12.1 Business Auto Coverage Form and Covered Auto Symbols
Key Takeaways
- The Business Auto Coverage Form (ISO CA 00 01) insures vehicles a business owns, hires, or borrows, and is the commercial counterpart to the Personal Auto Policy.
- Coverage is activated not by listing vehicles but by entering a covered-auto designation symbol (1-9) and a limit next to each coverage on the declarations.
- Symbol 1 (Any Auto) is the broadest and the standard choice for liability; Symbol 7 (specifically described) is standard for physical damage because the insurer must rate a known value.
- Automatic newly-acquired-auto coverage runs 30 days and applies only under Symbols 2, 3, or 4 (matching the auto type) - Symbol 7 gives NO automatic coverage.
- WHO IS AN INSURED is broad: the named insured, permissive users of owned/hired/borrowed autos, and anyone vicariously liable; an employee using their OWN auto is NOT an insured (the employer relies on Symbol 9).
What the Business Auto Coverage Form Is
The Business Auto Coverage Form (BACF) is the Insurance Services Office (ISO) standard form - current edition CA 00 01 - used to insure cars, trucks, vans, and trailers a business owns, hires, or borrows. Together with the common policy declarations and common conditions, it builds the commercial auto policy. It is the commercial cousin of the Personal Auto Policy (PAP), but it must solve a problem the PAP never faces: a business may own zero, five, or five hundred vehicles and also rent and borrow others.
Rather than schedule every vehicle by VIN, the form uses covered-auto designation symbols to describe categories of autos. A single policy can activate liability, physical damage, auto medical payments, and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, each with its own symbol.
How the Form Is Built
The BACF is modular - a coverage exists only when a symbol and a limit appear on the declarations.
| Section | Function |
|---|---|
| Item Two - Declarations | Named insured, schedule of coverages, symbols, and limits |
| Section I - Covered Autos | Defines the nine symbols and the 30-day newly-acquired rule |
| Section II - Covered Autos Liability | Third-party bodily injury and property damage |
| Section III - Physical Damage | Comprehensive, collision, specified causes of loss |
| Section IV - Business Auto Conditions | Duties after loss, two-or-more-coverage-forms, subrogation |
| Section V - Definitions | 'Accident,' 'auto,' 'bodily injury,' 'property damage,' 'loss' |
The Nine Covered-Auto Designation Symbols
Each coverage line on the declarations carries its own symbol, so liability is usually written far broader than physical damage.
| Symbol | Category | Plain Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Any Auto | Owned, hired, AND non-owned (broadest) |
| 2 | Owned Autos Only | Every auto the insured owns, any type |
| 3 | Owned Private Passenger Only | Owned cars/SUVs, not trucks |
| 4 | Owned, Other Than Private Passenger | Owned trucks, vans, specialty rigs |
| 5 | Owned Autos Subject to No-Fault | Owned autos in PIP/no-fault states |
| 6 | Owned Autos Subject to Compulsory UM | Owned autos where UM is mandatory |
| 7 | Specifically Described Autos | ONLY vehicles listed on the schedule |
| 8 | Hired Autos Only | Rented, leased, or borrowed (not owned) |
| 9 | Non-Owned Autos Only | Employee/partner personal autos used for business |
Exam trap: Symbol 1 is the only symbol that automatically pulls in hired and non-owned exposure. A risk written Symbol 2 has a gap for rentals (needs 8) and for employee cars (needs 9).
Symbols 5 and 6 - the State-Mandate Symbols
Symbols 5 and 6 are commonly misread. They do NOT add a category of vehicle; they automatically activate state-mandated coverages on owned autos. Symbol 5 makes owned autos pick up no-fault / Personal Injury Protection (PIP) wherever required. Symbol 6 does the same for compulsory uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. They ride alongside the liability symbol, not instead of it.
The 30-Day Newly-Acquired-Auto Rule
Automatic coverage for a vehicle bought mid-term depends entirely on the symbol:
| Symbol on the Coverage | Newly Acquired Auto? | Reporting |
|---|---|---|
| 2 (all owned) | Auto-covered 30 days | Report within 30 days |
| 3 (owned PP) | Auto-covered 30 days IF private passenger | Report within 30 days |
| 4 (owned other than PP) | Auto-covered 30 days IF a truck/van | Report within 30 days |
| 7 (specifically described) | NO automatic coverage | Must endorse before loss |
Worked example: A contractor's policy shows Symbol 4 for liability and Symbol 7 for physical damage. The contractor buys a new dump truck and crashes it on day 10. Liability follows the truck (Symbol 4, within 30 days). Physical damage does NOT - Symbol 7 covers only scheduled units, so the truck's own damage is paid out of pocket.
Who Is an Insured
The insured definition is intentionally broad, in three tiers:
- The named insured - for ANY covered auto.
- Permissive users - anyone using a covered auto the named insured owns, hires, or borrows WITH permission.
- Anyone legally responsible for the conduct of an insured, to the extent of that liability (an employer liable for an employee's covered driving).
Key carve-out: the owner of a hired or borrowed auto is generally NOT an insured (a rental company is not your insured), and an employee is not an insured while driving the employee's OWN auto. For employee-owned cars the employer must rely on Symbol 9 (non-owned), which protects only the employer's vicarious liability. The employee's personal auto policy is primary.
Reading Symbols on a Declarations Page
A small-contractor schedule might read:
- Covered Autos Liability: Symbol 1 - $1,000,000 combined single limit
- Auto Medical Payments: Symbol 2 - $5,000
- Uninsured Motorist: Symbol 6 - $1,000,000
- Comprehensive: Symbol 7 - $500 deductible
- Collision: Symbol 7 - $1,000 deductible
Liability blankets every auto (owned, hired, non-owned), but physical damage reaches only the trucks actually scheduled. If the contractor rents a trailer, liability follows it (Symbol 1 includes hired), yet there is no physical-damage protection on the rental unless Symbol 8 hired-auto physical damage is added.
Trap to memorize: Symbol 8 is hired, Symbol 9 is non-owned - students reverse them. Hired = the business pays to use it (rental). Non-owned = a vehicle the business neither owns nor hires (employee's own car).
Which covered-auto designation symbol provides the BROADEST liability coverage under the Business Auto Coverage Form?
A firm uses Symbol 7 (specifically described autos) for physical damage. They buy a truck, never add it to the schedule, and it is stolen on day 20. Is the theft covered?