12.1 Business Auto Coverage Form and Covered Auto Symbols
Key Takeaways
- The Business Auto Coverage Form (ISO CA 00 01) insures a firm's owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles using category symbols rather than a fixed vehicle list.
- Each coverage line on the declarations carries its own covered-auto symbol, so liability is commonly Symbol 1 while physical damage is Symbol 7 or 2.
- Symbol 1 (Any Auto) is the broadest liability designation because it reaches owned, hired, and non-owned autos at once.
- Symbols 8 (hired only) and 9 (non-owned only) are add-ons that fill the rental and employee-car gaps left by owned-only symbols.
- Newly acquired autos get 30 days of automatic coverage only under Symbols 2, 3, or 4; Symbol 7 gives none.
What the Form Does
The Business Auto Coverage Form (BACF), current edition ISO CA 00 01, is the standard contract insuring cars, trucks, and vans a business owns, rents, or borrows. ISO stands for Insurance Services Office, the bureau that drafts most commercial forms. The BACF is the commercial cousin of the Personal Auto Policy, but it must solve a different problem: a firm may own zero vehicles one month and a dozen the next, plus rent and borrow others.
Rather than schedule every vehicle by name, the form describes categories of autos using covered-auto designation symbols entered on the declarations next to each coverage line and limit.
How the Form Is Organized
A coverage is only in force when both a symbol and a limit appear on the declarations.
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Declarations | Named insured, policy period, symbols and limits chosen |
| Section I - Covered Autos | Defines the nine symbols and the 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 - Conditions | Duties after loss, transfer of rights, two-or-more forms |
| Section V - Definitions | Accident, auto, bodily injury, property damage, loss |
The Nine Covered-Auto Symbols
| 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 and 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 the vehicles scheduled |
| 8 | Hired Autos Only | Rented, leased, or borrowed (not owned) |
| 9 | Non-Owned Autos Only | Employee or partner personal autos used for business |
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is no-fault medical coverage; UM is uninsured motorist coverage. Symbols 5 and 6 do not add a vehicle type; they automatically activate those state-mandated coverages on owned autos.
Why Coverage Lines Use Different Symbols
Liability is usually written Symbol 1 so no third-party exposure is left uninsured. Physical damage is usually Symbol 7 or Symbol 2 because the insurer must know each vehicle's year, make, model, and value to rate and to pay a loss. A blanket Symbol 1 on physical damage is rarely offered.
Exam trap: Symbol 1 is the only symbol that automatically pulls in both hired and non-owned exposure. A risk written Symbol 2 has a gap for rentals (needs Symbol 8) and for employee cars (needs Symbol 9).
The 30-Day Newly Acquired Auto Rule
Automatic coverage for a vehicle bought mid-term depends entirely on the symbol attached to that coverage.
| Symbol on Coverage | Newly Acquired? | Reporting |
|---|---|---|
| 2 (all owned) | Covered 30 days | Report within 30 days |
| 3 (owned PP) | Covered 30 days if private passenger | Report within 30 days |
| 4 (owned other than PP) | Covered 30 days if truck/van | Report within 30 days |
| 7 (specifically described) | NO automatic coverage | Must endorse first |
Worked example: A contractor's BACF shows Symbol 4 for liability and Symbol 7 for physical damage. The contractor buys a dump truck and crashes it on day 10. Liability follows the truck because Symbol 4 grants 30 days of automatic owned-truck coverage. Physical damage does not respond - Symbol 7 reaches only scheduled units, and this truck was never added. The contractor absorbs the truck's own repair cost.
Who Is an Insured
- The named insured for any covered auto.
- Anyone using a covered auto the named insured owns, hires, or borrows with permission.
- Anyone legally responsible for an insured's conduct, limited to that liability.
The owner of a hired or borrowed auto is generally not an insured, and an employee is not an insured while driving the employee's own auto - that is why Symbol 9 protects only the employer's vicarious liability, not the employee.
Mastering the Covered-Auto Symbols
The Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01) uses numbered symbols entered next to each coverage on the Declarations to define which autos are covered. The symbol — not a vehicle schedule alone — controls coverage, and reading symbols is the single most tested commercial-auto skill:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Any auto (broadest; used for liability) |
| 2 | Owned autos only |
| 3 | Owned private passenger autos only |
| 4 | Owned autos other than private passenger |
| 5 | Owned autos required to carry no-fault |
| 6 | Owned autos required to carry UM |
| 7 | Specifically described autos (only those listed) |
| 8 | Hired autos only (leased/rented/borrowed) |
| 9 | Non-owned autos only (employees'/others' used in business) |
How Symbols Are Combined in Practice
A typical schedule uses Symbol 1 for liability (covers any auto the business becomes liable for, including hired and non-owned), but Symbol 7 for physical damage (only the specifically scheduled vehicles, because you cannot insure physical damage on cars you do not own).
Worked trap: a company assigns Symbol 7 to liability and an employee runs an errand in their own car and causes an accident. Because Symbol 7 covers only described autos, there is no coverage for the employee's car — the firm needed Symbols 8 and 9 (hired and non-owned) or Symbol 1 to pick up that exposure.
Symbols 8 and 9 are critical for hired and non-owned auto liability (HNOA) — businesses whose employees drive personal or rented vehicles on company business. Adding "Symbol 1" liability is the simplest fix because it sweeps in owned, hired, and non-owned autos at once. Knowing that Symbol 1 = liability-broadest and that physical damage cannot use Symbol 1 (only owned/scheduled) is a guaranteed exam point.
Which covered-auto designation symbol provides the broadest liability coverage under the Business Auto Coverage Form?
A firm's policy shows Symbol 7 for physical damage. It buys an additional delivery van and wrecks it five days later. How does physical damage respond?