Most inland marine policies are written on an open-perils basis: they cover direct physical loss from any cause that is not excluded. The insured does not have to find the cause on a list.

Example: an insured violin falls from a stand during a rehearsal at a concert hall and cracks. No exclusion applies, so the loss is covered. Because a floater follows the property, the concert hall location does not matter either.

Open perils is not the same as all risks. Exclusions still limit what is paid, which is why many practitioners prefer the term open perils to the older term all risks, which overstates the protection. Having to prove that a listed cause produced the loss belongs to named-perils coverage.

Principal exclusions (exact wording varies by form): - Wear and tear, and gradual deterioration. - Inherent vice: damage that comes from a quality of the property itself, such as acidic paper crumbling or iron rusting. - Insects and vermin. - War and related military action. - Delay, loss of market and similar consequential losses. Goods that arrive late but undamaged suffer no physical loss. These losses are either expected over time or too catastrophic to insure in this form.