Here's the brutal truth about running a lawn care business: your equipment will get stolen, damaged, or broken eventually. Maybe someone breaks into your truck during lunch and grabs your commercial mower. Maybe your trimmer falls off the trailer on the highway. Or maybe a client's sprinkler system you didn't know about ruins your aerator. When you're hauling thousands of dollars worth of gear to different properties every day, standard business insurance doesn't cut it.
That's where inland marine insurance comes in. Despite the confusing name that sounds like it's for boats, this coverage is actually designed specifically for businesses whose property moves around. For lawn care companies, it's the difference between replacing a stolen $8,000 zero-turn mower out of pocket or filing a claim and getting back to work.
Why Regular Property Insurance Won't Protect Your Equipment
Most business owners assume their commercial property insurance covers everything they own for the business. It doesn't. Commercial property insurance typically only covers property at your business location—your office, warehouse, or shop. The moment your equipment leaves that address, it's often not covered.
Inland marine insurance fills that gap. It covers your mobile equipment and tools while they're in transit, temporarily stored at job sites, or even in your vehicle overnight. For lawn care businesses that operate at dozens of different properties each week, this coverage is essential. Whether your gear is locked in a trailer at a client's house, being driven across town, or stored in your truck bed, you're covered against theft, vandalism, and accidental damage.
Think of it this way: if someone breaks into your locked truck during a lunch break and steals your equipment, your regular property insurance won't help you. But your inland marine policy will. That's the protection you're actually paying for.
Scheduled vs. Blanket Coverage: Which Makes Sense for You?
When you buy inland marine insurance, you'll need to choose between scheduled and blanket coverage. The decision matters because it affects both your premium and how claims work.
Scheduled coverage means you create a detailed list of each piece of equipment you want covered. You'll provide the year, make, model, value, and serial number for every item. Your insurance company assigns a specific coverage limit to each piece. If you own a 2024 Toro zero-turn mower worth $9,500, that exact mower gets listed with that exact value. The benefit? You know exactly what's covered, and there's no question about replacement value if something happens. The typical cost runs about 1% of your total equipment value annually.
Blanket coverage takes a different approach. Instead of listing every item, you get one overall coverage limit that applies to all your equipment collectively. For example, you might have $50,000 in blanket coverage for all your tools and gear. This works well if you have lots of smaller items—trimmers, edgers, blowers, hand tools—that would be tedious to schedule individually. It's simpler to manage and you don't need to update your policy every time you buy a new rake.
Most lawn care businesses use a hybrid approach: schedule your expensive equipment like mowers, aerators, and trailers individually, then add blanket coverage for all the smaller tools and implements. This gives you the precision you need for big-ticket items and the convenience of blanket coverage for everything else.
What Actually Gets Covered (and What Doesn't)
Inland marine insurance for lawn care covers most of the equipment you use daily: commercial mowers, trimmers, edgers, blowers, aerators, dethatchers, spreaders, protective gear, hand tools, ladders, and even your trailers. If it's mobile equipment that travels to job sites, it's typically covered.
The policy protects against theft, vandalism, fire, collision damage during transport, and accidental damage at job sites. If your equipment is stolen from a locked vehicle or damaged when your trailer gets rear-ended, you're covered. If someone vandalizes your truck overnight and destroys your equipment, you're covered. Even if you accidentally back over your own trimmer at a job site, most policies will cover that.
But there are important exclusions. Heavy equipment like tractors, loaders, skid steers, and bulldozers typically aren't covered under standard inland marine policies—they need separate coverage. Normal wear and tear isn't covered either. If your mower blades are dull from regular use or your engine dies after 3,000 hours of operation, that's maintenance, not an insurable loss. Mechanical breakdown coverage is a separate endorsement you'd need to add.
Also pay attention to security requirements in your policy. Many insurers require equipment to be locked in a vehicle or secured with a lock when stored overnight or left unattended. If you leave your trimmer sitting unlocked in an open truck bed and it gets stolen, your claim might be denied. Read the fine print about security requirements.
What You'll Actually Pay for Coverage
As of 2026, most lawn care businesses pay between $33 and $38 per month for equipment insurance, though your actual cost depends on several factors. The total value of your equipment is the biggest driver—if you're insuring $100,000 worth of gear, expect to pay around $800 to $1,200 annually. That typically comes with a $1,000 deductible.
Your location affects pricing too. Operating in an area with high theft rates means higher premiums. Your claims history matters—if you've filed multiple equipment theft claims in the past few years, insurers see you as higher risk. The type of coverage you choose also impacts cost: scheduled coverage with specific high-value items costs more than blanket coverage for miscellaneous tools.
You can reduce your premium by choosing a higher deductible, installing GPS tracking on expensive equipment, storing gear in a secured facility when not in use, and bundling your equipment insurance with other business policies like general liability. Some insurers offer discounts if you can demonstrate good security practices.
How to Get the Right Coverage for Your Business
Start by creating a complete inventory of all your equipment. Include purchase dates, serial numbers, current values, and replacement costs. Take photos of everything. This documentation makes getting coverage easier and speeds up claims if something happens. Update this inventory every time you buy or sell equipment.
Decide whether you want replacement cost or actual cash value coverage. Replacement cost pays what it costs to buy new equipment today. Actual cash value pays replacement cost minus depreciation. Yes, replacement cost coverage costs more, but when your three-year-old mower gets stolen, you'll be glad you can afford to replace it with a new one instead of trying to run your business with whatever depreciated payout you get.
Talk to an insurance agent who works with lawn care and landscaping businesses regularly. They'll understand your specific exposures and can recommend appropriate coverage limits. They can also help you bundle equipment coverage with your general liability insurance, often saving you money on both policies.
Equipment insurance isn't glamorous, but it's essential protection for your lawn care business. When you're running crews across multiple properties every day with tens of thousands of dollars in tools and machinery, you can't afford to be uninsured. The $30-40 you pay monthly is nothing compared to the cost of replacing a stolen mower or damaged aerator out of pocket. Get covered, keep your inventory updated, and focus on growing your business knowing your equipment is protected.
