Drilling Contractor Insurance
Exploration, blast-hole, water-bore and geotechnical drilling carry exposures that a generic contractor policy is not built around.
$20M
Contract limits arranged
Australia
National market access
Broker-led
Placement approach
Recognition
The Tank take
A drilling contractor's program is usually anchored by public and products liability, supported by plant and equipment cover for rigs, support vehicles and downhole gear, commercial motor for the road fleet, and personal accident or workers compensation for the crew. Insurer appetite for drilling narrows with mine-site work, depth, ground conditions and the value of client property the rig interacts with.
Liability cover responds to insured third-party claims, subject to the wording. It does not automatically cover the rig itself, tooling left downhole, or the bore or hole being drilled. Those need their own sections and their own disclosure.
Why drilling narrows the market
Underwriters cannot price 'driller' as a single occupation. Exploration drilling in remote WA, blast-hole drilling on an operating pit, and suburban water bores are different risks with different appetite. The submission has to separate what you drill, where, and with what.
Rig and plant values
Drill rigs concentrate high values on difficult ground. Rollover, fire and transit losses are plant claims, not liability claims, and need their own cover.
Downhole exposure
Rods, hammers, bits and survey tools lost or stuck downhole are commonly excluded or sub-limited. If downhole gear matters to your balance sheet, it has to be addressed specifically.
Client property
Drilling interacts with the client's tenement, services, structures and equipment. Care, custody and control restrictions decide how much of that exposure your liability policy actually picks up.
Site and contract terms
Where a mine-site access contract specifies a liability limit, it is often $20 million, with specific endorsements. The contract, not the occupation, sets the cover floor.
Claims a drilling program is built around
Cover is never automatic: the allegation must fall within the insuring clause and remains subject to exclusions, limits, excess and conditions. These are the claim shapes that matter for drillers.
A drill string contacting buried power, gas, water or communications infrastructure. Underwriters ask about service location procedures, permits and dial-before-you-dig practice. Some wordings restrict or exclude this exposure entirely.
A collapsed or contaminated bore, damage to a client's monitoring wells, or drilling in the wrong location. Check how the wording treats the property being worked on and any rectification exclusion.
Refuelling, hydraulic failures or hot exhausts igniting vegetation or site infrastructure. Bushfire liability is a serious exposure for remote-area work, and some policies carry specific conditions.
An offsider, visitor or another contractor's worker injured around the rig. Employee injury sits with workers compensation; injury to anyone else is a liability question, subject to the wording.
A rig damaged moving between sites is usually a motor or plant claim rather than liability. Disclose float arrangements and who moves the rig - the answer changes which policy responds.
Mine-site work needs the right market, not more form-filling
Tell us what you do, which sites you access and the limit your contract requires. We take it to insurers with genuine appetite for mining contractors.
What sits in liability cover, and what needs its own section
Public liability anchors the program, but a drilling business owns and operates too much gear to rely on it alone. Each exposure needs to be declared and insured under the right section.
Usually covered
- Legal liability for third-party personal injury arising from insured drilling operations
- Third-party property damage caused by your work, subject to the wording
- Products liability for components supplied, and completed-work exposure for finished bores, subject to the wording
- Defence costs - check whether they sit inside or outside the limit
- Principal's indemnity where a contract requires it and the wording allows
Needs its own section
- The rig, compressors, rod trailers and support plant - plant and equipment cover
- Rods, bits, hammers and tools lost or stuck downhole - commonly excluded or sub-limited
- Trucks, utes and floats on the road - commercial motor cover
- Crew injury - workers compensation or personal accident for working directors
- Survey, geological or engineering advice - professional indemnity
The schedule and endorsements can narrow or expand a base wording. On mine-services schedules we have reviewed, exposures such as dam and tailings work, goods on hook and tower-crane work were excluded as occupation-specific terms - each reflecting one insurer's appetite on one risk, and each the kind of line item to check against your actual scope. Compare the complete quote, not a product name or certificate alone.
Mine-site contracts and the $20 million question
Where a mine operator or principal contractor sets an insurance requirement for site access, the public liability limit specified is often $20 million, including for subcontracted drillers. The requirement comes from the contract, so read the insurance clause rather than assuming a standard. Note whether the limit applies per occurrence or in the aggregate, and whether endorsements such as principal's indemnity or waiver of subrogation are demanded.
Tank has arranged $20 million limits for mine-site contractors on multiple occasions - see the mine-site subcontractor case study for how a hard-to-place risk was presented and placed. Insurer appetite for drilling on operating mine sites is narrower than for general contracting, which makes the quality of the submission matter more, not less.
How to present a drilling risk
Five details that let an underwriter price the risk you actually run, rather than the worst risk the word 'drilling' can describe.
Split the drilling types
Exploration, blast-hole, water bore, geotechnical, environmental - give a revenue percentage for each rather than one label.
Describe the sites
Operating mines, exploration tenements, civil projects, rural properties. State the split and the states you work in.
List the plant honestly
Rigs, compressors, support vehicles and downhole gear with current values, ownership and how they move between sites.
Attach the contract clause
Send the actual insurance clause from your principal contract, not a summary of it. Required limits and endorsements come from there.
Evidence the controls
Service location procedures, permits, fire equipment on the rig, maintenance records and crew competencies - genuinely in use, not written for the application.
Check the rules where the site sits
Mine safety and licensing duties are state-based and sit outside your insurance policy. These regulator sources are the starting point.
External government sources. Tank Insurance is not responsible for their content; confirm current requirements with the regulator in the relevant state or territory.
More mining insurance guides
Questions about drilling contractor insurance
Usually public and products liability as the anchor, with plant and equipment cover for rigs and support gear, commercial motor for the road fleet, workers compensation under the relevant state scheme, and personal accident for working directors. The right structure depends on drilling types, sites, contracts and the value of the plant.
Usually not. Downhole tools, rods and bits are commonly excluded or sub-limited under both liability and plant covers. If downhole exposure is material to your business, raise it specifically so the broker can look for cover or confirm the gap in writing.
Where a site contract sets a liability requirement before access is granted, it is often $20 million, but the requirement comes from the contract rather than legislation. Read the insurance clause and match the limit and endorsements to what it actually demands.
Insurer appetite for drilling is narrower than for general trades, and it narrows further with operating mine sites, remote work and high plant values. Placement usually depends on a specific, well-documented submission and access to markets with genuine appetite for the work.
General information only. This page does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs and is not legal or WHS advice. Cover depends on the insurer, policy wording, limits, excesses, exclusions and information disclosed. Read the relevant policy documents and obtain professional advice before deciding.
Put your mining risk in front of the right markets
Tell us what you do, which sites you work on and the limit your contract requires. We will explain the available terms and exclusions before you decide.