Portable equipment insurance

Portable equipment insurance is a specialist type of cover. It protects kit that’s accidentally lost, damaged or stolen outside your premises.

It’s officially known as ‘property away and in transit insurance’. Meaning your property is covered while it’s away from your premises. For example, when visiting a client, or travelling for work.

Loss, theft or damage may cause disruption, no matter how much care you take. Portable equipment insurance can help with repairs or replacements.

Insurance for portable equipment can also help with the cost of hiring similar items. Say, a photographer’s insured lighting is damaged before a client shoot.

In this case, Hiscox portable equipment insurance may cover substitute hire charges. This could apply from the date of damage, until the items are repaired or replaced. But for no longer than six months.

To insure your equipment and kit, you have different options.

Portable equipment cover is a type of property insurance that covers your equipment against loss, theft or damage, with a variety of options for geographical limits. For example, it can cover incidents anywhere in the UK, Europe, or the world. This depends on the geographical limits you select. It covers items while they’re away from your normal premises. We also insure tools this way.

Another add-on is equipment breakdown insurance. This protects against sudden mechanical or electrical failures. Equipment breakdown and portable equipment are two different types of contents insurance for small businesses. They’re not interchangeable.

You may need portable equipment insurance if you rely on certain kit. Or if you’d find it hard to replace items yourself.

Many professionals work on the go. That means they take equipment with them. If this sounds like you, insurance may be useful for the UK and beyond.

• Are you a health and safety or education consultant? You could leave a laptop or device on a train. Replacements for these would be expensive
• Mobile hairdressers also rely on kit. What if thieves stole a bag filled with all your clippers, straighteners and curling tongs?
• Photographers need hardware to capture quality work. But cameras smash. Lenses go astray. Insurance could help cover kit replacement costs

It’s easy to work out your insurance cover needs. It would be the total price to replace your kit equipment if it was all lost, damaged or stolen.

Need to change your policy at a later date? We can action this with no admin fee. Your policy premium may go up or down.

For accidental damage or loss within the geographical limits, we'll pay up to the replacement value you select to:

• Repair or replace portable equipment as new
• Repair or replace stock at trade market value
• Repair or replace goods held in trust at trade market value, or pay your liability in those goods, whichever is the lesser

• Unexplained loss or disappearance
• Lost or damaged money or personal effects
• Damage to portable equipment or stock that directly results from its own failure
• Damage from wear and tear
• Loss or damage caused by fraud or dishonesty
• Loss or damage caused by theft. Unless the insured item is in your care, custody or control
• The amount of the excess

Please refer to the policy documents for the full details of inclusions and exclusions of this cover. Policy documents are available when purchasing online. You can also contact our customer services team for more information. 

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