Insuring tools and machines away from the yard: what insurance departments say about inland marine

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes how insurance departments explain one kind of cover, called inland marine, and says nothing about any particular policy, insurer or tree business. Every page named below was read on October 9, 2026.

The name

The California Department of Insurance says that without prior knowledge it is easy to assume inland marine has something to do with boats. Its guide says inland marine can cover a variety of transportation exposures but does not cover boating transportation, which falls under ocean marine insurance. The Texas Department of Insurance says the same in shorter words: inland marine covers property kept on land, not on water, despite its name.

What California says it is

The California guide calls inland marine a specialized kind of property cover whose main job is loss or damage to business property in transit. It adds that inland marine also reaches liability exposure for loss to property held in the business's care, custody or control while that property is being moved.

It lists the standard perils inland marine may include: fire, lightning, windstorm, flood, earthquake, landslide, theft, collision, derailment, overturn of the transporting vehicle and bridge collapse. And it lists the coverage forms most commonly offered:

accounts receivable insurance
consignment insurance
equipment floaters, which the guide glosses as contractors equipment
installation floaters
motor truck cargo insurance
trip transit insurance
valuable papers (records) insurance

What Texas says it covers

The Texas guide sits inside its page on commercial property insurance. It lists what inland marine coverage covers: accounts receivable, computers, contractor equipment, fine art, property in transit, valuable papers and property held for others. It adds that if a business uses property that is not covered by its commercial property policy, an agent can be asked about inland marine coverage.

Where commercial property stops

The California guide describes the basic commercial property cover as buildings, business personal property and the personal property of others. Business personal property, it says, takes in furniture, inventory, fixtures and machinery or equipment that are not permanently installed, plus other personal property the business owns and uses. Permanently installed fixtures, machinery and equipment are insured as part of the building coverage.

Insurance Bureau of Canada lists, among the things a commercial property policy can insure, plant and equipment, and tools and equipment in transit or used off-site for business purposes. So in Canada, per that page, off-site tools can sit within commercial property. The page adds that an insurance representative can confirm what is specifically covered and advise about optional add-ons.

Source	Where it places equipment away from the site
California Department of Insurance	Inland marine: equipment floaters, described as contractors equipment, and property in transit
Texas Department of Insurance	Inland marine: contractor equipment and property in transit, for property not covered by the commercial property policy
Insurance Bureau of Canada	Commercial property: tools and equipment in transit or used off-site for business purposes

Equipment and a home or a vehicle

Insurance Bureau of Canada, writing about home businesses, says most homeowner's policies offer only a small limit for books, tools and instruments needed for a business, and only while the items are in the home. It says that if work takes the owner away from home, the equipment may not be covered under a homeowner's policy, and that items stolen from or damaged in a vehicle are not covered under personal auto or home policies.

The SBA's table of common kinds of business insurance lists general liability, product liability, professional liability, commercial property, home-based business insurance and the business owner's policy, and does not name inland marine. It describes the business owner's policy as a package combining the typical coverages.

What this page does not say

None of the four pages says what a policy costs, which machines a policy lists or how a claim for a stolen trailer is paid. They describe the kinds of cover. For liability for damage done to other people's property, see what tree work insurance covers. For theft reporting, see stolen machines and equipment.