Ep. 633 Overlooked Coverage that Keeps Projects Moving After an Equipment Loss
Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Account Executive Kevin Howard to talk about how business income coverage within inland marine policies can help contractors protect against lost revenue when critical equipment is stolen or damaged.
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Director/Host: Alyssa Burley
Guest: Kevin Howard
Producer/Editor: Megan Lockhart
Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “Breaking News Intro” by nem0production
© Copyright 2026. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.
Transcript
Alyssa Burley: You’re listening to Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™ podcast, where each week we break down complex insurance and safety topics to help your business thrive.
I’m your host, Alyssa Burley, and I’m joined by Kevin Howard, Partner with Rancho Mesa. He specializes in providing insurance and risk management solutions to artisan contractors. Today, we're going to talk about business income in relation to inland marine policies.
Kevin, welcome to the show.
Kevin Howard: Thank you so much for having me. This is going to be a really good topic.
AB: Good. So you recently wrote an article explaining that most contractors understand insurance coverage for repairing or replacing damaged equipment, but many may not be familiar with business income coverage that is tied to that equipment schedule. Will you explain this coverage and how it differs from traditional business interruption insurance?
KH: Absolutely. And I think it's funny that Jessee Keirstead just did a podcast for our listeners in regards to the uptick in theft in California. We're talking $300 million to a billion dollars nationally. California ranks in the top 10 as far as states with large equipment theft. And these items are ranging from $30,000 up to $500,000. So it's something that definitely is an important topic for our clients and for any other listeners. What we're diving deeper into is you have the ability to ensure the loss of your revenue, your productivity, if that piece of equipment is stolen. So let's just use a large skid steer, for example. You know, this item, if it's not out there running every day, it's costing. It's costing money in the form of it's not producing. And now we have to replace it. We have to find a rental. So within your inland marine policy, you have the ability to create a business income limit. I'm sure all the listeners are familiar with business income tied to like a restaurant, for example. So let's use that. Restaurant burns down. There's a policy that steps in. Obviously, there's no customers, no patrons. There's no revenue being generated. Let's flip gears to just one single piece of equipment. And so a common limit that we're seeing would be like $150,000 with a $10,000 deductible. That policy would also step in and pay for the rental expense to just make sure that our clients or anybody with this policy is really not being hit too hard in the pocketbooks.
AB: All right. So when a revenue-generating piece of equipment like a crane, concrete pump, or excavator is stolen or damaged, what financial challenges can contractors face beyond the cost of replacing the equipment? And I think you mentioned just now the rental.
KH: Right. I mean, I think we deal with certificates of insurance a lot and our clients, they need them fast. Job sites are, you know, hey, we got this job. We're landing in the go zone tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Imagine if your go zone at 7 a.m. does not have that important piece of equipment. And you didn't find out until the night before.
AB: Yeah, maybe it was stolen the night before. You show up and it's not there.
KH: It's not there. There's several pieces to this puzzle that were just yanked out. And so to imagine all the 10 to 20 different. areas where there's an impact, a negative impact, at the very least, let's ensure the loss of revenue through an insurance policy. You already have this inland marine policy. Adding this additional layer to that is so key, and it's actually not as expensive as you would imagine. It's just a good broker move to consider. this coverage. It's just an extra layer of protection.
KH: Absolutely.
AB: So with equipment theft and vandalism on the rise, like you mentioned earlier, and Jessee had previously talked about, particularly involving high value construction equipment, what types of contractors should be considering equipment business income coverage? And what factors determine the appropriate coverage limit?
KH: Great question. The most common contractors, you know, the concrete pumpers, the excavators, anybody digging, the shoring contractors, they are going to have a list of maybe $5 to $6 million worth of items that are broken out between 40 to 50 scheduled pieces of equipment. Those are the typical industries that we see these larger inland marine policies on. And I would say that the average deductible would be $10,000, or it might be a percentage. It really comes down to how that, underwriter is working, you know, with us on that sweet spot.
AB: So as the broker, you can work with the underwriter.
KH: Absolutely. It's really tailored to that specific schedule of equipment. And I'll mention Jessee's podcast was so dead on as far as, you know, these thieves are sophisticated. The secondary market, it's here. It's in California. So whatever precautions that you can take to avoid even needing this policy, whether it be, like Jesse mentioned, having a well-lit space, knowing how this piece of equipment is locked up at night, not with a master lock. You never know if it's an inside job. It's really important right now. And the fact that these secondary markets are paying way more than they were in the past, that these items are valuable. You know, if a piece of equipment is stolen, it's not like there's a Costco of equipment down the street where you go pick it up. It's going to be off the job site for quite a while.
AB: . Yeah. So I guess the point is, do everything you can to prevent the piece of equipment from being stolen.
KH: 100%.
AB: Like Jessee mentioned in the previous podcast episode. But then also get that policy that's going to protect you just in case it does happen. Then you're protected and you're not finding yourself in financial troubles because of this lost piece of equipment.
KH: 100%. The best practices here would be prevention, prevention, prevention. If it does happen, have a plan to supplement that loss of revenue. Let's keep our clients safe. Let's go.
AB: Absolutely. So Kevin, if listeners have questions about their exposure to lost income, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?
KH: You can find me on LinkedIn. If you're not a client and you're a listener and you want to learn more. Just look for me, Kevin Howard. If not, you can email me, khoward@ranchomesa.com. Looking forward to hearing from any listeners that are interested in learning more.
AB: Kevin, thanks for joining me in StudioOne.
KH: Thank you.
AB: Thank you for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. If you enjoyed what you heard, please share this episode and subscribe. For more insights like this, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.