ACORD 130 Workers Compensation Application General Information

How to Complete the General Information Section of ACORD 130 Workers Compensation App

This general information section continues on page 4 of the ACORD 130. This post will cover these questions on both pages.

As noted in the form, you will put a Y for yes or an N for no in the box in the far right hand column which matches the row which contains the question you are answering. Plain English, for the first question put a Y or N in the box at the end of the question on the right.

If you answer Yes to any of these questions you need to explain your answer in more detail. You will use the Remarks section on page 2 of this application, or the ACORD 130 form if you need more space to answer.

These questions have changed over time and will continue to change. So I will not go through each question individually.

I will point out that many of these questions should cause you to think about the coverage you are applying for. Example, if you say yes to any work preformed on barges, vessels, docks, bridge over water, should you be providing Longshoreman's  coverage?

If you are in Missouri, be certain you do not answer the question about prior coverage being declined.

I personally question the legality of the question about employees with physical handicaps.

Keep in mind these are underwriting questions which do not have an effect on the rate, but may have a significant effect on the discounts the underwriter is willing to apply.

I trust this has helped you learn how to complete the ACORD 130 workers compensation application.

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ACORD 25 - Cancellation Notice and Signature - Part 18 How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

The bottom right hand corner of the ACORD 25 form has wording on cancellation notices and a space for an authorized signature.

The cancellation notice clearly states that cancellation notice will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions.

Older ACORD 25 forms had a space for the number of days cancellation notice to be entered. This led to many problems.

Many Certificate Holders demand longer cancellation notices than the policies provide.

Policies typically provide the notice required by law for the specific state and coverage for which insurance is being provided.

If you must provide a longer notice of cancellation you must have the insurance carrier endorse the actual policy to provide this.

Never use the Description of Coverage to modify the length of the cancellation notice.

Often the request for a longer notice is because the certificate holder is looking at an old manual someone put together years ago for their business stating all certificates should have that length of notice. I suggest you talk to the person at the certificate holder office to see if this is the case and help them bring their manual up to date.

The final item is the AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE signature.

A few insurance carriers insist that an employee of the carrier sign the certificate. Most carriers allow their licensed agents to sign. You need to be sure you are following the specific carrier's rules. Check with your underwriter.

I hope this is helpful. The intent is to guide you through each section of the certificate of liability insurance.

Please feel free to share this with anyone it may help.

ACORD 25 - Description of Operations - Part 16 How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

The Description of Operations section is the large box above the Certificate Holder section.

This space is commonly used to limit or define the specific job for which a certificate is issued.

For example, your insured may need to provide a certificate when they win a bid to do a specific job for a city government. Let us say they won a bid to put in sidewalks on Elm St between Main and Oak streets. The description might read...

"Contract 1726-05 awarded April 2nd, 2014 with City of Durham for sidewalk construction on Elm St between Main St. and Oak St."

You should attempt to be this specific when possible.

Many certificates are required for longer term relationships and are re-issued at every renewal. In these cases the Description may be more general.

If you have listed the Certificate Holder as an Additional Insured you should be as specific and limiting as possible.

A common abuse and misuse of this section is to add wording that shows advance cancellation notification time periods or wording that seems to expand coverage. You should never do this. It is setting yourself up for an E&O claim.

I hope this is helpful in your process of learning how to complete the ACORD 25 certificate of liability insurance.

Please feel free to pass this along to others.

ACORD 25 - Policy Number and Dates - Part 15 How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

In the center of the ACORD 25 form, in the COVERAGES section are three columns titled POLICY NUMBER, POLICY EFF (MM/DD/YYYY), and POLICY EXP (MM/DD/YYYY).

For each COVERAGE TYPE - Commercial General Liability, Automobile Liability, Umbrella and Excess, Workers Compensation, and other you will enter the specific policy number for that coverage type in the column titled POLICY NUMBER.

Include any policy number prefix - such as BAP or WC. Enter any policy number suffix such as 01 or 02. Your policy number might look something like this....

WC-1075998-04

Generally the prefix indicates line of business and the suffix indicates consecutive policy term.

Under the column titled POLICY EFF, enter the effective date of the policy. The requested format of MM/DD/YYYY means two digits for month, two digits for day of the month and four digits for year.

Examples would be 01/01/2014 or 11/15/2014. Use a leading 0 for months and dates less than 10.

The reason for this formatting is to standardize the input for computer systems. If you enter using the requested format you help eliminate errors in the process.

Under the column titled POLICY EXP, enter the policy's expiration date. The comments above about effective date apply to expiration date.

I hope this information is helpful in your learning how to complete the ACORD 25 certificate of liability insurance.

We all learn for the first time at some point. Please feel free to pass this on to others you think it may help.

ACORD 25 - Additional Insured and Waiver of Subrogation Indicators - Part 14 How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

About a third of the way from the left hand side of the COVERAGE section, next to the TYPES OF INSURANCE are two columns labeled ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD.

For each applicable coverage type you should put a check mark in the box for Additional Insured if the certificate holder on this policy is also listed as an Additional Insured on the actual policy. It is important to note if you check this box and the actual policy does not show the certificate holder listed as an Additional Insured, checking this box has not made that coverage available. It may have, however, made you and your agency open to an E&O claim over that error.

An Additional Insured is a person or legal entity which is not included as a Named Insured under the Policy Definitions, but is added by endorsement to the policy to be an insured. A more complete definition is available from IRMI.

For each applicable coverage type if the policy includes a Waiver of Subrogation you should put a check mark in the box labeled SUBR WVD.

Subrogation is the assignment of the insured's rights to collect the amount of a loss from the liable party from the Named Insured to the insurance carrier for the coverage type.

Subrogation can be waived by endorsement to the actual policy. Be certain the polciy has been endorsed if you check this box.

I hope this helps you learn how to complete an ACORD 25 certificate of liability insurance.

ACORD 25 - Legal Notice - Part 13 How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

At the very top of the ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance There are two sections of legal notices.

THESE ARE INCREDIBILITY IMPORTANT

The first notice states the certificate is not the policy and does not amend the policy. To protect yourself from E&O exposures you need to keep this in mind when you put information into the form. Of particular concern should be what goes into the Description of Operation section. Be certain you do not use wording that could be seen as expanding or modifying the coverage of the policy contract.

The Second notice warns about showing the certificate holder as an Additional Insured or showing Subrogation as Waived. You need to be certain your actual policy is amended to track the certificate for these two items.

I will discuss these two items in the very next post.

As always, this is not a court room explanation, but basic information to help you understand how to complete the ACORD 25.

We all learn for the first time at some point. I hope this is helpful to you in learning how to complete a certificate of liability insurance.

ACORD 25 - Other Coverage - Part 12 How to Complete an ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance

There is a blank section at the bottom of the coverage section to allow you to enter types of insurance that are not commercial general liability, automobile liability, umbrella or excess liability or workers compensation.

Types of coverage you may enter her might be Boiler Steam, Aircraft, Longshoremen's, etc.

The point is, this form can be used for coverage that requires a certificate of insurance by a certificate holder.

I hope this is helpful in learning how to complete an ACORD 25 certificate of Liability Insurance.

ACORD 25 - Workers Comp Section - Part 8 in How to Complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance

In our continuing and exciting series on how to complete the ACORD 25 certificate of Liability Insurance form, in this episode we take a look at the Workers Compensation and Employers' Liability Section.

Put a Y or N for yes or no in the box next to "Any Proprietor/Partner/Executive Officer/Member Excluded?"

Note this is apparently always a Y if the company insured is in New Hampshire.

Not all states allow this exclusion, but many do allow it. It is a way for you to keep the premium cost of insurance lower. It also means those employees do not have workers comp coverage. So be careful and document well when you use this exclusion.

Under Limits, to the best of my knowledge and research, all states have limits per Statute, so you would always check this. Some states allow the business to purchase limits in excess of the statutory limits. You need to ask your underwriter if that is available in the state in which you are providing coverage.

Under limits there are three lines which start with E.L This stands for Employers Liability. This provides coverage that protects the company in the event that an employee alleges that the employer's negligence or failure to provide a safe work place was the cause of the employees's illness or injury. refer to your actual policy for these limits.

I hope this is helpful. It is intended not as a legal document but as a training tool for learning how to complete certificates of liability insurance.

We all learn each thing for the first time at some point. This is intended to help with that learning.