Equipment Breakdown for contractors

Tools & equipment (inland marine) covers theft and external damage. Equipment breakdown covers internal mechanical and electrical failures. A compressor stolen off your truck is a tools claim; the same compressor blowing a motor internally is an equipment-breakdown claim. Gear-heavy contractors need both.

Generally no. Standard commercial property specifically excludes internal mechanical and electrical breakdown — it covers external perils like fire, wind, and theft. Equipment breakdown fills that gap. Without it, a $4,000 compressor motor failure comes out of your pocket.

It covers motors, pumps, compressors, generators, welders, plasma cutters, pressure vessels, computerized control boards, and other internal-mechanical or electrical equipment. If it has a motor, a winding, a board, or a pressure vessel, equipment breakdown generally applies.

Yes — most equipment-breakdown forms include business income coverage for the income you lose when covered equipment is down. If a blown compressor sidelines a job for a week, the lost income and extra expense (renting a replacement) can be covered. We size the period to your real recovery time.

Equipment breakdown is typically inexpensive — a small fraction of your overall equipment program — because internal failures are less frequent than theft. The coverage-to-cost ratio is excellent for contractors who depend on powered gear. We quote it alongside your tools and scheduled-equipment coverage.

Equipment breakdown is usually written to cover a scheduled list or a class of equipment rather than a single item. We help you structure it to cover the gear whose failure would actually cost you — the compressors, generators, and powered equipment you can't work without.

Once a licensed technician confirms the internal failure (a repair quote or diagnostic report), equipment breakdown claims typically pay quickly to repair or replace the gear. We help you document the failure and expedite the claim so your downtime is as short as possible.

Most contractors pay $500-$2,500 a year for a scheduled tools floater, typically 1-3% of the total scheduled gear value, modified by deductible and theft-loss history. We quote the full program in about 15 minutes and show every market's price.

Yes. Contractors Choice Agency is licensed in all 50 states and writes tools & equipment programs for contractors from the highest-theft markets to the storm-rebuild surge zones.

About 15 minutes for a standard scheduled-tools program. Once bound, we turn around certificates, schedules, and additional-insured endorsements usually within minutes.

No. GL covers third-party injury and damage, not your own gear. Tools are covered under a tools & equipment (inland marine) floater — which is what we build to close the gap GL leaves open.

We write tools & equipment at replacement cost so stolen or destroyed gear is replaced new, not depreciated. ACV policies can pay pennies on the dollar for a $600 nailer — replacement cost keeps you working.

Yes — a scheduled tools floater covers theft from your truck, trailer, and jobsite, subject to the policy terms and deductible. Some policies carry a higher theft-from-unattended-vehicle deductible, which we review carefully.

Schedule anything of meaningful value — nail guns, miter and circular saws, lasers, generators, compressors, mobile equipment, and specialty gear. We help you build the schedule with make, model, serial number, and replacement value, and update it as you add gear.

Yes. High-value mobile equipment should be scheduled separately at agreed value so a total loss pays what it's really worth. Generic policies undervalue this gear — we list each unit individually.

Often, yes. We have excess-and-surplus (E&S) inland marine markets for contractors with loss runs, prior thefts, or cancellations that standard markets decline. Bring your loss runs and gear schedule.

If you haul material packages that could be lost, damaged, or stolen in transit or before installation, yes. An installation floater covers materials from the supplier's truck until they're installed and accepted — closing a real gap.

You reach a person with context, not a queue. We respond within 2 hours, help you document the loss (police report for theft, photos, schedule), and manage the claim with the carrier so it's paid correctly and you can replace gear fast.

Tools and equipment coverage lives in the inland marine market — a specialty class most generic agents don't understand. A specialty broker knows which carriers write scheduled gear at replacement cost and how to manage a tools-theft claim so it pays.