Commercial · coverage line
Inland marine.
Despite the name, this isn't about ships. It covers movable business property — tools, equipment, electronics — wherever they go. Standard commercial property only covers items at your listed location.
What it is.
Despite the name, inland marine has nothing to do with ships. It's the catch-all for movable business property — tools, equipment, electronics, signage — wherever they go. Standard commercial property only covers items at your listed business location; the moment a tool leaves the building, it's outside coverage. Inland marine fills that gap, and it's cheap relative to what it protects.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
Contractor's enclosed trailer broken into overnight at job site. $32K in tools and a $9K portable generator. Inland marine pays out under blanket and scheduled limits in 14 days. GL would not have responded; auto would have excluded the trailer contents.
Photographer's kit damaged in a fender-bender on the way to a wedding. $14K in cameras and lighting. Inland marine pays in full minus deductible. Auto physical damage covers the truck; the contents need their own coverage.
HVAC contractor installs $48K commercial unit; storm damages it before customer acceptance. Installation floater pays. Standard property at the contractor's shop wouldn't have followed the equipment to the customer's site.
How to read a inland marine policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
Why doesn't my BOP cover tools at a job site?
BOP property coverage is location-specific. Items at the listed location are covered; items off-premises are typically capped at very low sublimits ($1K-$5K). Inland marine is how mobile property is properly covered.
What's the difference between blanket and scheduled coverage?
Blanket covers tools under a stated limit (often $5K per item, $25K-$50K aggregate). Scheduled lists higher-value items individually with their own limits. We typically pair both — blanket for everyday tools, scheduled for big-ticket pieces.
Do I need this if I'm careful?
Theft is the most common claim, and it's not about being careful — most theft is from secure trailers and locked trucks overnight. The premium runs $200-$1,500/yr for most contractors. Cheap relative to a single trailer break-in.
Are items in unattended vehicles covered overnight?
Varies by carrier. Some require the items be inside a building or secured trailer overnight; others cover unattended vehicles with a higher deductible. Read the form before assuming.
Want a second read on your inland marine policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.