ACORD 127 Vehicle Description Section

How to Complete the ACORD 127 Vehicle Description Section

The ACORD 127 has space to list four vehicles. For more vehicles use the ACORD 129.

If you are used to personal lines, but have limited exposure to commercial lines, you may be intimidated at first by the description section. That will not last long. I started as a commercial lines underwriter and I have always felt commercial lines was much simpler than personal. Just different.

VEH# - Vehicle number. Enter the numbers in sequence starting with 1.

YEAR - The model year of the vehicle. 2010, 2011, etc.

MAKE - The manufacturer's name. Chevrolet, Ford, etc.

MODEL - The model of the vehicle. F-3500 or Dodge Step Van are examples.

BODY TYPE - Examples - Dump truck, Van, Sedan

V.I.N. - Vehicle identification number. This is the serial number for the vehicle. It is on the registration card and on the vehicle dashboard in front of the steering wheel.

VEHICLE TYPE - Only one can apply. PP is private passenger. SPEC is Special - which I assume is anything not the other two options. COML is commercial.

SYM / AGE - Only private passenger vehicles have a symbol. If it is not a private passenger vehicle you will leave this blank and answer the "Cost New" question two line down.

Age is more than a little obvious and embarrassing. You have already told them the year built. But age is a cross reference point in some rating manuals. So to avoid mistakes have pity and enter the age. (This year minus the model year)

COMP / OTC SYM - Comprehensive / Other Than Collision Symbol. Only private passenger vehicles will have this.It can be an ISO symbol or some companies publish their own symbols. A symbol is a two digit numeric value used as a cross reference point in manual rating.

COLL SYM - Collision symbol. Only private passenger vehicles will have this.It can be an ISO symbol or some companies publish their own symbols. A symbol is a two digit numeric value used as a cross reference point in manual rating.

GARAGING ADDRESS

STREET (Required in KY) - the actual street address where this vehicle is normally kept overnight. In auto insurance terms "garaging" does not mean an actual building or physical garage. It only means where the car is normally kept when not in use.

CITY - The city of the garaging address.

COUNTY - The county of the garaging address.

STATE - The 2 character abbreviation for the state in which the vehicle is garaged.

ZIP - The 5 digit post office ZIP code for the where the vehicle is kept. Have I mentioned before that ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan? Now you can win another bar bet.

LIC STATE - The two digit abbreviation of the state in which this vehicle is licensed. Not always the same as the garaging location.

TERR - The rating Territory. While most states use ZIP codes for private passenger rating, commercial rating still has maps with territories. You will need to reference the tables of cities and counties, or a map for this information. Your agency or carrier will have access to this.

GVW / GCW - This is the gross vehicle weight or the gross combined weight - also defined as the total weight of the vehicle itself and the load it is designed to carry. This will be listed on the vehicle registration. The second item - combined weight - is the total of the GVW for a tractor unit and the trailer to which it is attached.

Private passenger vehicles do not have a GVW.

CLASS - I quote exactly the ACORD FIG form here...This is the primary industry classification code found in rating manuals for commercial vehicles as determined by: *If this is a fleet or non-fleet policy *Commercial autos by size, business use, radius of operation and whether truck or trailer type *Public autos by type of vehicle, radius or seating capacity.

A private passenger vehicle insured on a business auto policy that is not a fleet - 5 or more vehicles are needed to be a fleet - normally uses the private passenger rates and classification code, not the business auto classification code.

SIC - The secondary special industry class. This will be available to you in manuals from your agency or carrier. Or in your commercial rating software.

Class and SIC are two of those things that make agents new to commercial lines uncomfortable. But here is the nice thing about them - you set them on a vehicle and they stay there. With personal lines these are often sorted and assigned to another vehicle based on driver and rating sorting. Commercial is much more straight forward.

FACTOR - This is a rating factor. You will normally leave this blank. The Class and SIC tables carry factors. This would be the sum of those factors.

SEAT CP - This only applies to Public or Livery vehicles - cabs and buses. It stands for seating capacity.

RADIUS - These do not apply to private passenger vehicles. Enter the code from the following list...

L - Local. Up to 50 miles. Not frequently operated beyond a 50-mile radius from the point of principal garaging.

I - Intermediate. Operation beyond 50 miles, but not regularly operated beyond a 200-mile radius from the point of principal garaging.

LH - Long Haul. Regularly and frequently operated beyond a radius of 200 miles.

FARTHEST TERMINAL - Long distance, or long haul vehicles are ZONE Rated. You can find these Zones in business auto manuals or in your rating software. For long haul vehicles enter the physical address for the garaging location farthest from the normal garaging location.

GRAMMAR NOTE: (as if this post is not long enough already.) Farthest is the correct usage here, though many of us will wonder why not furthest. “Farthest” describes physical distance. “Furthest” is used to describe a greater degree. Kudos to ACORD!!!

COST NEW $ - This is for vehicles which do not have a symbol. This is not what was paid for this vehicle used, but what would have been paid for it new.

USE

Select one and only one.

PLEASURE - Private passenger vehicles or pickups/vans not used for business purposes
FARM - Private passenger vehicles or pickups/vans principally garaged and used on a farm or ranch
DRIVE TO WORK / SCHOOL - check either the < 15 miles (less than) or 15 miles + box
COMM'L - transportation of property in vehicles other than those defined as retail or service
RETAIL - Pick up or delivery of property to individual households
SERVICE - Transportation of personnel, tools, equipment or supplies to or from a job site
FOR HIRE - taxi's, etc
OTHER - you describe

CHECK COVERAGES

Check all that apply. The checked boxes should match the coverage selected in the state specific ACORD 137 form attached to this application.

LIAB - liability
NO-FAULT - liability no-fault
ADD'L NO-FAULT - additional liability no- fault
MED PAY - medical payments
UNINS MOTOR - uninsured motorists liability
UNDRINS MOTOR - under-insured motorists liability
TOWING & LABOR

SPEC C of L - Specified Cause of Loss - these are all physical damage coverages
F - Specified Cause of Loss by Fire
FT - Specified Causes of Loss by Fire and Theft
FTW - Specified Causes of Loss by Fire, Theft and Windstorm
LSP - Limited Specified Peril
COMP/OTC - Comprehensive / Other Than Collision physical damage coverages
COLL - Collision
RENT REIMB - rental reimbursement
FG - Full Glass Coverage
OTHER - you enter

DEDUCTIBLES

Check one in this first section you have...

ACV - actual cash value
AA - agreed amount
ST AMT - stated amount

These are types of physical damage valuation methods normally used on older vehicles.

If you check one of these, enter the dollar amount of the value on the line in the bottom of this box where you see the $ sign.


Check either Comp / OTC or SPEC C of L if either apply. You cannot have both, but you can have neither. If you have either, enter the dollar amount of the deductible on the next line after the $ sign.

If you have collision coverage enter the dollar amount of the deductible on the line to the left of COLL after the $ sign.

NET VEH DR/CR - This is the total of all the credits or debit factors to be applied in the rating of this vehicle. You will almost always leave this blank. This is for the raters to do.

TOTAL PREMIUM: $ - You will almost always leave this blank. This is a rating field.


I hope this has helped you learn how to complete the ACORD 127 vehicle description section.


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