ACORD 126

What the ACORD 126 is for

The ACORD 126 attaches to the ACORD 125 and carries everything a general liability underwriter needs that is specific to the GL line. It is where the requested limits, the occurrence or claims-made basis, and the classification and exposure schedule live.

For a checker, the 126 is the document that says what was asked for. When the policy comes back, the comparison that matters is between what this form requested and what the declarations actually granted.

What it collects

Described in our own words, block by block. This is a summary of the information the form gathers, not a reproduction of the form itself.

Coverage and limits

Each occurrence, general aggregate, products and completed operations aggregate, personal and advertising injury, damage to premises rented to you, and medical expense.

Coverage basis

Occurrence or claims made, and where claims made, the retroactive date and any extended reporting arrangement.

Deductible and aggregate treatment

Any deductible or self-insured retention, and whether the general aggregate applies per policy, per project or per location.

Classification and exposure schedule

Class codes with the premium basis, whether that is gross sales, payroll, area or units, and the exposure figure for each.

Contractors and subcontractor questions

Work subcontracted out, whether certificates and additional insured status are required of subs, and the trades involved.

Additional interest and coverage requests

Additional insureds, waivers of subrogation and other endorsements the account needs.

Check before it leaves the agency

The defects that cause trouble later are nearly always the same handful. Run these before the form goes out.

• The exposure basis is current. Gross sales and payroll carried forward from two years ago produce a premium and an audit that will both surprise the client.
• The requested aggregate treatment is stated. A contractor who needs a per-project aggregate and does not ask for one on the application will not get one.
• Claims-made accounts carry the correct retroactive date. A retro date that moves forward at renewal wipes out prior-acts coverage.
• Every additional insured and waiver the account's contracts require is requested here, by the endorsement that produces it, not just as a general note.
• Subcontractor questions are answered honestly, since a contractor who cannot produce certificates from subs will be charged for them at audit.
• Classification codes reconcile with the ones on the ACORD 125 and with the operations the account actually performs.

What the ACORD 126 does not do

• It does not stand alone. It attaches to an ACORD 125 that carries the applicant information.
• It does not itself grant an additional insured. That is a policy endorsement, requested here and confirmed on the declarations.

Which edition?

ACORD revises its forms, and the edition date is printed in the bottom-left corner beside the form number. This page deliberately does not name an edition, because a hard-coded one goes stale and a stale edition on a reference page is worse than none. Produce the form from your own management system, which will give you the current version, and read the corner if a carrier or a contract has asked for a specific one.

At renewal

BindCheck reads a bound renewal against the prior policy and reports every form, limit, deductible and endorsement that changed, with each finding cited to the page it came from. That matters for this form because what you put on an ACORD is only correct for as long as the policy behind it is unchanged: a certificate, an evidence form or a schedule of interests prepared from last term's facts is a defect nobody sees until the party relying on it needs it.

Related forms

• CG 00 01, the commercial general liability coverage form
• Additional insured: CG 20 10 vs CG 20 37