INLAND MARINE INSURANCE
Marine Insurance was created for items that were being moved around, different from traditional property insurance which is location-specific and location-limited. In the late 1680’s, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house that became a popular landing spot for ship owners, captains and merchants. This meeting place became the first marine insurance market, now known as Lloyd’s of London. “Marine” insurance spread around the world during the period when seas, canals, and rivers moved most goods.
Today, Marine insurance still covers items that move, but the emergence of containers and inter-modal transportation has revolutionized supply chains. So “Inland Marine” still covers goods that move around, but also includes those moving via ground transportation, such as on rail and in trucks.
Inland Marine often includes specifically designed coverage as well. Another term is “Floater.” Risk and insurance professionals often look to Inland Marine as a solution for the weird risks that property underwriters can’t write due to their inherent requirement for customization and flexibility.
These now include a wide variety of insurance products that cover
- Computers, computer parts, computer equipment, etc.
- Construction equipment
- Medical and Scientific equipment, including technical equipment with specific risk attributes.
- Fine Art
- Jewelry
Products made across the world leave the factory, get hoisted aboard a container ship, might be opened at the border by customs agents, and then continue on via rail or truck right to your dock. Depending on the terms of the contract, you might own the contents right from the factory. Marine insurance covers the spectrum.
Locally, Inland Marine insurance can include contractors’ equipment that moves from site to site, laptops and tablets hauled all around by road warrior sales people, or a new piece of jewelry that you bought on that wonderful anniversary vacation.