Frequently Asked Questions

There’s always a lot happening at HSB. We're developing innovative products and services in our quest to provide the greatest value to our customers; from new specialty insurance and reinsurance coverages, to additional performance enhancing risk management services and information for our clients enhance performance, and new ways to use our knowledge to help customers control risk.

If you are a reporter or another member of the media and have a question or would like to interview a HSB employee, contact us.

• HSB, a member of Munich Re’s Risk Solutions family since 2009, is a leading global engineering and technical risk insurer providing reinsurance and specialty insurance, inspection services and engineering consulting.
• HSB was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Hartford Connecticut, U.S.A.
• HSB is a global company whose international insurance operations are HSB Engineering Insurance Limited (HSB Engineering Insurance) based in the U.K. and The Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada (HSB BI&I).
• HSB is rated A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company in financial size category X (ten).
• HSB services over five million insured locations in the U.S.

Mailing Address

The Hartford Steam Boiler
Inspection and Insurance Company
One State Street
P.O. Box 5024
Hartford, CT 06102-5024

What kind of insurance does HSB provide?

HSB provides a range of specialty insurance for risks such as equipment breakdown (boiler and machinery), identity theft, employment practices liability, computer systems, specialty property and other coverages. HSB provides many of these products through other insurance companies, enabling them to offer their customers additional coverages easily and at an affordable cost.

What is equipment breakdown insurance?

Sometimes referred to as "Boiler & Machinery" coverage, equipment breakdown insurance pays for the cost to repair or replace equipment that breaks down suddenly or accidentally. It can also cover business income losses that occur when that breakdown interrupts a business’ operations, the costs to speed restoration of business operations and spoilage loss.

HSB distributes equipment breakdown (boiler and machinery) insurance and other specialty coverages through property–casualty insurers, insurance agents, brokers and managing general agents.

What does equipment breakdown insurance cover?

• Direct property loss – the cost to repair or replace damaged insured equipment
  
• Lost business income and costs for temporary replacement equipment
• Other expenses incurred to limit the loss or speed restoration of operations
• The loss value of spoiled products or materials
• Business recovery expenses

What kinds of equipment are covered by equipment breakdown insurance?

• Electrical systems
  
• Production and mechanical equipment
• Air conditioning and refrigeration (including refrigerants)
• Boilers and pressure vessels
• Business equipment and systems
• Electronics, including computers
• Communication systems

What types of accidental breakdowns are covered?

• Short circuits, electrical arcing
  
• Power surges
• Mechanical breakdown
• Centrifugal force
• Boiler breakdown

Reinsurance is insurance purchased by insurance companies. Reinsurance spreads risk among insurance companies, allowing individual insurers to handle losses better and provide additional capacity to write more insurance than they otherwise would be able to. At HSB, we also use reinsurance arrangements as a means of providing specialty coverages and services to make it easier and less expensive for our insurance company clients to enter a new line of business.

HSB has reinsurance relationships with more than 200 property-casualty insurance companies. Through these reinsurance relationships, HSB provides specialty coverages and loss prevention services that become value added components of other insurers' commercial and personal lines insurance products.

We leverage our knowledge to anticipate future risks and develop a range of specialized solutions that enable our clients to build deeper and more profitable customer relationships.

HSB provides its insureds with inspection and loss control services as part of its insurance program. The core inspection services are designed to meet jurisdictional inspection requirements for boilers, pressure vessels and sometimes other equipment as required by code. We also offer our insurance company clients a variety of inspection services to provide them with underwriting information and assist them in managing risk.

HSB sells supplemental loss control services on a fee-for-service basis to help clients reduce equipment exposures.

These services include:

• Infrared surveys of electrical systems
• Risk evaluations
• Property casualty inspections
• Transformer oil & gas analysis

HSB's difference is grounded in extensive technical knowledge with over 50 percent of its staff engineers, inspectors and technical personnel around the globe. HSB owns one of the world’s largest technical databases on equipment failures and causes.

HSB conducts more than 1.5 million on-site inspections of equipment and property-casualty risks worldwide each year. HSB is the largest authorized inspection agency accredited by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Loss prevention plays an important role in HSB's underwriting performance and helps the company deliver excellent returns on capital.

I'm a customer, how do I request an inspection of my boilers/pressure vessels?

Contact the HSB Inspection Hotline at +1 (800) 333-4677. Have the name of your insurance company and your insurance policy number when you call.

How do I order the Technical Data Handbook?

Call +1 (860) 722-5433 to order Technical Data Handbooks.