Commercial inland marine insurance is fairly broad and could include things such as mobile equipment, business contents stored at a non-owned location, equipment stored in a vehicle, goods being transported, construction materials awaiting installation, and even property on bridges or in communication towers. In most cases it’s another policy that’s added to a commercial insurance package, a contractor’s truck, or even cargo being hauled by semi-trucks. The easiest way to determine whether you or your business needs inland marine insurance is to talk to an independent insurance agent about your concerns. They’ll be able to tell you what kind of coverage you need for your valuable items or business equipment and whether an inland marine policy could be beneficial for you
Just about every property insurance company out there sells some type of inland marine insurance. Whether it’s a company that only offers personal insurance, such as homeowners or renters, or a company that only offers business insurance, both will have some type of inland marine insurance policy available.
Inland marine insurance is different from most other types of insurance policies, partly because it’s flexible and comprehensive in nature.
The best way to buy inland marine insurance is through an independent insurance agent. Whether you’re buying personal or commercial inland marine coverage, an independent insurance agent will be able to go over your policy with you and explain to you how, where, and when you have coverage.
Since nearly every insurance company that offers property insurance, including both personal and business, also offers inland marine insurance, the options are nearly endless. Having said that, much depends on the type of inland marine insurance that you’re looking for. If you’re looking to schedule personal items on your homeowners policy, you’ll need to use your current homeowners insurance company or get a quote on a new policy on all your home insurance.
Inland marine insurance has made a lot of progress since those early days of covering goods shipped over land in horse-drawn transport. While covering shipped goods in transit is still a part of inland marine coverage, it’s grown to be much more than that.
Personal inland marine insurance is rarely called by that name, and is often called term scheduled personal property, or scheduled items. It’s one of the most comprehensive types of personal insurance out there, meaning it offers the best coverage for certain items.
Most insurance companies will add scheduled personal property items to your homeowners policy. It’s a separate section of the policy and it specifically lists the items you want covered. When you receive your copy of the entire policy by mail or email, you’ll see that the scheduled items have their own contract section in your homeowners policy, where it expands the coverage on those items.
Some of the most common items that are scheduled for personal inland marine coverage include:
Coverages provided under inland marine insurance.
Furs: TA mink coat can range in price from $1,000 to $10,000. Inland marine insurance can help protect that coat and make sure you're kept warm this winter.
Jewelry: Whether it cost $5,000 or $25,000, your jewelry is a beloved possession. Inland marine coverage can be integrated into your policy to help cover costs if your jewelry is stolen.
Silverware: Did you ship an expensive silverware set as a wedding gift to your niece, only for it not to show up? Inland marine will save the day.
Cameras: Take your camera on all kinds of adventures when you have inland marine insurance and take comfort in the fact that you'll have help covering costs if it's damaged or stolen.
Golf equipment:When you have inland marine insurance for your golf clubs, you can work on your golf game without worrying about lost or damaged equipment.
Computers: Computers and computer data can hold a lot of valuable information that could be costly if they are damaged or stolen. Inland marine can provide coverage to help you recover.
Collections: You've been working on building this collection for years, make sure you have inland marine coverage to cover the costs of any damage that may occur to it.
Fine art: If you are buying or selling an expensive piece, inland marine coverage will make sure your items are protected during transit.
Musical instruments: An instrument is a costly investment, and inland marine insurance can not only help you protect it, but also any equipment or accessories needed for it.
Under a homeowners insurance policy, personal contents are typically covered anywhere in the world, just like scheduled items are, but there are a few key differences between regular personal contents coverage and scheduling items:
Commercial inland marine insurance encompasses a wide range of property. In the commercial insurance world, inland marine policies are often called floaters. Generally speaking, they can cover the following types of business property:
For bailee's insurance, businesses that could benefit from inland marine bailee's coverage include:
Put simply, business personal property insurance is designed to cover contents that are permanently stored or kept in one location. Inland marine insurance is designed to cover contents that move around from place to place.
Since inland marine insurance is a very specific type of insurance, you probably won’t be able to find any savings or discounts on the actual policies themselves. Part of the reason for this is that inland marine policies are typically a component of a larger policy.
On personal inland marine policies where the personal property is scheduled, it’s usually a part of a homeowners insurance policy, so the savings and discounts would be found on your homeowners insurance, not on the scheduled personal property. There may be some exceptions to this, like if you keep your jewelry in a locked and secured vault. But most of the time, the savings and discounts are found on the homeowners portion of the insurance.
On commercial inland marine policies, there won’t be much room for savings either. This is mainly because commercial inland marine insurance is just a component of a broader insurance program, which may include things such as commercial general liability and commercial property insurance. If your business is eligible for credit that can reduce your premium, it will be applied to the entire package policy, not just the inland marine portion.
Typically, the only way to save money on the actual inland marine part is by carrying a higher deductible on the items. But this defeats one of the purposes of inland marine, which is the ability to have full coverage without any deductible. But if you do choose to have a deductible, your premiums will be less.
