Inland marine insurance
Also called Inland marine or floater
Definition
Inland marine insurance covers business property that moves or is kept away from your main location, like tools on job sites, goods in transit and property held for others.
How it works
Despite the name, inland marine has nothing to do with boats for most small businesses. It grew out of marine insurance on shipped cargo and came to cover property that moves or travels over land. Today it’s the usual home for property a standard property policy covers poorly, because that policy is built around your listed location.
The NAIC’s Nationwide Inland Marine Definition, a model states can use to classify these risks, lists kinds of property that include:
- goods in transit
- mobile machinery and equipment that moves from place to place
- property in the custody of a bailee, meaning someone holding it for its owner
- builders’ risk and installation risks for materials and equipment on a job
- accounts receivable and valuable papers and records
Exactly what counts as inland marine depends on each state’s law. Policies are often called floaters, because coverage follows the property. They can list items individually or cover a category up to a limit, and they may be written on a named perils or open perils basis.
Where small businesses see it
Contractors’ tools and equipment coverage is one of the most common examples. Corgi’s tools and equipment insurance covers tools and equipment that travel with you, on job sites, in your truck and in storage. Your business personal property coverage, by contrast, usually applies at your premises, with only limited coverage away from it.