# 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.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-plastics.php  
Updated: 2026-09-18

## 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.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No statutory insurance; customers in the car and food industries ask for proof of product liability and the sum insured
- **Biggest risk:** Fire with a high fire load and smoke damage to machines and stock
- **Basic cover from:** around €800 a year for the general liability of a small injection moulder
- **Berufsgenossenschaft:** Usually BG RCI, the statutory accident insurer for raw materials and chemicals; which one applies depends on how your business is classified
- **Often forgotten:** Moulds and tools that belong to customers but sit in your machines
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 22.11 Herstellung und Runderneuerung von Bereifungen, 22.12 Herstellung von sonstigen Gummiwaren, 22.21 Herstellung von Platten, Folien, Schläuchen und Profilen aus Kunststoffen, 22.22 Herstellung von Verpackungsmitteln aus Kunststoffen, 22.23 Herstellung von Türen und Fenstern aus Kunststoffen, 22.24 Herstellung von Baubedarfsartikeln aus Kunststoffen, 22.25 Bearbeitung und Veredlung von Kunststoffwaren, 22.26 Herstellung von sonstigen Kunststoffwaren

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **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.
- **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.
- **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.
- **The moulding machine stops:** Heater bands, hydraulics and screws wear out or break. Without a spare machine, the customer's supply chain falters.
- **Dust and fumes:** Grinding, welding and processing produce dust and fumes that can encourage fires and explosions.
- **Food contact:** If you make packaging or cups, you are liable when substances migrate from the plastic into food and a recall follows.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 4, Fire and water 5, Theft 2, Cyber 3, Downtime 5, Health 3

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): With extended product liability, because your parts are built into other products and defects there trigger sorting, removal and refitting costs. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Essential): Replaces machines, pellets, finished goods and your customers' moulds after fire, smoke, burst pipes and storm. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Business interruption** (Essential): After a fire it takes months before new moulding machines are installed. During that time business interruption cover secures wages and profit. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Machinery breakdown** (Strongly advised): Pays when hydraulics, screw or controls break, even if nobody did anything wrong. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Strongly advised): Modern plants are networked. An attack on production planning or machine control stops every line at once. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Electronic equipment** (Depends on the business): For measuring machines, test equipment and robot controls that fail through power surges or operator error. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-electronic-equipment.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Depends on the business): Insures parts and moulds on the way to the customer and back, for example when a mould is travelling for repair. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php

## 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. We obtain the exact premium for you._

- [berufshaftpflichtversicherung-experten.de: Betriebshaftpflicht Maschinenbau](https://berufshaftpflichtversicherung-experten.de/betriebshaftpflicht-maschinenbau/)
- [transparent-beraten.de: Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung/)
- [Versicherungen.org: Maschinenversicherung, Beitragsbeispiele](https://www.versicherungen.org/wiki/Maschinenversicherung,_Beitragsbeispiele)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Entry** (Small processors with a few machines and their own goods): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption. Together: around €2,500 to €6,000 a year
- **Series** (Injection moulders and extruders supplying industrial customers): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Machinery breakdown. Together: around €10,000 to €25,000 a year
- **Connected production** (Several lines, customers' moulds, automated production): Business liability, Business contents, Business interruption, Machinery breakdown, Cyber insurance, Electronic equipment, Cargo insurance. Together: around €20,000 to €45,000 a year

## The worst day in injection moulding

Six losses of the kind that hit plastics firms, all squeezed into one Monday. Tap through the day and see who pays.

- 06:10: 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)
- 09:30: The automotive supplier reports cracks in 120,000 clips. Sorting at the customer's plant and extra shifts. (€85,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 11:45: During a tool change a customer's mould falls from the crane. It has to be made again. (€120,000, Paid by: Business contents)
- 14:20: Production planning is encrypted, every line stands still for a day and data has to be restored. (€36,000, Paid by: Cyber insurance)
- 19:05: 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)
- 19:30: After the fire, five months of production are lost. Wages, leasing and profit run into nothing. (€480,000, Paid by: Business interruption)

**Damage so far:** €1,399,000

## 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 settlement work:** As an underwriting agency we settle 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.

## FAQ

### 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.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-plastics.php#anfrage

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NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.