Equipment Breakdown Insurance, also known under its obsolete name Boiler and Machinery Insurance, protects your equipment from damage caused by internal causes (engine failure, computer system breakdown). In this is the Equipment Breakdown different from other insurance policies (like property/casualty insurance) that cover your equipment against damage from external causes (fire, burglary, vandalism, lightening). Once used mainly by manufacturers, equipment breakdown became a must-have insurance in the computer era and a vast majority of policies sold today protect computers.