How much does inland marine insurance cost for a business?

What the published prices measure

No federal survey or state regulator publishes what a business pays for an equipment floater or a builder’s risk policy. The only per-policy figures come from insurers and brokers describing their own customers:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

These figures are not comparable on one scale, for three reasons:

1. They are different statistics

   Insureon’s pages say “average”, but its method note states that the figures are “calculated using the median cost of policies sold”⁠¹. NEXT’s $32 is an average for the 46% of its customers who pay under $32, not for all of them; its own distribution shows 25% paying $31 to $64, 12% paying $64 to $103 and 17% over $102⁠⁵.

2. They insure different amounts of property

   NEXT sells tools and equipment cover as an add-on to its general liability policy for contractors and cleaning businesses. The blanket equipment limit runs from $3,000 to $5,000, with a $500 deductible⁠⁵. Insureon’s customers buy separate inland marine policies through many carriers, including scheduled items worth more than $2,500⁠³. A policy on $4,000 of hand tools and one on a $60,000 excavator are both “inland marine”.

3. They mix different coverages

   Insureon’s inland marine page groups bailee, installation floater, builder’s risk and motor truck cargo policies with tool and equipment cover under the same heading⁠¹. Its retailers’ $137 median is more than three times its cleaners’ $42 (our calculation: 137 ÷ 42 = 3.3), which Insureon attributes to shipments and warehoused inventory⁠¹.

Insureon’s $48 median works out to $576 a year (our calculation: 48 × 12). Its own published range is about $150 to over $4,500 a year⁠¹.

What counts as inland marine

The NAIC’s Nationwide Inland Marine Definition, adopted in 1933 and last amended in 1977, describes the risks that may be classified as marine or inland marine under state insurance laws⁠⁹. The classes a small or mid-sized business is most likely to buy are these:

• Contractors’ equipment and tool floaters. The definition’s “mobile articles, machinery and equipment floaters” cover identified movable property in the hands of the people who use it. Motor vehicles designed for highway use are excluded, and so are trailers and semi-trailers unless they are hauled by tractors not designed for highway use⁠⁹. Texas lists contractors’ equipment, scientific and surveyors’ instruments and similar “movable and identified property” in this class⁠¹¹. Road trailers and trucks belong on commercial auto.
• Installation floaters. These cover machinery, equipment and materials being installed, tested or repaired, while in transit, while in temporary storage and at the job site. When written for a contractor or seller, coverage ends when that party’s interest ends⁠⁹.
• Builder’s risk. This covers a building under construction for the owner, the contractor or both. A policy written for the owner ends on completion and acceptance⁠⁹. Builder’s risk can be written as inland marine only where perils beyond fire and extended coverage are insured⁠⁹.
• Goods in transit and bailee coverage. Domestic shipments on consignment may be covered while in transit and while in the custody of others⁠⁹. Bailee customers policies cover customers’ property held for storage or work, such as at a cleaner or laundry⁠¹¹.

The definition also sets limits. Unless otherwise permitted, marine policies may not cover furniture and fixtures, improvements and betterments to buildings, or a manufacturer’s goods in course of manufacture on its own premises⁠⁹. Those stay on commercial property. The Hartford lists common inland marine exclusions, noting that coverage varies by policy: buildings and permanently installed property, wear and tear or mechanical breakdown, employee theft unless added, vehicles and vehicle-mounted equipment, and high-value items that are not scheduled⁠⁶.

Why there is no official rate table

Oregon shows the default rule. ORS 737.205 requires rates and rules for all property and casualty products, inland marine included, to be filed before use. Oregon’s regulator reads the exemptions narrowly: a rate filing may not be required for a unique inland marine policy written for a single policyholder, and the statute’s effective-date provision “does not apply to inland marine risks which by general custom of the business are not written according to manual rates or rating plans”⁠¹². Texas goes much further. It classifies every inland marine class as “filed” or “non-filed”. Non-filed classes are those “for which rules, rates, and forms are not subject to filing requirements”⁠¹⁰. Builders’ risks and installation risks are non-filed, and so are mobile equipment (which includes contractors’ equipment) and bailee customers policies⁠¹¹.

In practice, each insurer prices these risks from its own underwriting rules. There is no bureau loss cost to look up, as there is for workers’ comp, and no filed manual to compare. Chubb, for example, describes an online system through which agents “receive rates, quotes, binders” for contractors’ equipment⁠⁷.

How the premium is built

Insureon says the cost “depends mostly on the value of the insured property”⁠¹. For an equipment floater, an installation floater or builder’s risk, that value is the exposure. Our illustration below expresses the insurer’s rate per $100 of value; we found no public rate for these classes, so none is assumed:

Premium = (insured value ÷ 100) × rate per $100, plus any endorsements, subject to the insurer’s minimum premium

Insureon lists the factors that move the price: the type of property and its value, the limits and deductible, the location, the claims history and the industry⁠¹. Building on that, the choices you control are what you declare, how it is valued, and whether it is scheduled or blanket.

Scheduled or blanket

• Scheduled. Each item is listed with its description, serial number and insured value. That value caps the payout for the item. Insureon says scheduled items cost more, and that items over $2,500 typically must be scheduled⁠³⁠⁴. Without an automatic-acquisition clause, a newly bought machine needs an endorsement before it is covered. Great American offers an Automatic Acquisition form that removes that step, “subject to a newly acquired limit”⁠⁸. Chubb’s form includes $100,000 for newly acquired equipment⁠⁷.
• Blanket. One limit covers a class of unlisted property, usually small tools, often with a per-item cap. NEXT’s add-on sets a blanket equipment limit of $3,000 to $5,000 per occurrence and the same range per item. Its separate blanket for miscellaneous items has a $600 to $1,000 limit and a $100 deductible⁠⁵. A blanket limit sized for hand tools will not respond fully to the loss of one large machine.

Rented and borrowed equipment is a separate question. Great American sells cover for short-term leased and rented equipment, rental expense for substitutes and borrowed equipment as options⁠⁸. Chubb includes $100,000 for leased or rented equipment⁠⁷. Check which of these your form includes before you rent a machine for a job.

Valuation

The valuation clause decides what a loss pays, and so what you should insure for:

• Actual cash value (ACV) is replacement cost minus depreciation. It is Great American’s base valuation⁠⁸. Insureon notes that ACV policies cost less because they pay less on a claim⁠¹.
• Replacement cost replaces the item with a comparable current model. Great American makes it “subject to insurance to value requirements”⁠⁸. Chubb pays replacement cost but switches to ACV for equipment five years old or older⁠⁷.
• Stated amount, and a partial-loss option that removes the depreciation deduction for losses up to 20% of value, are further choices on Great American’s form⁠⁸.

Some contractors’ equipment forms also tie the payout to the values you insure. Great American’s replacement cost option is “subject to insurance to value requirements”⁠⁸, while Chubb lists “No coinsurance” as a feature of its form⁠⁷.

Worked example: a landscaping crew’s equipment

This is our illustration, with stated assumptions. It shows how the exposure and the valuation work, not what any insurer charges, and no rate is assumed.

1. Schedule the large items

   A skid steer valued at $42,000, a zero-turn mower at $14,000 and an aerator at $6,000 make $62,000 scheduled.

2. Add a blanket for small tools

   Trimmers, blowers and hand tools of $5,000 go under a blanket limit, each item under the per-item cap.

3. Count the exposure

   $67,000 ÷ 100 = 670 units. The premium is 670 times the insurer’s rate per $100, or its minimum premium if that is higher. Adding a second $42,000 skid steer raises the exposure to 1,090 units, 63% more (our calculation).

4. Check the values against the clause

   Suppose the form has a 100% coinsurance clause on scheduled property, and the skid steer is still listed at $30,000 when its value at the time of loss is $42,000. On a $10,000 partial loss, the insurer pays 30,000 ÷ 42,000 of the loss, or $7,143, and the deductible then comes off that amount. A clause of that kind pays in proportion to the value insured; see commercial property for the general formula.

Under-scheduling lowers the premium by the same proportion it lowers the payout. Over-scheduling just costs money: on an ACV form, a five-year-old machine listed at its purchase price will be paid at its depreciated value.

Builder’s risk and installation floaters

Builder’s risk is commonly written for the completed value of the project, so the amount insured scales with contract size. Who buys it depends on the contract, and public owners spell out the terms. The University of Colorado Boulder’s supplemental conditions are one example⁠¹³:

• The contractor buys builder’s risk for the initial contract amount plus later modifications, written for 100% of completed value on a replacement cost basis.
• The form is special (open perils) and must include theft, vandalism, collapse, flood and earthquake, debris removal and architects’ fees, among other items.
• The deductible may not exceed $50,000, and the contractor bears it, except for losses such as flood, earthquake and windstorm.
• Coverage starts when property becomes the contractor’s responsibility and continues through transport and while it awaits installation.
• If the contractor does not buy the policy, the university may buy it and charge the cost to the contractor.

Some public owners insure the project themselves instead. The Utah State Risk Management Fund’s builder’s risk policy for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 extends to the interests of contractors and subcontractors when the contract says the owner insures. Its deductible is the amount in the construction contract or $5,000, whichever is greater. No coverage takes effect until the project is listed with the fund and the full premium is paid, and the premium is not prorated⁠¹⁴. Texas’s State Office of Risk Management runs a master builder’s risk program for state entities, under which “all projects have the same coverage and rates”⁠¹⁵. When the owner insures the project this way, a contractor should not price the same values into its own bid.

An installation floater is the subcontractor’s version: HVAC units, millwork or electrical gear in transit, stored and being installed. It covers the machinery, equipment, materials and supplies being installed, tested or repaired, and cover ends when the contractor’s interest ends⁠⁹. Colorado’s clause is headed “Builder’s Risk/Installation Floater” and applies to materials and equipment to be installed in existing structures as well as to new buildings⁠¹³.

Goods in transit and cargo

A transit policy covers your own goods while they are shipped, including while in the custody of others⁠⁹. Motor truck cargo coverage is different: trucking businesses use it for client cargo they haul⁠¹. One federal cargo minimum applies: household-goods motor carriers must show security of $5,000 for goods on any one vehicle and $10,000 for losses at any one time and place ⁠¹⁶. For trucking costs, see trucking.

The national market

In 2025, insurers wrote $35.7 billion of direct inland marine premium across U.S. states, territories, Canada and other alien business ($34.9 billion in the states and territories alone). The direct loss ratio was 38.2%, or 39.1% with defense and cost-containment expenses⁠¹⁷. That loss ratio is well below the 57.0% for all property and casualty lines combined⁠¹⁷. The NAIC does not split commercial from personal inland marine, so the line also includes personal property floaters such as jewelry and fine arts⁠⁹⁠¹⁷. Pet insurance has been reported separately since 2024⁠¹⁷. Use the line to judge market size, not price.

Direct premiums written/earned in thousands of US dollars; loss ratios = direct losses incurred / direct premiums earned (calendar year). National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), 2025 Market Share Reports for Property/Casualty Groups and Companies by State and Countrywide.

For price direction, CIAB’s broker survey for Q2 2026 shows marine at +0.3%, against −6.3% for commercial property and −0.5% for small accounts across all lines. CIAB’s narrative lists marine among the lines that fell, so treat that figure with caution⁠¹⁸. Neither Ivans’s nor Marsh’s Q2 2026 release breaks out inland marine. See market trends.

Ways to pay less without losing cover

• Schedule at real value, and update the schedule. The premium depends mostly on declared value⁠¹. Remove sold equipment and correct inflated values. On a form with coinsurance or insurance-to-value terms, keep values at least at the level the clause requires⁠⁸.
• Match valuation to the age of the fleet. For older equipment, ACV costs less and pays depreciated value⁠¹. Replacement cost on new machines avoids a gap at claim time. Some forms apply ACV automatically after five years⁠⁷.
• Use anti-theft devices the insurer credits. Great American reduces or waives the theft deductible for qualified anti-theft and tracking devices⁠⁸. Chubb offers a deductible waiver of up to $10,000 for risks with anti-theft systems or protocols⁠⁷.
• Choose the deductible deliberately. NEXT’s blanket tool cover carries a $500 deductible⁠⁵. A higher deductible lowers the premium but is paid on every loss⁠¹.
• Do not insure the same property twice. Equipment on a floater does not also need to sit in the contents value of your commercial property policy or business owner’s policy. On owner-insured projects, confirm in writing that the owner’s builder’s risk covers your interest before you price your own policy⁠¹⁴.
• Read the job’s insurance clause before bidding. Builder’s risk limits, deductibles and perils are set by contract. On the Colorado terms, the owner can buy the cover and charge you for it⁠¹³. For contractor budgets in full, see general contractors and landscapers.

Sources

1. 1
   Insureon, How much does inland marine insurance cost? (updated May 21, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Insureon, How much does tools and equipment insurance cost? (updated May 27, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Insureon, Inland marine insurance for contractors (updated September 18, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Insureon, Inland marine insurance Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   ERGO NEXT, How much does general contractor insurance cost? (data updated October 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   The Hartford, Inland marine insurance Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Chubb, Contractors' Equipment product sheet (rev. 12/17) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Great American Insurance Group, Contractor's Equipment sell sheet (2019) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Nationwide Inland Marine Definition (Model 701) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Texas Department of Insurance, via Cornell LII, 28 Tex. Admin. Code § 5.5001, Purpose and Classification Procedure (inland marine) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Texas Department of Insurance, via Cornell LII, 28 Tex. Admin. Code § 5.5008, Other Inland Marine Risks Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Revised Inland Marine form, rate and rule filing requirement guidelines (ORS 737.205) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    University of Colorado Boulder, Facilities Management, Supplemental Terms and Conditions, insurance requirements (rev. 7/2019) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
14. 14
    Utah State Risk Management Fund (DFCM), Builder's Risk Policy, July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
15. 15
    Texas State Office of Risk Management, Builder's Risk Program Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
16. 16
    eCFR, Office of the Federal Register, 49 CFR 387.303, Security for the protection of the public: minimum limits Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
17. 17
    National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), 2025 Market Share Reports for Property/Casualty Groups and Companies Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
18. 18
    The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), Commercial Property/Casualty Market Index, Q2 2026 Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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