(April 2019)
ACORD forms are designed primarily for use with products associated with standard insurance industry rating and forms organizations, such as the Insurance Services Office (ISO), for use with its manuals, rules, rating plans, and coverage forms, such as the Commercial Liability Umbrella Coverage Form. For the most part, ACORD forms are relatively generic in nature. If the Commercial Liability Umbrella Coverage Form is written in combination with a specific independent specialty or company program, company specific forms may be needed for that account instead of, or in addition to, the normal ACORD forms that apply.
Note: Only countrywide forms are listed in this section. Specific state ACORD forms are not listed.
Form 45–Additional Interests
This form is helpful to
identify, list, and describe additional interests in an organized, logical, and
sequential basis. The additional interest name and mailing address is coupled
with the specific type of interest involved and the nature of the interest,
such as in a location or vehicle. This form can be used as a risk management
and additional interest inventory document in addition to its primary purpose
of providing underwriting, policy-writing, and rating information.
Form 125–Commercial
Insurance Application–Applicant Information Section
All information requested in this form is relevant and important. Be sure to check the appropriate boxes so the insurance company underwriter understands the lines of insurance being submitted for consideration. The first named insured and all other named insureds must be listed. The applicant information is important for both coverage issues and to provide the contact information for inspections, financial, and premium audit functions. Loss information on larger accounts should probably be submitted in the form of copies of currently valued loss runs for the past five years, as well as for the current year to date. Accurate and currently valued loss information for the latest three full years and complete current year is required for experience rating on larger accounts.
Form 126–Commercial
General Liability Section
This application is not required but may be helpful to a stand-alone umbrella carrier. This very comprehensive form is designed to provide the insurance company with as much relevant information as possible concerning the coverages selected, classifications, and rating. It includes detailed questions that make it a very helpful risk management and underwriting tool. Most of the information requested has a direct impact on the manual rating. Inaccurate or incomplete information can lead to an incorrectly rated and priced account.
Form 131–Umbrella/Excess
Section
The most important information on this application is the underlying policy number(s) and the name(s) of the underlying carrier(s). Coverage in the umbrella is based on maintaining the underlying insurance. All information on the declarations with respect to the underlying is very important and is used to determine the availability of coverage. The name(s) of the underlying carrier(s) is very important because evaluating the underlying carrier(s) financial strength and integrity is a major part of umbrella underwriting.
Each of these forms is very comprehensive and detailed with respect to the type and amount of information requested. However, no single application can respond to every question that may arise for every risk, especially when evaluating a larger and more complex risk. It is always in the best interests of both the insured and the agent or broker to provide a cover letter that includes complete details of the operations and exposures involved, especially if the risk has characteristics and features that cannot be brought to the insurance company’s attention in any other way.