Rajsamand · Rajasthan · advising since 2004
A marble operation carries two quite different risks under one owner: a quarry, where the exposure is heavy plant and people, and a processing unit, where it is gang saws, polishing lines and a product that is easy to break and hard to value once broken.
Or request a callback. Free, no obligation, and we answer at any hour.
A fire and special perils policy covers property at the insured premises. Mobile plant working across a pit, an excavator, a loader, a wire saw rig, a compressor, is not sitting at a fixed location in the way that policy contemplates, and owners regularly find the machine that mattered most was the one outside the schedule.
The instruments for this are contractors plant and machinery cover for the mobile fleet and a machinery breakdown policy for fixed plant. They price differently and respond differently, and which one a given asset belongs under is worth settling before a loss rather than during one.
Gang saws and polishing lines in the processing unit are the fixed side of that: high value, long lead times on parts, and a breakdown that stops the line rather than slowing it.
The Employees' Compensation Act makes the employer liable for injury arising out of and in the course of employment whether or not anybody was negligent. On a quarry that is not a theoretical exposure, and the compensation is calculated from age and wages under Schedule IV rather than negotiated.
Contract labour is where this most often goes wrong. Responsibility depends on the arrangement rather than on who issued the pay slip, and a policy that names only direct employees can leave the largest part of the workforce outside it.
A group personal accident policy sits alongside rather than instead of this. It pays a benefit regardless of fault or employment status, which is frequently what an owner actually wants to be able to offer a family.
Quarrying generates public liability in ways ordinary manufacturing does not: vibration and flyrock from blasting, dust, and heavy vehicles on shared roads. The Public Liability Insurance Act imposes no-fault liability where hazardous substances are handled, and separately from that, a general public liability policy is what responds to a neighbour's damaged structure or an injured passer-by.
The limit is the decision that matters, and it is usually set too low because it is quoted as a small line on a package. It is worth sizing against a realistic worst case rather than against the premium.
Marble and granite move as heavy, fragile, high-value units, and the loss is almost always breakage rather than fire or theft. Packing, blocking and the way a slab is loaded decide both whether it arrives and whether a claim survives the surveyor.
A road carrier's liability under the Carriage by Road Act is capped against the freight rather than the value of the consignment, so the consignment note is not a substitute for cover.
Photographs at despatch are the cheapest thing an operator can do to protect a transit claim. Condition before loading is the fact a surveyor cannot reconstruct afterwards, and its absence is the most common reason a breakage claim is reduced.
No. Our office is in Udaipur at 784 Rani Road, about 65km away, and we advise operators across the Rajsamand and Nathdwara belt from there. Risk inspections and claims are done on site; the rest runs on WhatsApp, phone and email.
Usually not, and this is the single most common gap we find on quarry programmes. A fire and special perils policy covers property at the stated premises. Mobile plant moving around a pit generally needs contractors plant and machinery cover, and fixed processing plant needs machinery breakdown. Send us the schedule and we will tell you which of your assets are actually named.
It depends on the arrangement rather than on who pays the wages, and the answer is frequently that the principal employer carries the liability. It is worth establishing before an accident, because a policy written for direct employees only can leave most of the people on site outside it.
Move quickly: photograph the consignment as received without unloading further, give the carrier written notice inside the time limit in the consignment note, and keep the packing exactly as it is. A carrier's liability is capped against the freight in any case, which is why a marine transit policy is what usually pays. Send us what you have and we will tell you what is still recoverable.
Nothing to you. We are remunerated by the insurer when cover is placed, so reviews, comparisons across insurers and claims support carry no fee.
Related: Marble and granite quarrying insurance · The three-insurer comparison · Marble transit insurance · Plant and machinery insurance · Workmen compensation calculator