time. That is where the typical claims come from: a machine broken while on hire, a customer injured by faulty equipment, a hirer who disappears with the kit. This page shows what you should cover.
In the first place the customer, if they damaged it through negligence. In practice they often do not pay or cannot pay, and their personal liability insurance usually does not cover hired machines. That is why hire companies insure their equipment themselves with machinery insurance for mobile and portable equipment. You can pass the cost on to customers through a damage waiver in the hire price.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Used the wrong way
The DIY customer drives the mini digger into the trench, the plate compactor runs without oil. Operating errors are the most common claim in hire.
02
Injured by hired kit
A faulty safety switch, no instruction given, a worn chain: if a customer is hurt, everyone asks about the last inspection.
03
Theft from building sites
Equipment stands on open sites overnight. Small tools and attachments disappear particularly often.
04
Hirer with a fake ID
A customer hires with forged papers and never comes back. That is misappropriation, not burglary, and not automatically insured.
05
Damage in transit
When loading onto the trailer or delivering, the machine is damaged or damages someone else's property.
06
Store and workshop
Batteries, fuel and workshop jobs make your own yard a fire risk. A fire hits the whole hire fleet at once.
Helps you recover compensation and unpaid hire charges, and with criminal complaints for misappropriation.
What it costs: example prices
In hire, the fleet is the biggest item. Machinery insurance depends on the new value of the equipment and on the type of hirer; private customers are seen as riskier than building firms. Liability is calculated on turnover.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Small tool hire, about 80,000 euros hire turnover
about 200 to 500 euros a year
Business liability
Plant hire with about 500,000 euros turnover and delivery
about 1,000 to 3,000 euros a year
Machinery breakdown
Hire fleet with 200,000 euros new value, including theft while on hire
about 2,000 to 5,500 euros a year
Business contents
Store, workshop and small tools worth 80,000 euros
about 300 to 800 euros a year
Car insurance
Hired out car trailer with third party liability
about 60 to 200 euros a year per trailer
For comparison: Public liability for a small tool hire business costs roughly as much per year as two to five days' hire of a mini digger.
Guide figures from our own quoting experience, excluding German insurance premium tax,
as of September 2026.
Comparison sites rarely quote fixed premiums for hire businesses,
because fleets and hirers vary so widely.
Many insurers only cover misappropriation for a surcharge or not at all.
Six things that really happen to hire businesses, all on one single Friday. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€141,700
A DIY customer tips the hired mini digger over on a slope. Hydraulics and cab are damaged.
€14,000 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown
A customer is injured by a mitre saw whose blade guard was faulty. The last inspection is not documented.
€16,000 · Paid by: Business liability
A plate compactor and a generator are stolen from a building site overnight.
€7,500 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown
While unloading a scissor lift table, the customer's garage door is dented.
€3,200 · Paid by: Business liability
A hired out trailer comes loose on a country road and damages two cars.
€11,000 · Paid by: Car insurance
A battery charger catches fire in the store. Small equipment, spare parts and workshop are lost.
€90,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €141,700
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Ask specifically about misappropriation and fraud by hirers. Where an insurer offers it, the surcharge is usually worth it.
Test your equipment regularly under DGUV Regulation 3, the German rule for electrical safety checks, and record every handover with instruction and signature.
Offer customers a damage waiver for an extra charge and align its terms with your machinery insurance.
Have damage during delivery and collection at the customer's premises expressly included in your public liability policy.
In your motor policy, check for the self drive hire clause, otherwise the trailer is not properly insured while with the customer.
Check the ID and address of every new hirer and take a deposit for expensive equipment.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know the misappropriation gap
Insurers differ precisely on hirers who do not come back. As a broker we get quotes from several insurers and set the conditions side by side for you.
We know how property claims are settled
In boat insurance we handle claims on expensive machinery ourselves. That helps when an operating error turns into an argument over repair or write off.
Fleet, vehicles and store from one source
Liability, machinery, trailers, store and transport are handled together, so that no machine falls between two policies.
A family business since 1989
Our advice costs you nothing; the insurer pays our commission. You have fixed contacts who know your fleet.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Does an equipment hire business have to be insured in Germany?
Motor third party liability for hired out vehicles, trailers and registered machines is compulsory.
Public liability is not required by law, but it is urgently needed.
Is the hirer liable for damage to the equipment?
Yes, if they were negligent.
But their personal liability policy usually does not pay, because hired items are excluded.
That is why hire companies insure their fleet themselves.
What does machinery insurance for a hire fleet cost?
Roughly 1 to 2.5 per cent of the new value per year, depending on equipment, hirers and excess.
With a new value of 200,000 euros, that is about 2,000 to 5,500 euros.
Is theft while on hire covered?
Burglary and theft from building sites usually yes, if agreed.
Misappropriation by the hirer themselves is often excluded or only covered for a surcharge.
Who is liable if a customer is injured by the equipment?
You are, if the equipment was faulty or no instruction was given.
Public liability then pays,
and a documented inspection and handover protects you against false accusations.
Which statutory accident insurer is responsible?
Usually BG Handel und Warenlogistik or the VBG, depending on your main activity.
If you hire out machines with your own operators, you often belong to BG BAU.
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