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Business auto coverage symbols explained: what each number covers
Symbols 1 through 9 and 19 on a business auto declarations page decide which vehicles each coverage applies to. Here is what each means and where gaps appear.
Covered auto symbols are the numbers (1 through 9, and 19) printed next to each coverage on a business auto policy's declarations page. They decide which vehicles that coverage applies to: any auto, only owned autos, only scheduled autos, only hired or non-owned autos, and so on. If the symbol next to a coverage does not describe the vehicle in the accident, that coverage does not apply to it, no matter how many vehicles are listed elsewhere on the policy.
Why symbols exist
The ISO Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01) does not list vehicles in the form itself. Section I says that Item Two of the declarations shows the covered autos for each coverage, and that the symbols entered next to a coverage "designate the only autos that are covered autos." Each coverage gets its own symbol, so liability, medical payments, uninsured motorists and the physical damage coverages can each use a different one. That is how a policy can cover every vehicle you own for liability while insuring only your three newest trucks for collision.
The table below is the ISO symbol list as it appears in the 10 13 edition of the form, reproduced in a carrier-filed copy.
| Symbol | Name | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Any auto | Every auto, owned or not. Used for liability. |
| 2 | Owned autos only | Autos you own, including those acquired after the policy begins. Also covers, for liability, trailers you do not own while attached to your power units. |
| 3 | Owned private passenger autos only | Cars you own, including those acquired later. |
| 4 | Owned autos other than private passenger | Trucks, vans and similar autos you own, including those acquired later. |
| 5 | Owned autos subject to no-fault | Owned autos required to carry no-fault benefits in the state where they are licensed or garaged. |
| 6 | Owned autos subject to a compulsory uninsured motorists law | Owned autos in states where you must carry, and cannot reject, uninsured motorists coverage. |
| 7 | Specifically described autos | Only autos listed in Item Three of the declarations with a premium shown. |
| 8 | Hired autos only | Autos you lease, hire, rent or borrow, other than from employees, partners, members or their households. |
| 9 | Non-owned autos only | Autos you do not own or hire that are used in your business, including employees' own cars. |
| 19 | Mobile equipment subject to compulsory or financial responsibility law | Land vehicles that would be mobile equipment except that a motor vehicle insurance law applies to them where licensed or garaged. |
Reading the symbols in practice
Symbol 1, any auto. The broadest grant, and the one most customer contracts ask for. It is a liability symbol. Standard declarations instructions say not to use it for physical damage, medical payments, no-fault or uninsured motorists coverage, and an insurer cannot price the repair cost of vehicles it has never seen. Some carriers show "2, 8, 9" for liability instead of 1. Together those three symbols reach owned, hired and non-owned autos, and each exposure gets its own rating basis.
Symbols 2, 3 and 4, the owned groups. These are automatic. If you buy another truck mid-term, symbol 2 or 4 picks it up for the rest of the policy period without a phone call (the form's Section I.B). Symbol 3 would pick up a new car but not a new truck. That is why a mismatch between the symbol and the fleet is worth checking when your business changes from sedans to vans.
Symbols 5 and 6, state mandates. They add no vehicles. They tie specific coverages, no-fault benefits and uninsured motorists coverage, to autos that state law requires to carry them. In states that let you reject UM coverage, a mandatory symbol does not apply and you would use 2, 3, 4 or 7 if you want the coverage.
Symbol 7, specifically described autos. This is the schedule. Only vehicles listed in Item Three with a premium are covered (and, for liability, trailers you don't own while attached to a scheduled power unit). Underwriters like it because they see every vehicle. The catch is in Section I.B.2 of the form: a vehicle you acquire is covered only if the insurer already covers all of your owned autos for that coverage, or it replaces one that was covered, and you tell the insurer within 30 days.
Symbols 8 and 9, hired and non-owned. These are the HNOA symbols. See Hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage: what it covers and who needs it for the details. They are liability symbols, and the form's "other insurance" condition makes coverage excess for any covered auto you do not own, so the vehicle owner's insurance pays first.
Symbol 19, licensed mobile equipment. Added to the form in the 2006 edition, it picks up equipment such as a front-end loader or similar land vehicle that would normally be mobile equipment (and so belong on the general liability policy) but that a state requires to be licensed or insured as a motor vehicle. If your crews drive such equipment on public roads in a state that treats it as an auto, it may land here. Mobile equipment otherwise is excluded from auto coverage; see contractor's equipment insurance: covering tools, machinery and rentals.
Other autos the form picks up
Even under a narrow symbol, Section I.C of the form adds three kinds of vehicle for liability coverage: small trailers (in the 10 13 edition, those with a load capacity of 2,000 pounds or less designed for road travel), mobile equipment being carried or towed by a covered auto, and a non-owned auto used with its owner's permission as a temporary substitute for a covered auto that is out of service. The 11 20 edition changed the trailer test to a registered gross vehicle weight rating of 3,000 pounds or less, according to the Big "I" summary of the revision, and it treats a vehicle leased without a driver for six continuous months or more, under a lease requiring you to carry primary insurance, as an owned auto. Check which edition your policy uses.
A hypothetical worked example
Say a caterer has three vans, and the declarations show liability symbol 7, comprehensive and collision symbol 7, and a schedule of the three vans. In March the caterer buys a fourth van and puts it into service without calling the broker. In late April the new van is in an accident.
- Liability is on symbol 7. The new van is covered only if the carrier already insures all the caterer's owned autos for liability (it does) and the caterer told the carrier within 30 days of buying it.
- If the caterer bought the van 40 days earlier and told no one, the automatic-coverage window has closed, and the carrier can deny or reserve its rights.
- If the policy had shown symbol 2 for liability, the fourth van would have been covered automatically. Physical damage would still require symbol 7 and a call, because the carrier prices each van.
A symbol is a rule about vehicles and time, not a feature of the policy as a whole. The fix is a routine one: tell the broker the day you take title, or buy the policy with the automatic symbol.
Where symbols collide with contracts
Customer contracts and lease agreements frequently ask for "any auto" liability or, at minimum, "owned, hired and non-owned" autos. The ACORD 25 certificate of insurance has boxes for "any auto," "owned autos only," "scheduled autos," "hired autos only" and "non-owned autos only." The box ticked on your certificate is only a summary. The declarations page and the endorsements are the policy. A certificate cannot create coverage the policy does not provide. Before you sign, compare the contract's wording to your symbols with the contract insurance requirements checker, and review certificates with the Certificate of insurance (COI) review checklist. See also certificates of insurance: what they prove and what they do not and how to review the insurance requirements in a contract.
A short audit you can do today
- Find Item Two on the declarations and write down the symbol next to every coverage.
- Check liability: is it 1, or at least 2, 8 and 9? If it is 7, confirm that every vehicle you use is on the schedule.
- Check physical damage: is the symbol 7 schedule current, with correct values and deductibles?
- Ask what happens to vehicles you buy, lease or sell mid-term, and get the 30-day rule in writing if you are on symbol 7.
- Ask whether your employees' own cars are covered under symbol 9 and whether you carry an employee driving policy.
- Confirm the edition (
CA 00 0110 13 or 11 20) and any state amendatory endorsements. The Garage and Motor Carrier forms number their symbols differently (the Garage form's start at 21, the Motor Carrier form's at 61), so do not assume a number carries over.
Key takeaways
- A coverage applies only to the vehicles described by the symbol next to it on the declarations. Check each coverage separately.
- Symbol 1, any auto, is a liability symbol. Physical damage normally runs on a schedule (symbol 7) or on owned-auto symbols.
- Symbol 7 gives control and pricing precision but requires you to report new vehicles, generally within 30 days.
- Symbols 8 and 9 are the hired and non-owned symbols. They are liability only and excess over the vehicle owner's insurance.
- Match your symbols to your contracts and to how the business really uses vehicles, then revisit them whenever the fleet changes. Larger operations should read fleet insurance: how fleets are defined, rated and insured.