Tools & Equipment Insurance Most NJ Contractors Skip Shouldn’t)

Your property policy has a blind spot

A standard commercial property policy covers property at a stated location. Your tools don't live at a location — they live in your truck, on the job site, in your trailer, in transit. The moment they leave the premises, standard property coverage thins out or disappears. The line built for property on the move is inland marine — what most people call tools & equipment coverage.

What it actually covers

• Hand tools and small power tools on a blanket basis.
• Larger equipment — skid steers, generators, lifts — scheduled with serial numbers above ~$5K each.
• Theft from a locked vehicle or a reasonably-secured job site; fire, vandalism, weather.
• Tools in transit between sites.

The installation floater nobody mentions

Here's the gap that costs contractors real money: you buy $40K of equipment for a customer install, it sits in your truck overnight, it's stolen. Your tools coverage covers your tools, not customer materials. The customer's homeowners policy doesn't cover uninstalled materials. Your auto policy doesn't cover cargo. An installation floater bridges that gap, and it belongs on the policy of any contractor installing customer-supplied materials — HVAC, plumbing, flooring, cabinetry, solar. We add it by default where it fits. More on the Tools & Equipment page, and see Builders Risk vs. Installation Floater for where the line sits.