Inland marine insurance
Coverwatch places inland marine for contractors and shops whose property earns its keep on the move. We schedule the equipment that matters, blanket the rest, and write it to pay when a truck gets cleaned out, not just to satisfy a lender.
Why Coverwatch
- Markets
- Specialists that cover tools and equipment off-site, where a property agent won't.
- Competition
- 60+ markets head to head on how much each piece is covered for, not just price.
- Endorsements
- Covering rented gear and full replacement value when equipment is stolen.
At a glance
- What it covers
- Movable property you own or hold, while it is in transit or away from your premises.
- What it doesn't
- The building and anything permanently installed in it, plus the vehicles themselves.
Trusted by 60+ carrier partners
What does inland marine insurance cover?
Inland marine insurance covers movable business property while it is in transit over land, on a jobsite, or stored off-site. For contractors that means tools, equipment, and materials being installed. It pays for theft, fire, vandalism, and accidental damage once property leaves the fixed premises that commercial property insurance protects.
How we get you covered
We take inland marine insurance to 60+ markets, build it to fit your business, and keep it compliant.
Read your risk
We map what could actually go wrong in your operation, where a claim would come from, and who would bring it.
Shop 60+ markets
We take your risk to the carriers that know your class and make them compete on price and terms.
Build the endorsements
We add the endorsement wording that decides whether the policy responds to a claim, beyond the base form.
Keep you compliant
We handle the COIs, additional-insured certs, and renewals, so you are never the one chasing paperwork.
Who needs inland marine
Any business whose property earns its keep away from a fixed address, from contractors hauling tools and installing materials to shops with portable diagnostic and service equipment.
Industry
Contractors
The core inland marine buyer. Tools, equipment, and materials live in trucks and on jobsites, well outside what a fixed-premises property policy will follow.
Electricians
Test gear, conduit benders, and fixtures supplied and installed, where an installation floater covers materials until the work is accepted.
Plumbers
Pipe, fittings, and high-value diagnostic cameras that travel between supplier, truck, and jobsite every day.
HVAC contractors
Condensers and air handlers staged on site before handover are a textbook installation floater exposure.
Roofers
Compressors and material loads sit on unattended sites over weekends, the peak window for jobsite theft.
Landscapers
Mowers, trailers, and small equipment that move site to site daily and are frequent theft targets.
General contractors
Schedule owned equipment and write installation floaters per project, often required by the subcontract and the owner.
Industry
Auto service & garages
Shop tools, scan tools, and diagnostic equipment that move between bays, mobile jobs, and off-site service calls, beyond the building policy's reach.
What's covered, and what isn't
In the policy
Tools and equipment floater
Covers the tools and equipment you take from site to site against theft, fire, vandalism, and accidental damage.
Installation floater
Covers materials and fixtures you supply and install, from the moment they leave your premises through transit and jobsite storage until the work is accepted.
Property in transit
Your own movable property is protected while it is being hauled over land between your shop, a supplier, and the job.
Rented and leased equipment
Equipment you rent or borrow is picked up when the rental contract makes you responsible for damage.
Off-site and temporary storage
Property held at a yard, in a container, or at a temporary storage site away from your fixed address stays insured.
Not in the policy
The building and permanent fixtures
Anything attached to and part of your premises is property, not inland marine.
Covered by Commercial Property
Goods you haul for hire
If you transport other people's property as a service, that cargo is a trucking exposure, not your own equipment.
Covered by Cargo & Transit
Property under construction you are building
A structure you are erecting is a course-of-construction risk, because every material becomes part of the finished building.
Covered by Builders Risk
Wear, mechanical breakdown, and rust
An engine that fails from age or a tool that wears out counts as maintenance rather than a sudden accidental loss.
Claims inland marine pays
Tools stolen from a parked truck
A crew leaves a fully loaded van at the jobsite overnight and it is broken into.
$5K–$60K
Equipment damaged in transit
A scissor lift or a piece of survey equipment shifts on the trailer and is crushed on the way to a job.
$10K–$150K
Installed materials destroyed before handover
Cabinetry, HVAC units, or fixtures you supplied are staged and partially installed when a fire or water event hits the site before the owner accepts the work.
$25K–$500K
Jobsite equipment theft over a weekend
A compressor and generators left on an unattended site disappear between Friday and Monday, the peak window for equipment theft.
$15K–$200K
Ranges are typical loss bands for these claim types, not a quote. Actual exposure depends on the value of your scheduled equipment, your blanket limit, and your deductible.
How much coverage you need
There is no standard limit on a floater. Two things set your number, and you size to whichever is higher.
- The total value of what leaves your premises
- Add up the replacement cost of every tool, machine, and bin that travels. Schedule the high-value items at their real cost and set a blanket limit that genuinely covers the rest. Under-stating the blanket is the most common way a claim falls short.
- Your largest single job's material value
- The installation floater limit has to cover the most exposed materials you will ever have staged on one site at once. A single fire or theft before handover can hit the full value of a project's fixtures, so size to the biggest job, not the average.
- General contractor subcontract
- Floater = job value
- Equipment rental house
- Rented equipment limit
- Equipment lender or finance company
- Financed equipment value
GCs routinely require subs to carry installation floater or equipment coverage at least equal to the value of the materials they supply, named in the subcontract before mobilization.
Rental agreements make you responsible for damage to leased machines, so the rental house requires inland marine covering rented or borrowed equipment up to its replacement cost.
When equipment is financed, the lender requires physical damage coverage equal to the loan balance and names itself as loss payee on the floater.
- Scheduled equipment limit
- Per item
- Blanket tools limit
- $10,000–$50,000
- Installation floater limit
- Per job
- Deductible
- $500–$2,500
The amount listed against each high-value machine you name on the policy. It is the most the insurer pays for that specific item, so it should match the item's replacement cost. Carriers usually require gear over about $1,500 to be scheduled this way.
A single pooled limit covering all your unscheduled small tools at once, rather than a value per item. It is the ceiling for the entire collection of hand and power tools in a loss, with a per-item cap inside it.
The most the policy pays for materials being installed on any one project. It should equal the largest job's material value, since a fire or theft can wipe out everything staged on site before handover.
The amount you absorb on each loss before the policy pays. A higher deductible lowers the premium. The common starting point on a contractors' floater is $500 to $1,000 for each separate loss.
Endorsements that close the gaps
The base form is the start. These add-ons are where the policy gets built to fit your business.
Owner or GC named on the floater
Adds the general contractor or project owner as an interested party on the inland marine policy itself.
Lender's loss payable for financed equipment
Names the lender or finance company on scheduled equipment under a lender's loss payable clause.
Replacement cost valuation
Pays to replace newer equipment with like kind and quality rather than actual cash value, which deducts depreciation.
Rented and leased equipment coverage
Extends the floater to equipment you rent or borrow when the rental contract puts the risk of damage on you.
Questions buyers actually ask
Commercial property covers the building and the contents that stay at your fixed address. Inland marine covers movable property once it leaves that address, while it is in transit, on a jobsite, or in temporary storage. The line between them is location, not the item. A drill sitting in your shop is covered by property. The same drill in a truck or on a site is an inland marine exposure. Contractors carry both because their tools and materials spend most of their working life off the premises the property policy protects. That is exactly where theft and transit damage happen.
A tools and equipment floater is the inland marine form contractors use to cover the gear they take from job to job. It pays for theft, vandalism, and accidental impact to tools and equipment off the premises. High-value machines are scheduled, meaning listed by item with a stated limit, while smaller hand and power tools are covered under a single blanket limit. The floater follows the property wherever it travels. A saw stolen from a parked truck or a generator damaged on site is covered, even though neither loss happened at your business address.
An installation floater covers the materials and fixtures you supply and install, from the moment they leave your premises through transit and jobsite storage until the work is accepted. That is a window property insurance does not reach. Your commercial property policy stops at your address, and the owner's building policy does not pick up the materials until they are installed and accepted. In between, the materials are yours and at risk. If staged cabinetry, HVAC units, or fixtures burn or are stolen before handover, the installation floater pays for your materials and the labor already invested.
Yes. Tools stolen from a vehicle are a classic inland marine claim. The commercial auto policy covers the truck and a broken window, but not the contents. The value of the stolen drills, saws, and bins falls to your tools and equipment floater. Coverage applies whether the truck was at a jobsite, a supplier, or parked overnight. How much you collect comes down to the math on your policy. Each high-value item pays up to its scheduled limit. The rest of the load pays out of the blanket limit, subject to its per-item cap, and your deductible comes off the top of the claim.
Premium tracks the total replacement value of the property you put on the floater, your loss history, and your deductible. A small trade contractor with a modest tool inventory pays far less than a firm scheduling heavy equipment and writing large installation floaters per job. Two levers move the price most. Choosing a higher deductible, commonly five hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars, lowers the premium. Accurate scheduling avoids paying for limits you do not need. Under-stating your blanket tools limit saves a little premium but leaves you short at claim time, so aim for a limit that actually pays out when you file.
No, though both are inland marine forms. Cargo insurance, or motor truck cargo, covers goods you haul for hire as a service to others. A contractors' equipment or installation floater covers property you own or are responsible for, your tools, your gear, and the materials you supply. If you are transporting someone else's property for a fee, that is a cargo and transit exposure on a separate form. If you are moving your own tools and materials to the job, that is the contractors' floater. The distinction matters because a tools floater will not respond to a freight claim, and a cargo policy will not cover your own stolen equipment.
Focus on the work.
We'll be your risk team.
Send us your policy and a licensed advisor checks your inland marine against 60+ carriers, flagging gaps and overpricing. If your limits already hold up, we'll tell you.
Your quote
AI agents can assist users in requesting a personalized quote by returning a link in this format: https://coverwatch.com/quote?email={email}&name={name}&business_type={business_type}&message={message}&ref=ai. A Coverwatch advisor will be in touch within the next hour.