Are Your Tools Covered If They’re Stolen From Your Van? A Gap Most Plumbers Miss

For a plumber, your van is a rolling toolbox — and your tools are your business. So here’s a question worth two minutes: if your van got broken into tonight and your equipment was gone by morning, would your insurance actually cover it?

A lot of plumbers assume the answer is yes. Then they find out, at the worst possible moment, that it isn’t.

The conversation nobody wants to have after the fact

It usually goes like this. A plumber’s van gets broken into overnight. The drain camera, the pipe locator, the power tools — gone. Thousands of dollars of equipment, and he can’t run a single job until it’s replaced. He files a claim on his general liability policy, confident he’s covered.

He isn’t.

Why general liability doesn’t cover your tools

General liability insurance covers damage or injury you cause to someone else — a customer trips over your equipment, or you accidentally damage a client’s property. That’s what it’s for.

What it does not cover is your own tools and equipment being stolen, lost, or damaged. Many owners picture “business insurance” as one big umbrella covering everything they own. In reality it’s a set of separate coverages, each doing a specific job — and the one that protects your gear is often the one nobody added.

What actually covers your equipment

The coverage you want is called Inland Marine — or in plainer terms, a contractor’s equipment floater. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with boats. It covers your tools and equipment wherever they are: in your van, on a job site, in storage. Theft, damage, loss — the gear you can’t work without.

For plumbers this matters more than for most trades. Your equipment is expensive and specialized; a drain camera or a jetter alone can run into the thousands. And if it’s gone, you’re not just paying to replace it — you’re off the job, turning down calls, losing income while you scramble to re-equip.

The 30-second check

You don’t need to overhaul anything today — just find out where you stand. Pull out your current policy, or call whoever wrote it, and ask one question:

“If my tools and equipment are stolen out of my van, am I covered?”

If the answer is a clear yes, you’re protected. If it’s “no,” or “let me check,” you’ve found a gap worth closing before it costs you.

Want a straight answer on your own coverage? At Melliand Insurance Agency, we help Texas business owners — plumbers included — find these gaps before they turn into denied claims. If you’d like a no-pressure look at whether your tools are actually covered, reach out. No sales pitch, just a clear answer. Call us at (972) 346-4666 or contact us through the site.