What’s in a name? With inland marine insurance – it may be “confusion”
While marine insurance is more clearly related to products or goods transported over water, inland marine insurance is more typically related to property being transported over land and/or warehoused by a third party. As an example, think of things like mobile generators, tools, equipment, computers, or other property that may need to be moved to a destination for a project. This may be why the coverage is sometimes known as “mobile equipment insurance”.
What Does Inland Marine Insurance Cover?
Inland marine insurance typically covers losses while these items are being moved, as well as losses due to theft or damage of the items while they are in transit. The coverage can include direct physical loss or damage to the insured property caused by a variety of perils including theft, collision with another vehicle/object, fire, vandalism, and more. Often, collision or theft are the most common occurrences for these losses.
Do I Need Inland Marine for EVERYTHING I Transport?
While some of your business’s other policies may offer some coverage for these instances, it is important to note the differences. For instance, if you store your employees’ tools and equipment on-site and then they take them to a job site – you may not need inland marine coverage. However, if you commonly ship those tools or equipment to job sites in further locations – especially if they’re not in your employees’ care for that shipping – you may need inland marine coverage.
Any business that transports products or equipment should discuss inland marine policies with their insurance agent; as well as any business that has mobile machinery like loaders, tractors, forklifts, or even center pivot sprinklers. In addition, you need to be aware of the exclusions and caveats of your coverage. One example that’s extremely important to know is whether your policy reimburses actual cash value or replacement value on items. Actual cash value appraises items at their current value, taking depreciation into account, while replacement value policies will reimburse the cost of replacement.
Talk to an Agent to Get Your Needs Delivered
Your needs for this coverage are likely to be unique. We’d love to discuss your business’s operations and help you identify the areas where coverages like inland marine might be necessary.