The market for inland marine coverage, designed to insure movable property, remains stable, with some policyholders seeing slight decreases in rates.

An extension of property coverage, the line has faced issues with cargo theft and emerging cyber exposures (see related story below), but neither has risen to a level that’s moved the needle on pricing and contracts, sources said.

Inland marine rates track largely with the property market, which was broadly down at Jan. 1 renewals after several years of rate hikes. As an extension of property, it also faces similar perils, with catastrophe-exposed and loss-hit accounts seeing smaller decreases or even increases depending on the individual profile, sources said.

The line is handled differently from insurer to insurer.

“You could receive 10 different definitions from 10 different people on the question of what is included in inland marine,” said Josh Jennings, Chicago-based senior vice president, head of inland marine and property programs, for Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.

Generally, the four main classes are construction, including builders risk and installation; logistics, including warehouse legal liability and motor truck cargo; equipment; and related property, he said.

“We generally say inland marine runs the gamut from drilling rigs to fur coats. It’s a broad brush,” said Brad Cameron, Dallas-based senior vice president of inland marine for Sompo International Holdings Ltd.’s North America insurance business.

Mr. Cameron said Sompo’s inland marine book can span some 20 different coverages, including transportation and builders risk, and runs from artisan contractors on the small end to large national developers.

The diversity of the business makes it a year-round affair for renewals. Mr. Cameron said Sompo has effective dates 323 out of 365 days of the year, and that Jan. 1 is its sixth-largest policy volume date.

The inland marine market is “pretty stable,” with risks without claims activity generally seeing flat renewals or single-digit reductions at renewal, said Syracuse, New York-based Matthew McGraw, senior underwriting director for inland marine at Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., which includes motor cargo, contractors and equipment in its inland marine business.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd. looks at inland marine as transportation and logistics, and equipment, which is largely construction-related, said Sharon Primerano, New York-based vice president, U.S. inland marine manager, for QBE International Markets.

“There’s going to be a lot of contractors’ equipment in there, but it could also be entertainment equipment, medical equipment, all types of mobile equipment,” Ms. Primavera said.

Rates are “largely stable,” with transportation possibly ranging a bit higher, she said. QBE launched its inland marine unit at the end of 2024.

The inland marine market “generally” tracks with property because the risks are property-driven, but regional events, including tornadoes, convective storms, hurricanes and wildfires, can impact the market, said Ken Mueller, Atlanta-based head of inland marine Americas and global chief underwriting officer, inland marine, for Axa XL, a unit of Axa SA.

Axa XL’s inland marine business generally includes construction and transportation-related exposures, he said.

Capacity for most risks is adequate to ample but may be limited in some instances, such as wind coverage in Florida, Mr. Mueller said.

The breadth of the coverage means a wide variety of policyholders.

“Logistics companies, transportation companies, manufacturers, e-commerce; we touch a lot of different industries,” said Rick Bridges, New York-based vice president, supply chain and logistics, for Lockton Cos. LLC.

Nicole McMurtry, Schaumburg, Illinois-based president of USI Insurance Services LLC’s Illinois transportation practice, runs a team of 22 employees focused on trucking.

On the construction side, “it really is equipment, it’s cranes, it’s heavy equipment, but it’s also tools, generators, job site trailers,” said John Flocco, Denver-based executive vice president, design and construction, for USI.

The coverage is also highly customizable.

“Inland marine is the form that you can manuscript to no end. It includes stuff that you wouldn’t think would be possible to insure,” said Andrew Johnson, Houston-based vice president, account executive, for Lockton.

“There are times when certain types of property or equipment don’t fit within a property schedule or don’t fit within property coverage for a client. Then they’ll look to the inland marine market to see if that’s something that we can place independently,” said Janelle Griffith, New York-based North American logistics practice leader for Marsh LLC.

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Digital supply chains, tracking technologies create cyber exposures

As location tracking and automated ordering and fulfillment tools are used increasingly in transportation and logistics, they create supply chain exposures that can hit inland marine policyholders.

“It’s definitely part of our world, and I think in terms of the cyber marketplace, they’re getting a better understanding of supply chain risks and just how indebted the industry is to technology,” said Rick Bridges, New York-based vice president, supply chain and logistics, for Lockton Cos. LLC.

From an exposure perspective, “we have some markets that will provide elements of cyber coverage; others will exclude it,” he said, adding it is important to be aware of contract terms and coverage limitations.

For example, a broker may need to work with the company’s cyber coverage group to ensure fraud, which can have elements of both cyber and crime risk, is appropriately addressed and covered, Mr. Bridges said.

There is “a massive amount of cyber fraud going on” related to cargo theft, said Nicole McMurtry, Schaumburg, Illinois-based president of USI Insurance Services LLC’s Illinois transportation practice. “Cyber is absolutely part of our world.”

One recent large-scale cargo theft, which was initiated and enabled due to a compromised email account, faced scrutiny over whether it would be covered as a cyber claim, motor carrier liability claim or another type of claim, she said.

Ms. McMurtry said that among the stolen goods she has seen were high-value items such as truckloads of pharmaceuticals and electronics.

Contractors are increasingly using sophisticated equipment that can be hacked and shut down, such as through a ransomware attack, said John Flocco, Denver-based executive vice president, design and construction, for USI.

“This is where we do work with our cyber people. We have to have a unified approach to this and make sure that there is a policy that will be triggered” in such an event, he said.

“The more we use technology, the more these digital systems are essentially exposed to business interruption and to hijacking,” said Janelle Griffith, New York-based North American logistics practice leader for Marsh LLC. “Cybersecurity risks in logistics and inland marine are absolutely real, and they’re things that we’re talking about on a regular basis.”