General liability
Third-party injury and property damage, with underground hazards included rather than excluded.
Business Insurance
Excavation insurance for everything below the surface.
The defining risk in excavation is what you cannot see. Striking a gas, fibre or water line turns a routine dig into a very expensive day.
Excavation contractors carry two exposures that dominate everything else: expensive machinery, and the possibility of hitting an underground utility. The second is what underwriters focus on, because a struck fibre line can produce a business interruption claim from a third party that dwarfs the value of the job you were doing.
Underground utility damage
Many general liability policies contain exclusions for damage to underground property, sometimes called the XCU exclusions — explosion, collapse and underground hazards. For an excavation contractor, buying a policy with those exclusions in place is close to buying no cover at all.
Confirming that XCU is included rather than excluded is the most important single check on an excavation policy. We will tell you where a quote stands on it rather than leaving you to find the endorsement.
Heavy equipment, owned and hired
Excavators, skid steers, trenchers and attachments are substantial assets and they are rarely at your premises. Contractors equipment cover, written on an inland marine form, follows them to sites and covers them in transit on a trailer.
Hired equipment needs particular attention. Rental agreements typically make you responsible for the machine's full value plus loss of rental income while it is repaired, which is more than many policies cover by default.
What it covers
The parts of a excavation insurance policy
Contractors equipment
Owned machinery and attachments, on site and in transit.
Hired equipment
Rented plant, including the loss-of-rental-income clause most agreements impose.
Commercial auto
Trucks and trailers hauling plant between sites.
Workers compensation
A genuine necessity in a trade with real physical risk, and required on public work.
Commercial umbrella
Extra limits above the primary policies, which utility strike claims can exhaust quickly.
Working with us
What we do differently
We are an independent agency, so we place your excavation insurance across several carriers rather than fitting you to one company's product. That means a genuine comparison, and someone to call who is not a call centre.
- Confirm underground and collapse hazards are included, not excluded
- Insure hired plant for value plus loss of rental income
- Carry an umbrella — third-party utility claims escalate fast
- Document line locates; they matter to both liability and renewal terms
Common questions
Excavation Insurance, answered
What is the XCU exclusion?
XCU stands for explosion, collapse and underground hazards. Many general liability policies exclude them by default. For an excavation contractor those are the core exposures, so cover needs to be written with XCU included.
Am I covered if I hit a utility line?
Only if underground hazards are included on your policy. The claim can extend well beyond the repair to the line itself — a struck fibre cable can produce third-party business interruption claims that are far larger.
Is my rented excavator covered?
Under hired equipment cover, yes, but check the limit against the machine's replacement value and whether loss of rental income is included. Rental agreements usually make you liable for both.
Does my equipment policy cover machinery on a trailer?
Contractors equipment written on an inland marine form generally covers plant in transit as well as on site. A commercial auto policy covers the truck and trailer, not the machine being carried.
Do I need an umbrella?
For excavation work it is strongly advisable and often contractually required. Utility strike and third-party interruption claims can exceed a primary general liability limit without much difficulty.
Related cover
Often arranged alongside this
Construction Insurance
A construction business needs several policies that have to work together. Buying them separately is how gaps appear between them.
Read moreContractor Insurance
Most contractors do not buy insurance because they want it. They buy it because a general contractor, a client or a city will not let them start without a certificate.
Read moreCommercial Auto Insurance
A personal auto policy can exclude a claim that happened while the vehicle was being used for business. Commercial auto closes that gap for owned, hired and employee-owned vehicles.
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