12.1 Business Auto Coverage Form and Covered Auto Symbols

The Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01)

The Business Auto Coverage Form (BACF), ISO form number CA 00 01, is the workhorse of commercial auto insurance. It insures the autos a business owns, hires, borrows, or whose use it is otherwise exposed to. On the exam, this is the single most heavily tested commercial auto form, and almost every question turns on one idea: the covered auto symbols control what is and is not insured under each coverage.

The BACF is organized into five sections you should memorize in order:

1. Section I - Covered Autos (defines symbols 1-9 and 19)
2. Section II - Covered Autos Liability Coverage (the liability insuring agreement, supplementary payments, who is insured, exclusions)
3. Section III - Physical Damage Coverage (comprehensive, specified causes of loss, collision, towing)
4. Section IV - Business Auto Conditions (loss conditions and general conditions)
5. Section V - Definitions

Why symbols matter

Unlike a personal auto policy that lists each vehicle on the declarations, the BACF assigns a numeric symbol to each coverage. The symbol entered next to a coverage on the declarations page tells you which group of autos that coverage applies to. A vehicle can be covered for liability but not physical damage simply because a broader symbol was entered next to liability.

This is the classic exam trap: students assume "the truck is on the policy, so it is fully covered." Wrong. You must check the symbol entered for each separate coverage. If symbol 1 is shown for liability but symbol 7 for collision, a newly acquired auto is automatically covered for liability but may not be covered for collision unless the insured reports it within 30 days (the rule for symbol 7 newly acquired autos).

The covered auto symbols

Symbol combinations and the newly acquired auto rule

For liability, agents almost always recommend symbol 1 (any auto) because it picks up owned, hired, and non-owned exposures, and any newly acquired auto is automatically covered with no reporting requirement.

For physical damage, symbols 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 19 also give automatic coverage on newly acquired autos. But symbol 7 (specifically described autos) is the trap: a newly acquired auto is covered only if (a) the insurer already covers all autos the insured owns, or (b) the auto replaces one previously listed, AND the insured asks to add it within 30 days of acquisition.

• Hired autos = symbol 8 (you rent/lease but do not own)
• Employee-owned autos used for business = symbol 9 (non-owned)
• Symbol 9 never covers physical damage to the employee's car

Reading a Symbol Question

When a stem hands you a declarations page, never assume a vehicle is fully covered. Check the symbol entered next to each coverage line separately. A truck may carry symbol 1 for liability (any auto, with automatic coverage on newly acquired autos and no reporting) yet symbol 7 for collision (only specifically described autos), so a just-purchased vehicle could be insured for liability but unprotected for physical damage until reported within 30 days.

The recurring trap is the symbol 7 newly acquired auto rule - it covers a new vehicle only if the insurer already covers all the insured's autos or the vehicle replaces a listed one, and only if reported within 30 days.

Liability vs. Physical Damage Symbol Strategy

For liability, producers recommend symbol 1 (any auto) to capture owned, hired, and non-owned exposures in one entry. For physical damage, owned-auto symbols give automatic coverage on newly acquired autos, but symbol 7 does not. Symbol 8 attaches hired autos and symbol 9 attaches employees' autos used in business - though symbol 9 never insures physical damage to the employee's own car. Memorizing which symbols self-extend to new autos is the single highest-yield commercial-auto skill.

Symbol Cheat Sheet

Group the symbols by what they capture. Symbol 1 is any auto and is the broadest liability choice. Symbols 2, 3, and 4 carve owned autos into all-owned, owned private passenger only, and owned-other-than-private-passenger. Symbols 5 and 6 attach owned autos subject to no-fault and compulsory uninsured-motorist laws. Symbol 7 is specifically described autos listed on the declarations, common for physical damage. Symbol 8 is hired autos and symbol 9 is non-owned autos, with symbol 19 added for mobile equipment subject to compulsory law.

A quick way to answer is to remember that the lower owned-auto symbols and 8, 9, and 19 self-extend to newly acquired autos, while symbol 7 alone demands a 30-day report.