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ISR insurance suits businesses whose buildings, plant and stock have grown past what a standard business pack will accept, such as manufacturers, cold stores and operators with several sites. Insurers usually want a declaration of values for each location, and many send a risk engineer to look at fire protection and critical machinery before they commit. Fortis Risk Solutions prepares that submission with you and compares ISR wordings and their sub-limits. We also test how business interruption is calculated, so a long rebuild does not outrun the indemnity period. After a major loss, we work with the loss adjuster, your accountant and the insurer through the claim. Call 03 7046 3766 or send an enquiry.
What ISR Insurance Covers
ISR insurance covers property damage, machinery breakdown and business interruption for medium to large Australian businesses with complex or high-value risks.
Also known as industrial special risks insurance, an ISR policy covers exposures that exceed the limits of a standard business insurance pack. The structure is flexible and tailored to your operations. It sits within our business insurance range at Fortis Risk Solutions. Large warehouses and manufacturing plants are the sites that most often outgrow a business pack and move to an ISR wording.
ISR Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
What Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance does not cover
An ISR policy insures physical loss or damage that is not excluded, which makes the exclusion list the real definition of the cover. Exclusions found across ISR insurance wordings include:
- Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, rust and inherent vice in stock
- Faulty design, materials or workmanship, although resulting damage is often given back
- Mechanical and electrical breakdown, unless machinery breakdown is added
- Cyber events, including damage caused by malicious code, unless the write-back is agreed
- Goods in transit by sea or air, which belong on a marine cargo policy
- Erosion, subsidence and earth movement beyond the limited write-backs
- Unexplained stock shortages that only show up at stocktake
FRS reads the schedule against your site plan, machinery list and supply chain, then arranges the write-backs or the separate policies that close the gaps worth closing.
How Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance premiums are set
ISR insurance is underwritten on the individual site rather than off a rating table. The price is built from declared values and from the physical protection at each location. What moves it:
- Declared values for buildings, plant, stock and the interruption section
- Construction, including framing, wall and roof materials, and the age of the building
- Fire protection: sprinklers, hydrants, extinguishers and alarms monitored back to base
- Occupancy and process, such as spray painting, hot work, cooking or plastics storage
- Natural hazard exposure at the address, particularly flood, storm and bushfire
- Housekeeping and maintenance seen at survey, including electrical testing records
- The deductible accepted and any sub-limits agreed for hazardous exposures
A risk survey usually pays for itself. FRS prepares the site for the surveyor and puts every improvement in front of the underwriter, because documented protection is what changes the rate.
How to claim on Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance
Large property losses move fast and the first day sets the tone. A loss adjuster is usually appointed to site, so what you record before they arrive carries real weight. The FRS process:
- Notify: Call FRS as soon as the loss is found, so an adjuster can be appointed and reserves set
- Make safe: Make the site safe, protect undamaged stock and stop further loss from water or weather
- Report: Report theft, arson or malicious damage to police and keep the report number
- Photograph and preserve: Photograph everything before clean-up and hold damaged plant until it is released
- Keep a cost record: Open a separate cost record for the loss, covering overtime, hired plant and freight
- We lodge and manage: FRS lodges the claim, briefs the adjuster and negotiates progress payments through to settlement
Contacts and the notification form sit on our make a claim page.
Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance compared with a Business Pack
| Question | Industrial Special Risk | Business pack |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | All physical loss or damage to declared property unless excluded | Only the events named in the sections you selected |
| Who buys it | Manufacturers, warehouses, property groups and multi site operators | Shops, offices, cafes and single site trades |
| Typical trigger | Fire, impact, water damage, machinery losses and events nobody listed | Fire, storm, burglary and other named perils |
| Sits with | Marine cargo, construction and liability policies | Cyber, motor and liability policies |
ISR insurance suits a business whose assets or interdependencies have outgrown a packaged wording, or one whose financier asks for a specific policy form. The step up is not automatic, so FRS quotes both and shows what the broader wording actually buys against a business pack.
Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance - Client Case Studies
Cases from the Fortis Risk Solutions broking team. Client names have been removed.
Client case: Factory Fire: Property and Business Interruption
The client situation: A fire started in a manufacturing facility following an electrical fault, damaging production machinery, raw materials, finished goods, office contents and sections of the factory fit-out.
Production had to stop while the damaged area was repaired and replacement machinery was arranged.How the policy could respond: Property cover could assist with insured damage to machinery, stock, contents and fit-out.
Business Interruption cover could help with insured loss of income and applicable ongoing expenses while production was disrupted.
Additional increased costs incurred to maintain production may also be covered where provided by the policy.How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: We work out the indemnity period with the owner from the lead time on replacement machinery, which is often longer than the repair to the building.
Client case: Machinery Breakdown Stops Production
The client situation: A significant electrical event damaged sensitive electronic controls within several production machines. Several critical production machines suffered a sudden mechanical breakdown during operation. The affected machines could not operate until replacement components were sourced and installed.
Orders were delayed and sales declined during the interruption.How the policy could respond: Machinery Breakdown cover could assist with insured repair or replacement costs following a covered breakdown.
Appropriate Business Interruption or Consequential Loss following Machinery Breakdown cover could assist with insured loss of income resulting from the reduction in production.How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: Breakdown is not fire, and a standard property section does not cover it. We add machinery breakdown and the business interruption that follows it for any plant that depends on a few machines.
Client case: Electrical Fire Causes Property Damage
The client situation: An electrical fire started after hours and spread through part of the grocery store, damaging shelving, refrigerators, freezers, point-of-sale equipment and a significant amount of stock.
The store had to close temporarily while damaged stock was removed and repairs were completed.How the policy could respond: Property cover could help repair or replace insured contents, equipment and stock damaged by the fire.
Business Interruption cover could assist with the resulting insured loss of income while the store was unable to trade normally.How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: We set the business interruption period on how long a refit really takes, including the wait for refrigeration equipment.
Every policy is different and the outcome of a claim depends on its terms. As your broker, Fortis Risk Solutions compares insurers and policy wording before you buy, and lodges and manages the claim for you when something happens. Talk to us about your own cover.
Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance FAQs
ISR insurance mainly suits large enterprises with assets over $5 million, particularly heavy industry and large-scale manufacturing.
ISR gives an all-risks base cover that includes more perils automatically, higher limits and, usually, worldwide cover. Policy wordings are flexible and can be tailored to your operations. The same policy can carry business interruption insurance, and specialised engineering risk teams support the placement.
ISR policies are bespoke and negotiated, not off-the-shelf products. Without specialist advice, businesses can end up with:
- Inadequate sums insured
- Unclear policy wordings
- Claims disputes over technical exclusions
As your broker, FRS acts as risk adviser, negotiator and claims advocate, so the policy responds as intended. Where you also own the buildings you trade from, we check how the ISR sits against commercial property owner insurance.
Related reading
Related pages
Related industry pages: Renewable Energy Insurance, High Value and Complex Business Insurance, Factory and Manufacturing Insurance
Talk to a broker about Industrial Special Risks (ISR) Insurance
Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, email admin@fortisrisksolutions.com.au, or send an enquiry and a broker from our Box Hill or Hawthorn office will come back to you about industrial special risks (isr) insurance. Tell us what the business does and what the lease or contract asks for, and we take it from there.