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Inland marine

Inland marine insurance for property that moves

Inland marine covers three kinds of property a building policy handles badly: property in transit, property at temporary locations, and other people's property in your care.

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What is inland marine insurance?

Inland marine insurance is business insurance for property that moves, sits at a temporary location, or belongs to someone else while it is in your care. It fills the gaps in a commercial property policy, which covers buildings and contents at a listed address.

What does inland marine insurance cover?

Insurance regulators use a document called the Nationwide Marine Definition to decide what may be written as inland marine. In plain terms, it covers:

  • Property in transit, such as freight on a truck or goods shipped by rail
  • Mobile equipment and tools that move from site to site
  • Buildings under construction and materials waiting to be installed
  • Property of others held by a bailee, such as a repair shop or warehouse
  • Instruments of communication and transportation, such as towers and pipelines
  • Specialty property such as fine art, medical equipment and computers

Inland marine insurance for contractors equipment

Contractors equipment is the largest inland marine class. An equipment floater covers excavators, loaders, skid steers and tools on the job, in transit and in storage. It can include equipment you own, equipment you rent from others and equipment you rent out. For the big machines, see heavy equipment insurance.

Builders risk and course of construction

Builders risk insurance, also called course of construction insurance, is inland marine coverage for a building while it is under construction or being renovated, plus materials on site, in storage and in transit.

What inland marine insurance does not cover

Exclusions vary by form, but these are common:

  • Wear and tear, rust, and gradual deterioration
  • Mechanical or electrical breakdown, unless added by endorsement
  • Unexplained disappearance or inventory shortages on many forms
  • Theft from an unattended vehicle unless security conditions are met
  • Liability for injury or damage to others, which belongs on a liability policy
  • Flood and earthquake, or only a small sublimit for them

How much does inland marine insurance cost?

There is no single rate, because inland marine is priced class by class. The main factors are:

  1. The type of property and how easily it is damaged or stolen
  2. The total value insured and the highest value of any one item, load or location
  3. Where the property goes and how it is stored and secured
  4. The deductible and how the property is valued (replacement cost, actual cash value or agreed value)
  5. Your loss history over the past 3 to 5 years

Why it is written separately

A commercial property policy is built around an address. An excavator on a highway job, a pallet of switchgear on a flatbed, or a painting on loan to a museum is not at that address, so it needs a form that follows the property. Inland marine forms are also more flexible: values can be agreed in advance, coverage can be open-perils, and limits can be set per item, per location or per shipment.

Inland marine insurance classes

Inland marine questions

What is inland marine insurance in simple terms?

It is insurance for business property that is not tied to one building: equipment that moves between job sites, goods in transit, buildings under construction, and customers' property in your care.

What is the difference between inland marine and ocean marine?

Ocean marine covers ships and cargo moving over water. Inland marine grew out of it to cover property moving over land, and now also covers property at temporary locations and in your care.

Why is it called inland marine?

Marine insurance began with ships and the cargo they carried. As goods started moving over land by rail and truck, insurers stretched marine forms to cover them, and the name stuck. Today it covers almost any property that moves or sits somewhere temporary.

Is inland marine the same as commercial property?

No. Commercial property covers buildings and contents at a listed address. Inland marine follows property to other locations, covers it in transit, and covers other people's property in your care.

Are inland marine policies standardized?

Some classes use filed forms with rates approved by state regulators. Many others, including contractors equipment, builders risk and cargo, are written on carriers' own forms, so coverage varies from one policy to the next. Read the form, not just the name.