“Inland Marine Insurance” has an interesting history of how it came to be, before the Industrial Revolution occurred many people and companies shipped goods and other things of value over the ocean by ship. Many of these people and companies insured their cargo with “Marine Insurance” and it covered any type of risk that it would come across during its journey! These companies became very wealthy and large due to the large amount of ocean shipping at the time!
Once railroads and telegraphs sped up the shipping and logistics process on land and the ocean shipping industry started to shrink, these Marine Insurance companies started to move their experience in the shipping industry more towards land-based transport to stay business. Since not many other companies could compete with the experienced marine insurance companies and their unmatched policies people started to refer to the land version of this type of coverage as “Inland Marine Insurance”!
Now in present time, the old name “Inland Marine Insurance” has remained the same but insurance companies have caught up to each other in their Inland Marine Insurance offerings. You will find many different insurance companies have their own kinds of Inland Marine Insurance and not just the old “marine insurance companies”!
Many businesses can get away with having a Commercial Property Insurance Policy since they probably will not be taking their equipment off their property, but if you run a contracting business or even something like a mobile food truck it becomes more crucial for you to have something like an Inland Marine Insurance policy that can cover you while you are not on your own property!
getting what is called a “floater”, or more simply called a “Contractor’s Equipment Policy”. Think of additional floaters as add-ons to your Inland Marine Insurance coverage, with floaters like Fine Arts Floater for works of art, Installation Floater to cover property that is being shipped to be installed, or a Jewelry Floater—a coverage to protect jewelry inventory (Who would’ve guessed?). Most do realize it is important to protect themselves and insure replacement of their property if damaged, so if you feel that way too it might be good to consider Inland Marine Insurance!
Inland marine coverage provides valuable protection to business owners of all different types! But it is especially important to businesses such as contractors and tradesmen who frequently travel for work and carry around high-dollar tools and equipment. An inland marine policy would cover the loss if a contractor’s tools and equipment were stolen from a vehicle or at a job!
has valuables that cannot be conveniently or reasonably kept at a fixed location or insured at a standard rate, you probably will need Inland Marine Insurance!
You will hear an insurance agent refer to an Inland Marine Insurance as a “floater” policy, which means the coverage goes where the insured property goes, floating along with it!
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