Property insurance stops at the property line. Inland marine goes with you.
Your commercial property policy covers the building and what's in it — at that address. The moment your tools, equipment, or materials leave the building, that coverage usually stops, and a commercial auto policy covers the vehicle, not what's inside it. Inland marine is the coverage for property that moves: tools on a job site, gear in your van, materials in transit, cargo you haul, and even customers' property in your care. Liberty Mutual writes it flexibly, for everything from a van of hand tools to the largest contractor schedules. Here's what it covers and who needs it. From an independent agency that places Liberty Mutual every day.
The short answer
Inland marine covers movable property — the tools, equipment, materials, and goods that don't stay at one address. It fills the gap your other policies leave: commercial property stops when property leaves the building, and commercial auto covers the vehicle, not what's inside it. It includes contractor's equipment, property in transit, installation floaters, motor truck cargo, and bailee's coverage for customers' property in your care — protecting both your own mobile property and others' property in your possession. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with boats. Liberty Mutual writes it flexibly, up to $500M project limits. Backed by an A (Excellent) carrier, quoted against 40+.
A family of floaters for property that moves.
Inland marine isn't one policy but a set of coverages — "floaters" — each built for a different kind of movable property. These are the ones businesses reach for most.
Contractor's equipment
Covers your tools and equipment against damage, loss, or theft while in use, in transit, or in storage — on the jobsite, in the truck, or in the van overnight. The core coverage for any trade.
Property in transit
Protects your own property while it's being moved between locations — the gap between leaving one site and arriving at the next, which neither the property nor the auto policy fills.
Installation floater
Covers materials and equipment from the moment they're loaded until they're installed and accepted by the customer — built for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, and interior build-out work.
Motor truck cargo
Covers your liability for the goods you transport or temporarily store for others — the freight in the trailer, which the commercial auto policy doesn't cover.
Bailee's coverage
Protects customers' property left in your possession — items at a repair shop, clothes at a cleaner, goods in storage — if they're lost or damaged while you're holding them.
Scheduled & miscellaneous property
Covers named or hard-to-classify movable property — trade-show displays, landscaping equipment, food-truck gear, fine arts, drones, scientific instruments — that a standard policy won't neatly fit.
Why it's called "marine," and why you need it.
Forget the name — inland marine has nothing to do with boats. It's a historical leftover from ocean cargo insurance that moved onto land. What it really means is coverage for property that doesn't stay put.
It fills the space your other policies leave open.
Your business likely has two property policies with a gap between them. Commercial property covers property at a fixed, described location — the moment your equipment leaves the building, that coverage generally stops. Commercial auto covers the vehicle and your liability, but not the tools, materials, or cargo inside it — so a stolen work van is a covered vehicle loss and an uncovered contents loss.
Inland marine bridges that gap. It follows your property wherever it goes — the jobsite, the truck, the road, the customer's site — and it can cover both your own property and other people's property in your possession. For a business whose value walks out the door every morning in a work van, it's often the most important property coverage there is, and the one most likely to be missing.
If it's valuable and it moves.
Any business whose property regularly leaves its main address — or that holds customers' goods — is a candidate. These are the common ones.
Contractors & trades
Tools and equipment on job sites, in trucks, and in transit — the exposure a fixed-location property policy leaves wide open.
Truckers & haulers
Businesses that transport goods for others need coverage for their liability when that cargo is lost or damaged along the way.
Repair, cleaning & storage
Repair shops, dry cleaners, and storage businesses hold customers' property — and are on the hook if it's damaged in their care.
Landscaping & agriculture
Mowers, trailers, portable pumps, and specialized machinery moved across properties and fields all day, every day.
Food trucks & mobile vendors
Food-truck equipment and inventory, and trade-show displays that travel between events, need coverage the moment they leave a fixed base.
Fine art & specialty
Galleries, collectors, and businesses with fine art, antiques, or specialized instruments in transit, on exhibit, or on loan between locations.
Flexible enough for odd equipment.
Liberty Mutual writes inland marine from a single van of tools up to specialty programs with project limits as high as $500 million — with dedicated inland marine underwriters and property risk engineers behind the larger accounts.
Built for property that doesn't fit a box.
Inland marine's strength is flexibility, and Liberty Mutual leans into it. Beyond the standard floaters, its miscellaneous property floater is made for equipment that doesn't slot neatly into a category — food-truck and catering gear, athletic equipment, scientific instruments, drones — so businesses with nontraditional or mixed-use assets can still get coverage that fits.
On the construction side, dedicated inland marine underwriters and property risk engineers who understand contractors help tailor the coverage and lower total cost of risk, and a claims approach focused on reducing downtime matters when a lost piece of equipment stalls a job. Whether Liberty is the right fit for your equipment — and how to schedule it — is what we sort out at quote.
The gaps live between the policies.
Property, auto, and inland marine have to be drawn together.
Inland marine only makes sense in relation to your other coverage — it exists to fill what your commercial property and commercial auto policies don't. When one agency holds all three, the line between them is drawn on purpose: the property policy covers the fixed location, the auto policy covers the vehicles, and inland marine covers everything that moves — with no overlap you're paying twice for and no gap a claim falls into. Draw those lines across three different companies and the gap in the middle is exactly where the loss lands.
Three things to get right on inland marine.
First, value your equipment to replace it — a floater set to a stale or lowball number won't rebuild your toolset at today's prices. Second, schedule the big pieces and blanket the rest, so high-value machines carry their own limit while the pool of smaller tools is covered without a line-item list. Third, add bailee's coverage if you hold others' property, since standard policies won't. We set the schedule, size the limits, mind the territory, and make sure it dovetails with your property and auto.
Backed by an A (Excellent) carrier.
On September 10, 2025, AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) for the members of Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., stable outlook — the group behind the companies that write this coverage in Arkansas. A financial strength rating is an opinion about an insurer's ability to pay claims; it doesn't grade how a specific claim is handled and isn't a recommendation. The current rating is at ambest.com.
Where we earn it on inland marine.
The quiet inland-marine mistakes are equipment valued too low, high-value pieces left unscheduled, no bailee coverage when you hold others' goods, and simply assuming the property or auto policy already covers it. We inventory what moves, decide what to schedule versus blanket, add the floaters your operation needs, and line it up against your other coverage. We don't adjust your claim and can't overrule an adjuster — but we'll make sure the coverage followed your property out the door, and we'll move you to another of our 40-plus markets if Liberty Mutual isn't the best fit for your equipment.
Driven by what you're covering.
Inland marine cost turns on the type and value of the property, how far and how often it moves, your loss history, and the limits and deductibles you choose — a floater on a van of hand tools and a schedule of heavy machinery are worlds apart. So a posted number would mislead. This isn't a quote or a guarantee. Tell us what moves and what it's worth and we'll build the real figure with you, Liberty Mutual against 40-plus carriers.
The policies it works alongside.
Liberty Mutual inland marine questions.
What is inland marine insurance, and why the odd name?
Inland marine is coverage for movable property — the tools, equipment, materials, and goods that don't stay at one fixed address. The name is a historical leftover: "marine" insurance originally covered cargo on ships, and when that coverage moved onto land — trains, trucks, job sites — it became "inland marine." Today it has nothing to do with boats.
What it does is protect your business property wherever it goes: at a job site, in your work van overnight, in transit between locations, or in your care. If your property regularly leaves your main address, or you temporarily hold customers' goods, inland marine is the policy that follows it.
What does inland marine insurance cover?
It's a family of coverages built around movable property. A contractor's equipment floater covers your tools and equipment against damage, loss, or theft while in use, in transit, or in storage. An installation floater covers materials from the moment they're loaded until they're installed and accepted — common for electricians, plumbers, and HVAC trades. Motor truck cargo covers your liability for goods you transport for others.
Bailee's coverage protects customers' property left in your care, like a repair shop or dry cleaner. Scheduled and miscellaneous property floaters cover named or specialty items — trade-show displays, landscaping equipment, food-truck gear, fine arts, drones — that move around. It can protect both your own mobile property and other people's property in your possession.
Doesn't my commercial property or auto policy already cover this?
No — and this is the exact gap inland marine exists to fill. A commercial property policy covers property at a fixed, described location; the moment your equipment leaves the building, that coverage usually stops. A commercial auto policy covers the vehicle and your liability, but not the tools, materials, or cargo inside it — so if a loaded work van is stolen or wrecked, the van is covered and the contents are not.
Inland marine covers the property that moves, closing the space between the fixed-location policy and the vehicle policy. A contractor with an equipment floater is covered whether the tools are on the jobsite, in the truck, or in transit.
What's the difference between covering my own property and others' property?
It's a useful distinction, because inland marine does both. An equipment floater protects your own business property directly — your tools and machinery, wherever they are. Motor truck cargo and bailee's coverage protect other people's property that's in your possession: motor truck cargo covers your liability for freight you haul for others, and bailee's coverage protects customers' items left in your care, like a watch at a repair shop or clothes at a cleaner.
If a customer's property is lost or damaged while you're holding it, standard policies often won't respond — which is why any business that transports or holds others' goods should look closely at these coverages.
Who needs inland marine insurance?
Any business whose valuable property regularly leaves its main address, or that holds customers' goods, is a candidate. Contractors and tradespeople with tools and equipment on job sites are the classic case. Truckers and delivery businesses that haul goods for others need motor truck cargo. Repair shops, dry cleaners, and storage businesses have a bailee exposure for customers' property.
Landscapers, agricultural operations, and energy businesses run portable and specialized equipment across sites. Mobile vendors, food trucks, and trade-show exhibitors move gear and displays between locations. And galleries, collectors, and anyone with fine art in transit or on exhibit have their own floater needs. If it's valuable and it moves, inland marine is worth a look.
Is equipment covered on a scheduled or blanket basis?
Both are options, and the right mix depends on your equipment. Scheduling means listing specific high-value items individually, each with its own limit — the way you'd cover a $60,000 excavator or a specialized machine. Blanket coverage puts a pool of smaller, interchangeable tools under one limit without listing each one, which suits a van full of hand tools that turns over regularly.
Many contractor floaters combine the two: schedule the big pieces, blanket the rest, and sometimes add rental reimbursement if a covered loss puts a key piece of equipment out of service. One thing to note: a standard inland marine policy usually covers a defined territory, typically the United States, its territories, and Canada. We set the schedule, limits, and territory to match how your business actually operates.
How do I get an inland marine quote?
Start at our commercial quote form or call (479) 286-1066. Tell us what property of yours moves and what it's worth — your tools and equipment, anything you transport, and any customer property you hold — and we'll decide what to schedule versus blanket, choose the right floaters, and quote Liberty Mutual against 40-plus other carriers.
Liberty Mutual writes flexible inland marine across a wide range of equipment types, with capacity from the smallest businesses to the largest contractors, so we can usually find a fit even for property that doesn't slot neatly into a standard category.
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.
Liberty Mutual is one of 40+ carriers we represent.
Which means we can tell you honestly whether Liberty Mutual is the right home for your inland marine — or whether one of our other markets fits your equipment better. Tell us what moves and what it's worth, and we'll schedule the big pieces, blanket the rest, add the floaters you need, and make sure it lines up with your property and auto. If a different carrier fits your equipment better, we'll say so.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not Liberty Mutual, and this page is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by Liberty Mutual. "Liberty Mutual" is a service mark or trademark of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. Liberty Mutual's Arkansas inland marine policies are issued by Liberty Mutual-affiliated underwriting companies.
This page describes inland marine coverage 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. The available floaters and coverages — including contractor's equipment, property in transit, installation floater, motor truck cargo, bailee's customer coverage, scheduled and miscellaneous property floaters, fine arts, and builders risk — and their scheduling, blanket options, valuation, covered territory, limits, deductibles, endorsements, and exclusions are set by the carrier, vary by class and by state and over time, are subject to the carrier's underwriting appetite and eligibility, and are confirmed at quote and subject to the terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Inland marine generally covers a defined territory (commonly the United States, its territories, and Canada), and it is distinct from a fixed-location commercial property policy and from commercial auto, which do not cover the same movable-property exposures. Referenced capacity such as project limits is general and subject to underwriting. If anything on this page conflicts with the issued policy, the policy controls.
Eligibility depends on the carrier's appetite and underwriting and is confirmed at quote. Any values or examples used are illustrative only and do not reflect any specific policy, rate, or guaranteed outcome.
Financial strength ratings are opinions of an insurer's ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations, are subject to change, are not recommendations to purchase, hold or terminate any policy, and do not address an insurer's claims-handling practices; current ratings are at ambest.com. The A (Excellent) rating referenced applies to the members of Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. Cost is determined by the carrier at quote and is not a figure this page represents or guarantees.
Last reviewed July 2026.