Nevada Property Definitions and Inland Marine

Why Nevada Separates "Kinds of Insurance"

Nevada's insurance code does not treat every policy that pays for damaged property as the same regulatory product. Chapter 681A defines kinds of insurance so the Division of Insurance can license carriers for the correct lines, approve rate and form filings in the right buckets, and apply the appropriate consumer protections. For the Property & Casualty combo exam, Domain 9 (NV Statutes Property Only) dedicates only two scored questions to this slice—but those items almost always test whether you can match a statute number to a definition, especially NRS 681A.050 (marine and transportation, including inland marine) versus NRS 681A.060 (property insurance). Learn the distinction once, deeply, and both points become reliable.

National general-knowledge chapters already teach homeowners, commercial property, and inland marine policy forms. This section teaches the Nevada statutory labels that sit behind those forms.

NRS 681A.060 — "Property Insurance" Defined

NRS 681A.060 gives Nevada's statutory definition of property insurance:

1. Property insurance is insurance on real or personal property of every kind and of every interest therein against loss or damage from any and all hazards or causes, and against loss consequential upon such loss or damage, other than noncontractual legal liability for any such loss or damage.
2. Property insurance does not include title insurance, as defined in NRS 681A.080.

Read that definition in three layers for exam day:

Exam trap: Property insurance indemnifies the insured's own property (first-party). It does not cover the insured's legal obligation to pay someone else for injury or damage—that is casualty liability territory. A homeowners policy's Coverage A responds to fire damage to the dwelling; Coverage E responds when a guest sues. Only the first fits the 681A.060 property definition.

Consequential loss language matters for commercial clients. When a covered peril shuts down a Reno warehouse, business income or extra expense coverage pays the income stream or added costs that follow from the physical damage. That consequential piece still lives inside the property-insurance definition when it stems from covered physical loss.

NRS 681A.050 — Marine and Transportation Insurance

Where NRS 681A.060 draws the boundary around property against physical perils, NRS 681A.050 defines "marine and transportation insurance" far more expansively. Nevada incorporates the classic Nationwide Definition pattern. The statute says marine and transportation insurance includes:

(a) Insurance Against Loss or Damage To:

(1) Broad transit property — vessels, craft, aircraft, cars, automobiles, vehicles of every kind, goods, freight, cargo, merchandise, effects, disbursements, profits, money, bullion, precious stones, securities, choses in action, valuable papers, bottomry and respondentia interests, and all other kinds of property and interest therein, in connection with risks of navigation, transit, or transportation—on seas, inland waters, land, or air—including while goods are packed, awaiting shipment, in storage, transshipped, or reshipped. This paragraph explicitly mentions marine builder's risks and all personal property floater risks.

(2) Person or property tied to marine/inland marine/transit insurance — including liability for loss of or damage to either, arising from construction, repair, operation, maintenance, or use of the insured subject matter—but not life insurance, surety bonds, or bodily-injury liability from automobile ownership, maintenance, or use (auto liability is casualty).

(3) Precious items — precious stones, jewels, jewelry, gold, silver, and other precious metals, whether in transit or otherwise.

(4) Transportation instrumentalities — bridges, tunnels, and similar structures (with stated fire/tornado/etc. exceptions), piers, wharves, docks, slips, dry docks, marine railways, and other navigation aids—against all risks unless limited to specified perils.

(b) Marine Protection and Indemnity (P&I)

Insurance against loss, damage, or expense from ownership, operation, chartering, maintenance, use, repair, or construction of vessels, craft, or waterway instrumentalities—including liability for personal injury, illness, death, or damage to another person's property. This is the classic P&I bucket for commercial watercraft operations.

Worked Scenario: Las Vegas Jeweler

A Strip jeweler insures a $200,000 inventory while items are in the safe, on display, and in transit to a trade show. A standard HO or commercial property policy may cap jewelry under a special limit. A personal articles floater or commercial inland marine schedule covers the movable, high-value exposure while goods travel between locations. Nevada regulators classify that floater under marine and transportation (681A.050), not the bare property insurance definition—even though both pay for stolen gems.

Wet Marine vs. Inland Marine (Subsection 2)

NRS 681A.050(2) narrows "wet marine and transportation" to the traditional ocean and import/export/coastwise subset:

• Insurance on vessels, hulls, and related interests;
• Marine builder's risks, marine war risks, and marine P&I;
• Freights and disbursements tied to those subjects; and
• Personal property in export, import, coastwise, or inland-water transit from origin to final destination, including preparation, delay, storage, and reshipment.

Everything else in subsection 1 that is not wet marine—personal property floaters, bailee's customers, contractors equipment, fine arts, electronic data processing equipment in transit—is commonly called inland marine in the market. Nevada statute folds inland marine into the same 681A.050 definition rather than giving inland marine its own separate NRS label.

Nationwide Definition and Exam Strategy

Most states, including Nevada, rely on the Nationwide Definition of Marine Insurance to decide which filed forms count as inland marine for regulatory purposes. Pearson VUE references this definition in outline materials for Section III.A (Property – NV Specific). When a question asks which statute governs personal articles floaters or commercial property floaters, the answer is NRS 681A.050, not 681A.060—because the floater insures property in transit or movable rather than property fixed at a described premises.

Do not confuse:

• Statutory kind (681A.050 vs. 681A.060) with policy form number (HO-3 vs. CPP vs. inland marine block).
• Inland marine with ocean marine—both live under 681A.050, but wet marine is the subsection 2 subset.
• Property physical damage with automobile bodily-injury liability—681A.050 explicitly excludes BI from auto ownership/maintenance/use.

Producer Checklist

1. Fixed location, standard building/BPP? Start with property insurance (681A.060) forms and NRS 691A contract rules (next section).
2. Movable goods, transit, floaters, or marine exposures? Map to 681A.050 and inland marine filings.
3. Ocean hull, cargo on international voyage, marine P&I? Identify wet marine under 681A.050(2).
4. Client needs liability to third parties? Leave the property definitions—place casualty lines.

Only two exam questions may score from this domain, but producers who misclassify coverage confuse clients at binding, choose wrong deductibles, and file claims under the wrong part. The Nevada code gives you clean statutory anchors—memorize 681A.060 = property against physical loss and 681A.050 = marine, transportation, and inland marine floaters—and the Property Only domain stops being a guess.