Tools & Equipment Insurance
Tools and equipment insurance (inland marine coverage) protects your gear against theft, vandalism, and damage wherever it goes — jobsite, truck bed, storage yard, or trailer. Your GL policy doesn't cover your own equipment and your auto policy doesn't cover the cargo, so this is the policy that fills the gap.
What it covers
- Hand and power tools — blanket coverage for the everyday kit
- Scheduled equipment — excavators, compressors, generators, big-ticket items
- Theft from vehicles, jobsites, and storage (the #1 claim)
- Rented and borrowed equipment — damage to gear you don't own
- Equipment in transit between jobs
- Replacement cost options so payouts buy new gear, not depreciated gear
Tool theft is a when, not an if
Trucks get broken into, jobsites get hit overnight, trailers disappear. Replacing a full kit out of pocket stalls the job and the cash flow. Inland marine coverage turns a theft into a claim and a receipt instead of a crisis.
No other policy picks this up
General liability covers damage you cause others. Commercial auto covers the truck. Neither covers your own tools and equipment — the assets your revenue literally depends on. This is the gap policy most contractors discover only after the first loss.
How we make it simple
We blanket your small tools, schedule the big iron, and set replacement-cost valuation so a claim buys new equipment. One inventory conversation, then it just renews — and when you buy a new machine, one call adds it.
Tools & Equipment — frequently asked questions
No — this is the most common coverage gap in contracting. General liability covers injury and damage you cause to others; it pays nothing when your own tools are stolen from your truck or damaged on site. Tools and equipment coverage (inland marine) is a separate, inexpensive policy that follows your gear wherever it goes. If your kit would cost more than a few thousand dollars to replace tomorrow, it should be insured.
Blanket coverage protects your general pool of smaller tools up to a per-item limit without listing each one — perfect for hand and power tools. Scheduled coverage lists specific high-value items (an excavator, a generator, a laser level) with their own insured values. Most contractor programs use both: blanket for the everyday kit, schedules for anything expensive enough to hurt. We'll walk your inventory and set the split correctly.
Yes — theft from vehicles is the single most common tools claim, and a properly written inland marine policy covers it, typically requiring signs of forced entry. Some policies have limits or exclusions for gear left in unattended vehicles overnight, which matters for real jobsite life. We read that fine print before you buy so the policy matches how your crew actually works, not how an underwriter imagines it.
Yes. When you rent an excavator, the rental agreement makes you responsible for it — and rental-house damage waivers are expensive and narrow. Rented/leased equipment coverage on your inland marine policy is usually the cheaper, broader answer, covering damage and theft of equipment in your care, custody, and control. Tell us what you typically rent and for how long, and we'll set a limit that covers your real exposure.
Ready to quote your tools & equipment coverage?
One conversation and we take it to the market. Big or small… we write them all.