If you’re a business owner, purchasing specialty property insurance such as commercial flood coverage to protect your business from unforeseen events is a smart choice. But what if your business, like many in America, isn’t confined to one physical location? What if you use moveable equipment that goes from place to place, or ship products over land?
Then you may want to consider Inland Marine insurance.
What is Inland Marine insurance?
Inland Marine insurance protects business property that isn’t confined to a fixed location. Companies that purchase Inland Marine insurance can include construction, shipping and transportation businesses, or any other industry with moveable property (and that’s a lot of them). It also includes companies that ship a lot of products, a number that’s only grown since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid growth in ecommerce.
Additionally, don’t let the term “marine” confuse you—while “marine insurance” covers products that are transported over water and the equipment used to ship them, such as boats, “inland marine insurance” covers products transported over land by train or truck, and all the tools and equipment used to move them, as well as any business equipment that might be temporarily housed by a third party.
What does it cover?
Collisions, damage from natural disasters and theft are the most common types of losses that are covered by Inland Marine insurance. The category of Inland Marine insurance includes things like Builders Risk, which covers construction sites, or Motor Truck Cargo, which covers products being shipped over land by truck.
How do I know if I need it?
If your business frequently ships or moves products or equipment, or uses company equipment at various locations, you may want to consider Inland Marine insurance. It’s especially recommended if you ship high value products or materials, which are often excluded from Business Owners Policy (BOP) or Commercial Package Policy (CPP) insurance. This can include:
- Computer equipment, from servers to laptops;
- Communications and networking equipment;
- Construction and contracting equipment;
- Medical and scientific equipment;
- Photography and film equipment;
- Lights and electronic equipment for events.
- Athletic equipment
- Lawn Maintenance Equipment and Golf Carts
As you can probably tell by now, Inland Marine insurance isn’t just for companies that ship products to people. For example, if you have a valuable trade show booth or event set that is frequently shipped around the country, and then stored offsite by a third party vendor, you may want to purchase Inland Marine insurance. On the other side of the same coin, if you are a third party vendor that often stores products and equipment for other businesses, your company will definitely benefit from Inland Marine coverage.
Why buy Inland Marine insurance from Palomar?
Our dedicated Inland Marine Division at Palomar has the product offering and underwriting expertise to handle a wide variety of coverage needs for your company. Commercial and Residential Builders Risk, Contractors Equipment, Motor Truck Cargo are some of the admitted, nationwide Inland Marine insurance products we carry. We also offer Installation Floaters and Specialty Property Floaters, which cover business property while it’s being installed by a contractor and business property that isn’t stored at a fixed location, respectively.
Palomar’s granular, data-driven approach to underwriting allows us to provide affordable, highly customizable policies for your business’ property and equipment. This means that your premium is not inflated in order to subsidize higher-risk policies elsewhere in the country.
We are here to help your business remain economically resilient and tackle any challenge in rapidly changing times. To learn more about inland marine insurance coverage through Palomar, please visit: https://plmr.com/inland-marine/
