Insurance for plastics and rubber processors in Germany
Pellets, film and finished parts on pallets burn hot and fast, and the smoke spreads through the whole hall. At the same time your moulded parts sit inside other makers' cars, appliances and packaging, where one tooling fault becomes a whole series. This page explains which insurance absorbs that and what it costs.
Are my customers' injection moulds covered at my premises?
Not automatically. Moulds owned by the customer are other people's property as far as you are concerned. In your contents insurance they must be listed as third party property with their own sum insured, otherwise the most expensive item is missing after a fire. A large mould often costs six figures, so a list with new values is essential for any honest calculation of the sums.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Fire load in the hall
Plastics burn with great heat and dense, corrosive smoke. Even a small fire leaves soot on machines, controls and goods throughout the hall.
02
A fault in the mould
A burr, a sink mark or the wrong material goes out in large quantities before inspection picks it up. The customer then faces sorting and replacement costs.
03
Customers' moulds in your care
Moulds worth several hundred thousand euros often belong to the customer. If one is damaged, you lose not only the mould but also the supply to the customer.
04
The moulding machine stops
Heater bands, hydraulics and screws wear out or break. Without a spare machine, the customer's supply chain falters.
05
Dust and fumes
Grinding, welding and processing produce dust and fumes that can encourage fires and explosions.
06
Food contact
If you make packaging or cups, you are liable when substances migrate from the plastic into food and a recall follows.
Insures parts and moulds on the way to the customer and back, for example when a mould is travelling for repair.
What it costs: example prices
Because of the fire load, plastics processors pay more for property insurance than many other industrial firms. What counts is how the hall is built, fire protection, the amount of stock and which sectors you supply.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Small injection moulder up to €1 million turnover, €5 million cover
around €800 to €2,000 a year
Business liability
Supplier with 40 staff, extended product liability for the car industry
around €5,000 to €12,000 a year
Business contents
Machines, moulds and stock worth €2 million
around €3,000 to €7,000 a year
Business interruption
Business interruption with an 18 month indemnity period
around €1,500 to €4,000 a year
Machinery breakdown
Ten injection moulding machines with a new value of €1.2 million
around €3,500 to €8,000 a year
For comparison: For a small injection moulder, basic cover of liability, contents and business interruption costs roughly as much a year as three tonnes of standard pellets.
Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026.
There are hardly any published tariff examples for this sector;
the ranges come from our own quoting and from comparable manufacturing firms.
Six losses of the kind that hit plastics firms, all squeezed into one Monday. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€1,399,000
The hydraulic pump of the largest moulding machine fails, oil leaks out and the machine is down for two weeks.
€28,000 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown
The automotive supplier reports cracks in 120,000 clips. Sorting at the customer's plant and extra shifts.
€85,000 · Paid by: Business liability
During a tool change a customer's mould falls from the crane. It has to be made again.
€120,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Production planning is encrypted, every line stands still for a day and data has to be restored.
€36,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
A granulator overheats and the regrind catches fire. Smoke leaves soot over half the hall and the finished goods store.
€650,000 · Paid by: Business contents
After the fire, five months of production are lost. Wages, leasing and profit run into nothing.
€480,000 · Paid by: Business interruption
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €1,399,000
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Keep a list of all customers' moulds with their new value and insure them as third party property in your contents insurance.
Make sure smoke and soot damage as well as clearance and decontamination costs are included with high enough limits.
For packaging in contact with food, look at recall costs as a separate block; general liability does not pay for recalls.
Choose an indemnity period of at least 18 months for business interruption, because new moulding machines often have long delivery times.
Discuss fire protection with the insurer: a fire alarm system and spacing in the store often reduce the premium noticeably.
Agree extended product liability including inspection and sorting costs; car industry customers almost always ask for it.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We work out the sums with you
Customers' moulds, stock, machines: the right sum insured is half the battle. We go through the list with you and then obtain quotes from several insurers.
We know claims from our own claims handling
As an underwriting agency we handle boat claims ourselves. That helps when soot damage and replacement times are negotiated after a fire.
One contact for the whole business
We align property, liability, cyber and staff pensions with each other, and we explain the German policy wordings in English.
A family business since 1989
You have one fixed contact. Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Why is fire insurance expensive for plastics processing?
Plastics have a high fire load, and the smoke damages machines far from the fire.
Insurers therefore expect larger losses and look closely at fire protection.
Does insurance pay if we deliver faulty parts?
Not for the parts themselves.
The follow-on costs at the customer, such as sorting, removal or further processing,
are carried by extended product liability if those blocks are agreed.
What does insurance cost for an injection moulding firm?
A small firm usually pays €2,500 to €6,000 a year for liability,
contents and business interruption.
Suppliers with several lines are often at €10,000 to €25,000.
Are moulds included in machinery insurance?
Interchangeable tools and moulds are usually excluded from machinery insurance.
For fire and burglary they belong in contents insurance, often as a separate item.
Do we need product recall insurance?
If you supply the food, medical or car industry, yes.
Recall costs are a separate block and not included in normal liability cover.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?
For plastics processing it is usually BG RCI,
the statutory accident insurer for raw materials and chemicals.
What counts is how your business is classified when you register.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Plastics processing
The recommended covers are ticked.
Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.
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