Building Material Dealer Insurance

Inland Marine & Cargo for building material dealers.

Inland marine coverage for property that moves — building materials on your delivery trucks, installers' and contractors' equipment, valuable stock at off-site storage, and materials in your care, custody, or control.

Get a Quote 844-967-5247

What this coverage does

Inland marine is the line of insurance that covers property in transit and property that doesn't sit still — and for a building material dealer, that's a large share of the risk. Standard property insurance covers stock at a fixed location; the moment your materials are loaded on a truck, or staged at a job site, or stored off-site, or in the hands of an installer, the property exposure has moved and your property policy may no longer respond.

We structure inland marine to follow the materials wherever the operation takes them — cargo on the delivery run, installers' equipment, stock at satellite locations, and goods in your care, custody, or control. For a dealer running delivery, inland marine is not optional; it is the coverage that determines whether a transit loss is survivable.

What's covered

The coverages that matter for a dealer.

Structured into one policy — not a list of disconnected line items.

Motor truck cargo / goods in transit

Coverage for the materials on your delivery trucks — lumber, drywall, roofing, millwork — from the moment they leave your yard until they're received at the job site. Coordinates with motor-truck cargo on the auto policy so there's no gap and no argument.

Installation / contractors equipment

Coverage for equipment you transport to and use at job sites — forklifts, boom lifts, generators, compressors, saws — and for installation floater exposure on materials you've delivered and are about to install.

Stock at off-site / temporary locations

Materials staged at a satellite yard, a customer's job site, or a temporary storage location — covered for the dwell time before final delivery or installation.

Goods in your care, custody, or control

Materials that belong to others but are in your physical control — customer-furnished materials you're storing or handling, consignment stock, or goods you're processing. Property policies exclude CCC exposures; inland marine closes that gap.

Bailee / customer goods

When you hold customer property (cut-to-order lumber, custom millwork, finished goods awaiting pickup), bailee coverage responds to loss or damage while that property is in your custody.

Trip transit & annual transit

Single-shipment (trip transit) coverage for a one-off high-value haul, or annual transit coverage for an ongoing delivery operation — whichever fits the volume and rhythm of your business.

Who it's for

Built for dealers, by a former contractor.

If you sell, store, or deliver building materials, this coverage line is part of your program. Common operations we insure:

Dealers running any delivery operation
Operations staging materials at job sites or satellite yards
Dealers handling customer-furnished or consignment materials
Operations with off-site or temporary storage
Millwork or cut-to-order shops holding customer goods
Any dealer whose materials leave the yard before final sale

Why Contractors Choice Agency

The difference is in how it's built.

1
We coordinate inland marine with commercial auto, property, and motor-truck cargo as a single program — eliminating the most common coverage arguments (which policy responds, and in what order) at claim time.
2
We write CCC and bailee exposure correctly — two areas where generic broker work routinely leaves dealers uncovered.
3
20+ years, all 50 states, 15-minute quotes, 2-hour claims response.

Quote your inland marine & cargo today.

15-minute quote. 2-hour claims response. Licensed all 50 states.

Get a Quote 844-967-5247

FAQ

Common questions about inland marine & cargo.

What is inland marine insurance and why does a building material dealer need it?

Inland marine covers property that moves or sits in non-permanent locations — goods on a delivery truck, equipment at a job site, stock at a satellite yard, customer property in your custody. Standard commercial property covers stock at a fixed insured location; the moment materials are loaded onto a truck or staged off-site, the property exposure has moved out from under the property policy. Inland marine follows the materials. If you run delivery, you need it.

Does inland marine overlap with my commercial auto cargo coverage?

It can, and that's the point of structuring them together. Motor-truck cargo on the auto policy and inland marine cargo both touch goods in transit; written carelessly they can either both deny a claim (each claiming the other should respond) or both pay and trigger complex other-insurance clauses. We write them as a coordinated pair with a clear order of coverage so there's no gap and no fight.

Does inland marine cover customer materials I'm storing?

Yes — under the care, custody, or control and bailee coverages, which are core inland marine lines. Property policies exclude CCC exposure, so without inland marine a loss of customer-furnished materials you're holding (cut-to-order lumber, custom millwork) would be uncovered. We include this on dealer programs that handle customer goods.