Your property insurance stops at the building. Your equipment doesn't.
A commercial property policy insures what sits at the address printed on it. But a contractor's real assets spend the day in a truck, on a jobsite, in a trailer, or staged in someone else's warehouse — and that's outside what a property policy reaches. Inland marine is the coverage that follows property instead of staying with a building. The name has nothing to do with water. Here's what it covers, how scheduled and blanket limits differ, and why two policies with the same name aren't the same policy. We shop it across 40+ carriers.
The short answer
Inland marine is property insurance for things that move, or sit somewhere other than your business address — tools, equipment, materials in transit, and customers' property in your care. It exists because a commercial property policy is tied to the address on it and reaches only a limited distance beyond. The name is a historical accident with no connection to water. Two things to know before you buy: coverage is written as scheduled items, a blanket limit, or both — and because there's no single industry form for this line, two policies with the same name can differ dramatically.
Two good policies, and everything between them uninsured.
Property insures the building. Auto insures the vehicle. Neither one insures the forty thousand dollars of equipment riding in the bed.
This is the most common hole we find on a contractor's program.
A commercial property or business owners policy covers business personal property at the described premises, with an extension that reaches only a limited distance beyond it. A trailer at a jobsite across town is nowhere near that boundary. Meanwhile the commercial auto policy covers the truck itself — the sheet metal, the engine, the glass. It does not cover what's in the back.
The reason it goes unnoticed is that nothing about the situation looks like a gap. The business has property insurance. It has auto insurance. Both policies are perfectly good at what they do. The discovery usually happens the morning after a trailer is emptied out of a jobsite, which in a market building as fast as this one is not a rare morning.
The name is the other reason. "Inland marine" sounds like something for boats, so business owners skip past it. It's a leftover from marine insurers extending cargo coverage inland once goods left the ship, and it has stuck for a century and a half. Property crossing navigable water is actually a different product — ocean marine cargo.
Six floaters, and most businesses need two or three.
Inland marine isn't one policy — it's a family of them, each built around a different kind of moving or off-site property.
Contractors equipment
Tools, machinery, compressors, generators, skid steers, trailers — owned, and usually rented or borrowed too. Covered wherever they are rather than only at the shop. This is the floater most trades actually need.
Installation floater
Materials and equipment you're installing — from the supplier, through transit and staging, until the work is installed and accepted. The HVAC units, cabinetry, fixtures and switchgear that are your responsibility right up to signoff.
Bailee coverage
Customers' property temporarily in your care. Repair shops, upholsterers, detailers, dry cleaners, equipment servicers. Your property policy won't cover someone else's goods sitting in your bay, and a customer won't accept that answer.
Transit coverage
Your own property while it's being shipped or carried between locations — stock moving to a second site, product going to a customer, a display heading to a trade show. Freight you haul for others is motor truck cargo instead.
Electronic equipment
Laptops, tablets, field devices, survey and diagnostic gear, point-of-sale hardware that travels. Modern businesses carry far more value in portable electronics than their property schedule usually reflects.
Everything else that floats
Signs, scaffolding, fine arts, musical instruments, medical and diagnostic equipment, camera and production gear, exhibitions. If it's valuable and it isn't bolted to your building, there's usually a floater for it.
Installation floater or builders risk? They overlap, and they aren't the same.
These two get mixed up constantly, including by people who have bought both. They insure different interests in the same construction project.
Builders risk covers the structure under construction and the materials intended to become part of it. It's normally bought by the property owner or the general contractor, written for the duration of the project, and — this is the part contractors miss — it typically excludes the contractor's own tools and machinery. Builders risk is frequently written on an inland marine form itself, which is part of why the two feel so similar.
An installation floater covers your materials and equipment from the moment they leave the supplier or your shop, through transit and temporary storage, while staged at the site, and until the work is installed and accepted. It's bought by the trade contractor doing the installing — the HVAC, electrical, plumbing, millwork or specialty contractor who owns those materials until signoff.
Two things worth knowing before you rely on either. Installation floaters commonly exclude faulty workmanship, your own tools, and losses that happen after the work has been accepted — these forms are built for sudden accidental damage like theft, fire, collision and weather, not for the cost of redoing work that was done wrong. And if you're a subcontractor planning to rely on the general contractor's builders risk policy, read the contract for the deductible. That deductible can be passed down to you by agreement, and it is frequently large enough to change the math on whether you wanted your own coverage.
Cribb writes both. If you're building, see builders risk insurance; if you're installing into someone else's project, the floater is usually the right instrument. Plenty of contractors carry an equipment floater, an installation floater, and appear as an insured on somebody's builders risk all at once, which is normal rather than redundant.
Scheduled, blanket, or both — and the difference decides claims.
Scheduled means each item is listed on the policy with its own value. Precise, and appropriate for anything substantial. The catch is the obvious one: an item that isn't on the schedule isn't covered. A machine bought in March and never reported is uninsured in June, in exactly the way an unlisted vehicle is uninsured on a specifically-described-autos policy.
Blanket gives a pool of coverage that applies across a category rather than item by item. Most contractor programs use both: the significant machines scheduled individually, and a blanket small tools limit picking up everything under a per-item threshold. The recurring failure is a small tools limit chosen years ago that no longer resembles what's actually in the trailer today.
Three things to confirm before you sign anything.
Replacement cost or actual cash value. Older equipment settled at actual cash value pays a depreciated figure, which on a ten-year-old machine can be a fraction of what a replacement costs. Ask which basis applies, and ask whether it differs by item age.
Your rented and leased equipment limit. The rental agreement makes you responsible for that machine, often for its full value plus loss of rental income while it's out of service. If your limit was set for a skid steer and you've rented a lift, the limit is the problem, not the coverage.
Whether the form is any good. This is where inland marine differs from most commercial lines: there is no single industry form. Unlike a business owners policy or a general liability policy, carriers write their own inland marine wording, and the variation is genuinely wide. Two quotes labeled "contractors equipment" can differ on theft requirements, off-premises storage, employee tools, newly acquired property, and the valuation basis. On this line you compare forms, not premiums — which is most of why an independent agency is worth having on it.
No statute requires this one. Your contracts do.
Worth being straight about it: unlike auto liability or workers compensation, Arkansas law doesn't require inland marine coverage. There's no statute to point at. What creates the obligation here is contract — and in Northwest Arkansas that turns out to be a stronger driver than any statute.
Two contracts do most of the work. Equipment rental and lease agreements make you responsible for machinery you don't own, usually for full value and sometimes for the rental company's lost income while it's being replaced. And subcontract terms from general contractors on the corridor's commercial and supplier-campus construction routinely specify equipment and installation coverage, name required limits, and demand certificates before you're allowed on site. Neither of those is state law. Both of them are binding on you.
The loss side is local too. Jobsite and vehicle theft is the dominant inland marine claim in a market building at this pace — trailers, generators, compressors and tool inventories disappearing overnight from sites that are secure during working hours and empty after. And equipment stored outside carries the same wind and hail exposure that drives commercial property here; a hailstorm that dents a roof also finds whatever was parked beside the building.
Equipment working across the state line.
Because inland marine follows the property rather than an address, it travels better than most commercial coverage. Most forms carry a coverage territory spanning the United States and often Canada, so a skid steer on a job in Oklahoma is usually fine. Cribb Insurance Group is licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, and equipment crossing those lines from an NWA base is routine work for us.
Two cautions. Coverage territory is a policy provision, not a guarantee — some forms are narrower, and extended or long-term out-of-state storage can raise questions a short job doesn't. And many inland marine forms exclude property while airborne or waterborne, so anything crossing navigable water is a different product. Contract requirements imposed by jobsite owners also vary state to state and job to job. None of this is legal advice. If your equipment, crews or materials cross a state line, talk to a licensed agent about your specific situation — (479) 286-1066.
Three things it won't do.
The vehicle itself
Inland marine covers what's in the truck. The truck is commercial auto physical damage. One accident, two policies — and businesses regularly assume one of them reaches the other.
The building and what stays in it
Your shop, office, warehouse and the contents that live there are commercial property, usually inside a business owners policy. Inland marine is for what leaves.
Faulty work and wear
These forms cover sudden accidental loss — theft, fire, collision, weather. Not defective workmanship, not defective materials, not wear and tear or mechanical breakdown. Employee theft is generally a crime policy, not this one.
Almost every inland marine claim problem is a list problem.
The failures on this line are unglamorous and repetitive. An equipment schedule two years out of date. A small tools limit set when the business owned half of what it owns now. Equipment valued at actual cash value by a business expecting replacement cost. A rented equipment limit that doesn't reach what the rental contract makes you liable for. No installation floater at a trade contractor carrying six figures of material to a site every month. A theft loss at an unsecured overnight location the form quietly required something about.
What we do about it: build the schedule properly rather than copying the last one forward, price scheduled and blanket structures side by side so you can see the tradeoff, read the competing form's theft, off-premises and valuation wording before we compare premiums, check your rental and subcontract agreements against the limits you actually carry, and tell you which floaters you don't need. We don't adjust your claim and can't overrule an adjuster — but we build the policy to respond, across 40+ carrier markets. Equipment age, value and theft-control acceptability differ sharply by carrier and change often, so ask us rather than working from a general rule.
Priced off the schedule and where the property sleeps.
Inland marine premium turns on the total insured value and the mix of scheduled versus blanket property, the type and age of equipment, whether valuation is replacement cost or actual cash value, the deductible, where property is stored overnight and how it's secured, whether equipment leaves the state or stays out for long periods, the class of work performed, rented and leased equipment exposure, whether installation or bailee exposures are included, and prior loss history — theft history especially. Security measures move this line more than most: locked and lit storage, GPS trackers on major units, and a written check-in procedure are worth real money at renewal. Worth saying plainly: price is not the only comparison here. Because there's no standard form, the cheaper quote is frequently the narrower one. This isn't a quote or a guarantee.
What usually sits next to it.
Inland marine questions.
What is inland marine insurance and why is it called that?
Inland marine is property insurance for things that move or that sit somewhere other than your business address. Tools, equipment, materials, goods in transit, and property belonging to customers that is temporarily in your care.
The name is a historical leftover and it is actively misleading. Marine insurers were the first to cover cargo, and when goods began traveling overland after leaving the ship, those insurers extended coverage inland. The name stuck. Modern inland marine has nothing to do with water, and property traveling over navigable waters is usually ocean marine cargo rather than inland marine. The reason the line exists is simple. A commercial property policy is tied to the address printed on it and generally provides little to no coverage once property leaves the premises. Inland marine is sometimes called floater coverage because it floats along with the property instead of staying at a building.
Does my commercial property policy cover tools stolen from my truck?
Usually not, or not for anything close to the real value. A commercial property or business owners policy insures business personal property at the described premises, with an extension that reaches only a limited distance beyond it. A truck parked at a jobsite twenty miles away is well outside that. This is the single most common gap we find on contractor and service business programs, and it tends to surface after a theft rather than before.
The other half of the confusion is worth naming. Your commercial auto policy covers the truck itself. It does not cover the tools inside the truck. Those are two different policies, and a business can have perfectly good coverage on both the shop and the vehicle while everything in between is uninsured. A contractors equipment floater is what closes it.
What is the difference between an installation floater and builders risk?
They overlap, which is why contractors mix them up constantly, but they insure different interests. Builders risk covers the structure under construction along with the materials intended to become part of it. It is normally purchased by the property owner or the general contractor, runs for the length of the project, and typically excludes the contractor's own tools and machinery. An installation floater covers a contractor's materials and equipment from the moment they leave the supplier or the shop, through transit and temporary storage, and while staged at the site, until the work is installed and accepted. It is normally purchased by the trade contractor doing the installing.
Two practical points. Installation floaters commonly exclude faulty workmanship, the contractor's own tools, and losses occurring after the work has been accepted. And a subcontractor relying on the general contractor's builders risk policy should read the contract carefully, because the deductible on that policy can be passed down to the sub by agreement.
Should my equipment be scheduled or covered on a blanket limit?
Both, usually, and understanding which is which prevents most inland marine disappointments. Scheduled equipment means each item is listed on the policy with its own value. Coverage is precise, but an item that is not on the list is not covered, which is exactly what happens when a business buys a machine and does not call. Blanket coverage gives a pool of insurance that applies across a category rather than item by item. Most contractor programs combine the two. Larger machines are scheduled individually and a blanket small tools limit picks up everything under a per item threshold. The mistake we see most often is a small tools limit set years ago that no longer resembles what is actually in the trailer.
Also confirm two things people forget. Whether equipment is valued at replacement cost or actual cash value, because older equipment settled at actual cash value pays far less than it costs to replace. And whether the limit for rented or leased equipment is high enough to match what the rental contract makes you responsible for.
Does inland marine cover my equipment in Oklahoma, Missouri or Texas?
Generally yes, and this is one of the useful things about the line. Inland marine follows the property rather than a scheduled address, and most forms carry a coverage territory that spans the United States and often Canada. Cribb Insurance Group is licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, and equipment crossing those lines from a Northwest Arkansas base is routine.
Two cautions. Coverage territory is a policy provision rather than a guarantee, and some forms are narrower than others, so it is worth confirming rather than assuming, particularly if equipment stays out of state for extended periods or is stored somewhere long term. And many inland marine forms exclude property while it is airborne or waterborne, so shipments over navigable water are a different product. Requirements imposed by contract, and by whoever owns a jobsite you are working on, also differ from state to state and job to job.
What does inland marine insurance not cover?
It does not cover the vehicle carrying the equipment, which is commercial auto physical damage. It does not cover your building or the contents that stay in it, which is commercial property. It is first party property coverage, so it does not respond to injury or damage you cause to someone else, which is general liability.
Faulty workmanship and defective materials are generally excluded, because these forms are built for sudden accidental physical loss such as theft, fire, collision or weather rather than for the cost of redoing work that was done wrong. Wear and tear, mechanical breakdown, employee dishonesty and intentional acts are typically excluded as well, and employee theft usually belongs under a crime policy. And, as with every commercial line, property that was never disclosed and never scheduled where scheduling was required is the ordinary reason a claim is denied.
How do I get an inland marine insurance quote?
Start the commercial quote form or call (479) 286-1066. This line is quoted off a list, so the list is what speeds it up.
Useful to have: an equipment schedule with year, make, model, serial number and value for anything significant, a realistic total for unscheduled small tools at their replacement cost rather than what you paid, whether you rent or lease equipment and what the rental agreements make you responsible for, whether you install materials and roughly what a typical job holds in materials before it is accepted, whether you hold property belonging to customers, where equipment is stored overnight and how it is secured, whether anything routinely leaves the state, and any contract or subcontract that specifies coverage or limits. If you carry coverage now, send the declarations and the equipment schedule and we will start by finding what has been added since the schedule was last updated.
If our coverage explainers are useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas business owners can find our local, plain-English guides.
Send us the equipment list. Even the old one.
An out-of-date schedule is more useful than no schedule, because the gap between what's on it and what's actually in your yard is the whole conversation. Bring the serial numbers if you have them, a real number for small tools at replacement cost, whatever you're renting this month, and any subcontract that told you what to carry. We'll tell you which floaters you need, which you don't, and where the form you have now is thinner than the one you think you have.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. This page describes inland marine insurance in general, industry-standard terms for informational purposes only. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility, or price. Agency licensure is not the same as carrier appointment; product and carrier availability differ by state, by line and over time.
Inland marine forms are not standardized. Unlike most commercial lines, there is no single industry form for inland marine coverage; carriers write independent wording that differs materially between companies and between programs. Descriptions on this page of contractors equipment, installation floaters, bailee coverage, transit coverage, electronic equipment coverage and other floaters summarize common market practice only. They are not a description of any specific policy. Coverage territory, valuation basis, scheduling and reporting requirements, small tools and rented equipment sublimits, theft and security conditions, off-premises and overnight storage requirements, deductibles, conditions and exclusions are set by the carrier and apply only as written in the policy actually issued to you. Statements about property being excluded while airborne or waterborne, and about navigable-water transit requiring ocean marine cargo coverage, reflect common form language and must be confirmed in your own policy.
About builders risk and installation floaters. The comparison on this page is a general summary of how these coverages commonly differ and is not a determination of which one any project, contract or party requires. Builders risk is itself frequently written on an inland marine form, and the allocation of coverage, insured parties and deductibles among owners, general contractors and subcontractors is governed by the construction contract and by the policy actually issued. Contract and subcontract insurance requirements, additional insured and waiver of subrogation obligations, and deductible responsibility should be reviewed by you and, where appropriate, by your attorney before work begins.
Arkansas does not require inland marine coverage by statute. References on this page to obligations arising from equipment rental or lease agreements and from subcontract terms describe contractual rather than statutory duties, and those obligations depend entirely on the agreements you sign. Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas each have their own regulatory environment, and requirements imposed by jobsite owners and general contractors vary by state, project and contract. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Speak with a licensed insurance agent and, where appropriate, qualified legal counsel regarding your specific circumstances. Any cost or coverage descriptions are general and illustrative, not a quote, and not a guarantee; your premium and coverage are determined at quote and by the policy issued.
Last reviewed July 2026.