Insuring the Rig: Inland Marine Coverage for Proportioners and Spray Equipment

Ask a spray foam contractor what their business actually is, and most will point past the office, past the truck, straight to the rig — the proportioner, the heated hose package, the spray guns, and whatever trailer or truck bed setup carries it all from job to job. It's the single most expensive piece of equipment most operations own, and it's also the piece of equipment most likely to be sitting in a coverage gap without the owner realizing it.

Why "It's on My Property Policy" Usually Isn't True

A commercial property policy is built around fixed locations — a building, a shop, a warehouse. Mobile equipment that travels from jobsite to jobsite, sits in a trailer overnight, or gets loaded and unloaded daily doesn't fit that model well, and many property forms explicitly limit or exclude coverage for equipment once it leaves your scheduled location. That's exactly the opposite of how a spray foam rig actually operates — it's almost never at a single fixed address, by design.

This is the gap inland marine coverage exists to close. Inland marine is written specifically for property that moves: mobile equipment, tools in transit, and equipment that's regularly in use away from a fixed premises. For a spray foam operation, that typically means the proportioner unit, the heated hose system, spray guns, generators, and the trailer or vehicle body that houses them.

What a Properly Structured Inland Marine Policy Actually Covers

A rig-specific inland marine policy is generally built to respond to:

• Theft — rigs and proportioners are valuable, portable, and frequently left at jobsites or in trailers overnight, which makes them a real theft target
• Vandalism — damage to hoses, guns, or the unit itself while unattended on a jobsite
• Damage in transit — an accident, rollover, or securing failure while the rig is being hauled between jobs
• Mechanical breakdown — depending on the form, coverage can extend to breakdown of the proportioner or pump system itself, which is functionally the engine of your business

The specifics of what's included — agreed value versus actual cash value, whether breakdown is built in or needs a separate equipment breakdown endorsement, and how the trailer itself is scheduled — vary by carrier and policy form, which is exactly why a generic "equipment floater" pulled off the shelf doesn't always match what a spray foam rig actually needs.

Scheduled vs. Blanket Coverage — Why It Matters for a Rig

Inland marine can be written on a scheduled basis (each piece of equipment listed individually, with its own value) or on a blanket basis (a pool of coverage across multiple pieces of equipment). For a single-rig operation, scheduling the proportioner and major components individually usually gives the clearest picture of what's actually insured and at what value. For operations running multiple rigs or expanding into a second crew, a blanket structure can make more sense — but only if the total limit actually reflects the combined value of everything being covered, not just the original rig from years ago with newer equipment added informally.

The Valuation Question Nobody Asks Until It's Too Late

A rig purchased years ago and never revalued is a common, quiet problem. Proportioner technology, hose systems, and spray equipment don't hold flat value, and neither do replacement costs. A policy still reflecting a purchase price from several years ago may leave a real gap between what a claim pays and what it actually costs to replace the unit with current equipment. This is worth revisiting at every renewal, not just at the time the policy was first written.

What to Check Before Your Next Job

1. Confirm your rig is actually covered — and how. "It's on my policy somewhere" isn't the same as knowing whether it's inland marine, property, or auto physical damage, each of which responds differently.
2. Check whether your coverage is scheduled or blanket, and whether the values on file reflect current replacement cost.
3. Ask specifically about breakdown coverage. A proportioner failure that isn't theft, vandalism, or transit damage may need its own equipment breakdown coverage to be addressed at all.

The rig is the business. A coverage structure that treats it like generic contents on a property policy, rather than the mobile, high-value equipment it actually is, is one of the more expensive gaps a spray foam operation can carry without realizing it.