# Insurance for gravel works, sand pits, quarries and open-pit mining in Germany

> In a quarry or gravel pit, machines worth more than a family home work in dust, in water and on slopes. Blasting shakes the houses next door, a conveyor belt catches fire, a dump truck slides down the embankment. And when the crusher stops, the whole works stops, while customers on building sites wait for their material.

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

## Are our excavators and wheel loaders protected by motor insurance?

Only in part. Registered vehicles and fast machines have motor liability, often with own damage cover. Slow machines that only move on site, and all fixed plant such as crushers, screens and conveyors, belong in machinery insurance. It also pays for operating errors, material breakage and short circuits, which own damage motor cover does not.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** Motor liability for all registered vehicles and for self-propelled machines faster than 20 km/h; under the Federal Mining Act (Bundesberggesetz) the authority requires a financial security for restoring the land, but that is not insurance
- **Biggest risk:** Damage to crushers, screening plants, excavators and conveyors, and the standstill of the works until the repair
- **Basic cover from:** about 2,000 to 5,000 euros a year for public liability with environmental and blasting extensions for a small gravel works
- **Statutory accident insurer:** BG RCI (the Berufsgenossenschaft for raw materials and the chemical industry), compulsory membership for every business with employees
- **Often forgotten:** Blasting damage: vibration damage to neighbouring buildings is excluded in many public liability policies unless it is expressly included
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 05.10 Steinkohlenbergbau, 05.20 Braunkohlenbergbau, 06.10 Gewinnung von Erdöl, 06.20 Gewinnung von Erdgas, 07.10 Eisenerzbergbau, 07.21 Bergbau auf Uran- und Thoriumerze, 07.29 Sonstiger NE-Metallerzbergbau, 08.11 Gewinnung von Naturwerksteinen, Kalk- und Gipsstein, Schiefer und sonstigem Gestein, 08.12 Gewinnung von Kies und Sand, Ton und Kaolin, 08.91 Bergbau auf chemische und Düngemittelminerale, 08.92 Torfgewinnung, 08.93 Gewinnung von Salz, 08.99 Gewinnung von Steinen und Erden a. n. g., 09.10 Erbringung von Dienstleistungen für die Gewinnung von Erdöl und Erdgas, 09.90 Erbringung von Dienstleistungen für den sonstigen Bergbau und die Gewinnung von Steinen und Erden

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Blasting:** Flying rock hits a car at the gate, vibrations cause cracks in a neighbour's house. Without measurement records it is almost impossible to prove the cracks were already there.
- **Machinery breakdown:** Crusher shafts, screen decks, hydraulics and engines run under constant load in the dust. A major crusher failure easily costs six figures.
- **Slopes and water:** Embankments slip after heavy rain, a dump truck tips over at the working face, a floating dredger springs a leak: terrain and water are part of the risk here.
- **Conveyor fires:** Friction heat on belts and drums, oil in the engine bay of a wheel loader: fires in plant and vehicles often break out at night.
- **Environment:** Diesel spilt while refuelling, hydraulic oil in the gravel pit lake, silt in a stream: with wet extraction and groundwater, every drop of oil becomes environmental damage.
- **Theft on open sites:** Diesel from tanks, GPS kit from excavator cabs, copper from plant: remote pits are an easy target at night.

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

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): Covers damage to neighbours, customers and lorry drivers on your site, including blasting damage, environmental liability (Umwelthaftpflicht) and an environmental damage extension. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Machinery breakdown** (Essential): Pays for damage to crushers, screens, conveyors, excavators, wheel loaders and floating equipment caused by breakage, operating errors, fire and theft. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Business interruption** (Strongly advised): Pays your lost gross profit and the extra cost of buying in material while the crusher or main plant stands still after machinery damage. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Fleet insurance** (Strongly advised): Insures dump trucks, articulated lorries and registered working machines together with liability and own damage cover. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-fleet-insurance.php
- **Commercial buildings** (Depends on the business): For the workshop, weighbridge, office and halls against fire, storm and escape of water. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-commercial-buildings.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Depends on the business): For own-account haulage with your lorries and your liability for material you carry for customers. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php
- **Group accident insurance** (Depends on the business): Tops up the statutory accident insurer's benefits for staff in a trade with a high accident risk. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-group-accident.php

## What it costs: example prices

Premiums depend mainly on the value of the machinery, whether you blast or extract wet, the neighbourhood and the deductible. Machinery insurance is usually priced per thousand of the replacement value, for older machines often at current value.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business liability | Gravel works with wet extraction and ten employees, environmental liability and environmental damage extension | about 2,000 to 5,000 euros a year |
| Business liability | Quarry with blasting and housing nearby | about 4,000 to 10,000 euros a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Crushing and screening plant with a replacement value of 1.5 million euros | about 7,500 to 20,000 euros a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Mobile machines: two wheel loaders and a crawler excavator, 900,000 euros in total | about 5,000 to 12,000 euros a year |
| Business interruption | Loss of revenue after machinery damage, 12 month indemnity period | about 2,500 to 7,000 euros a year |

For comparison: Machinery insurance for a crushing plant costs about as much a year as the gross profit the works loses in one or two days of standstill.

_Cautious guide prices excluding insurance premium tax, as of September 2026, from the quotes we see in practice and published examples for comparable businesses. Very few premiums for extraction businesses are published; we calculate from your machinery list and a site visit._

- [transparent-beraten.de: public liability insurance](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/betriebshaftpflichtversicherung/)
- [VersicherungsEngel: machinery breakdown insurance](https://www.versicherungsengel.de/versicherungen/maschinenbruchversicherung)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Pit** (Small sand or gravel pit with a few machines and dry extraction): Business liability, Machinery breakdown, Fleet insurance. Together: about 8,000 to 18,000 euros a year
- **Works** (Gravel works with wet extraction, processing and its own lorry traffic): Business liability, Machinery breakdown, Fleet insurance, Business interruption, Cargo insurance. Together: about 20,000 to 45,000 euros a year
- **Quarry** (Quarry with blasting, crushing plant, workshop and halls): Business liability, Machinery breakdown, Fleet insurance, Business interruption, Cargo insurance, Commercial buildings, Group accident insurance. Together: calculated individually, usually from about 40,000 euros a year

## The worst day at the quarry

Six things that really happen at gravel works and quarries, all on a single working day. Click through the day and see who pays.

- 06:10: Overnight, thieves have taken 3,000 litres of diesel from the tank and the GPS control unit from the excavator. (€16,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 09:30: After the blast, a resident reports new cracks in the front of his house, and an expert confirms a link. (€28,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 11:45: The eccentric shaft of the primary crusher breaks, and the plant comes to a standstill. (€140,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 12:00: Six weeks without the primary crusher: material has to be bought in to meet supply contracts. (€95,000, Paid by: Business interruption)
- 15:20: While loading, a wheel loader damages the trailer of a customer's lorry. (€7,500, Paid by: Business liability)
- 18:40: A dump truck leaks hydraulic oil on the bank of the gravel pit lake; an oil barrier and soil replacement are ordered. (€32,000, Paid by: Business liability)

**Damage so far:** €318,500

## Practical tips from your broker

- Have blasting damage, vibration and flying rock expressly included in your public liability, with a sum that fits the buildings nearby.
- Carry out vibration measurements and a pre-blast condition survey of neighbouring buildings: this decides every crack claim later on.
- Name floating dredgers and pontoons expressly in your machinery insurance, otherwise they often slip through the net.
- Include the extra cost of buying in material and outside processing in your loss of revenue cover, so you can keep your supply contracts.
- Secure tanks and machines against diesel theft; many insurers require lockable fuel caps and lighting.
- Check which working machines can go faster than 20 km/h: motor liability is compulsory for them, even if they rarely go on the road.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **We know heavy equipment:** In boat insurance we handle claims to engines, drives and hydraulics ourselves. We know how loss adjusters assess machinery damage and where the line runs between wear and breakage.
- **We ask the specialists:** Not every insurer covers extraction businesses. As a broker we get quotes from those that really insure blasting, wet extraction and floating equipment.
- **Everything aligned:** We set up liability, machinery, fleet and loss of revenue so that a claim does not get stuck between two policies, for example the wheel loader out on the road.
- **A family business since 1989:** Many gravel works have been in family hands for generations. So have we, with the same people for you to talk to. The insurer pays our commission.

## FAQ

### Which insurance is compulsory for a quarry in Germany?

Motor liability for registered vehicles and working machines faster than 20 km/h. Mining law (the Federal Mining Act) requires a financial security for restoring the land, usually as a bank guarantee. Public liability and machinery insurance are not required by law, but you cannot do without them.

### Is blasting damage to a neighbour's house covered?

Only if it is included in your public liability policy. Many standard policies exclude blasting. Clear this up before the first blast and record the vibration readings.

### What does insurance for a gravel works cost?

A small works pays about 2,000 to 5,000 euros a year for liability with environmental extension. With machinery, fleet and loss of revenue it quickly comes to 20,000 to 45,000 euros, depending on the value of the machines.

### Does machinery insurance cover wear and tear?

No. Wear on crusher jaws, screen linings and belts is an operating cost. What is covered is sudden damage such as breakage, operating errors, short circuits, fire and theft.

### Are floating dredgers covered by machinery insurance?

Only if they are expressly named. Floating equipment has its own risks such as sinking and springing a leak, which must be written into the policy.

### Who pays if oil runs into the gravel pit lake?

Damage to third parties, for example a fishing tenant, is paid by environmental liability. Clean-up of water and soil ordered by the authority is only paid by an environmental damage extension.

## 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-quarrying.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.