Commercial forms reference
ACORD 126: the General Liability Section, field by field
ACORD 126 is where a commercial submission stops describing the account and starts pricing what it does. It sits behind the ACORD 125 and carries the classification codes, exposure bases, limits, and operational answers a general liability underwriter rates from. Below is what each block captures, where the numbers come from, and what gets sent back.
What each section captures
| Section | What it captures | Usual source | Commonly missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Header / Applicant | Agency and producer detail, effective and expiration dates, named insured, and the carrier or program — repeated from the ACORD 125 so the section stands on its own in the underwriter's file. | Carried forward from the ACORD 125. | Named insured and effective dates that disagree with the 125 make the pair look like two different submissions. |
| Contract / Coverage Info | Requested occurrence and aggregate limits, products/completed operations aggregate, personal and advertising injury, medical expense, damage to premises rented, deductible, and whether the form is occurrence or claims-made. | Expiring policy declarations plus the marketing instructions. | Claims-made accounts need a retroactive date. Leaving it blank forces an underwriter question before anything is quoted. |
| Schedule of Hazards | One line per exposure: location number, classification description, GL class code, premium basis (gross sales, payroll, area, total cost, admissions), and the estimated exposure amount for the term. | The insured's operations, payroll and sales figures, and the expiring rating worksheet. | Location numbers must match the premises schedule on the 125, and the basis has to be the one that class code rates on — this is the single most common rework item on a GL submission. |
| Claims Made Supplement | Proposed retroactive date, prior-acts coverage, tail or extended reporting purchases, and any lapse in claims-made coverage. | Prior carrier declarations. | Only complete this when the form is claims-made — a partly filled block reads as a coverage gap. |
| Employee Benefits Liability | Number of employees, number covered by benefit plans, retroactive date, deductible, and limits when the coverage is being requested. | The insured's HR or benefits administrator. | Employee counts here should reconcile with the counts entered per location on the 125. |
| Contractors / Subcontracted Work | Percentage of work subcontracted, types of work subbed out, whether certificates of insurance and hold-harmless agreements are collected, minimum limits required of subs, and whether subs' limits match the applicant's. | The insured, plus their subcontractor agreement files. | Subcontracted work without documented certificates and hold-harmless language is a declination trigger for many carriers — answer it fully rather than leaving it blank. |
| Products / Completed Operations | Products manufactured, sold, or distributed, annual gross sales by product, expected life, intended use, and whether there have been recalls or discontinued products. | The insured. | Products sold to other manufacturers, exported, or used in aviation or medical applications need to be disclosed here, not discovered later. |
| Additional Interest / Insured | Additional insureds and their relationship — lessor of premises, mortgagee, vendor, owner or contractor — with the interest and required endorsement noted. | Lease and contract documents. | Listing an interest without the endorsement form number leaves the underwriter guessing which additional-insured wording is required. |
| General Information / Remarks | The GL yes/no questions — medical facilities, exposure to radioactive or hazardous material, demolition, athletic events, parking, watercraft, and pending litigation — plus explanations and remarks. | The insured, with a written explanation for every 'yes'. | An unexplained 'yes' answer is one of the fastest ways to get a submission returned at intake. |
ACORD forms are copyrighted by ACORD and licensed to agencies and carriers. This page is a field reference — blank forms come from ACORD, your carrier, or your agency management system.
Where GL submissions lose time
Class code guessed from the trade name
A description like 'contractor' or 'retail' does not choose a class. Pick the code from what the operation actually does, and put the narrative behind it in the 125's nature of business so the underwriter can confirm it.
Exposure amounts that do not reconcile
Payroll on the 126 that disagrees with the workers' comp figures, or sales that disagree with the revenue reported per location on the 125, gets questioned every time. Reconcile before you send.
Subcontractor section left blank
Blank does not read as 'none'. Enter 0% and the supporting answers explicitly when there is no subbed work, so the underwriter is not waiting on it.
Limits without the supporting detail
Higher requested limits invite scrutiny of the hazard schedule and the products section. Send both together rather than after the first underwriter email.
How the 126 fits the rest of the submission
The 125 identifies the account and its premises, the 126 prices the operations, and the 140 prices the property. Location numbering has to stay consistent across all three.
ACORD 125 field reference
The shared commercial application: applicant, premises, general information, and loss history.
ACORD 125 vs 126 vs 140
Side-by-side comparison of the three forms and which ones a given submission needs.
ACORD form automation
How PolicyFast AI assembles ACORD-structured packet data from a single property address.
ACORD 126 questions
What is the ACORD 126 form?
ACORD 126 is the Commercial General Liability Section. It travels behind the ACORD 125 and carries everything an underwriter needs to rate liability: classification codes, the exposure basis and amount for each class, requested limits, and the operational detail behind the account.
When do you need an ACORD 126?
Any time general liability is being marketed — standalone GL or as part of a package or BOP-style quote. The 125 identifies the account; the 126 is what the GL underwriter actually rates from.
What is an exposure basis on the ACORD 126?
It is the unit a class code is rated on: gross sales, payroll, area in square feet, total cost, or admissions. Each classification line on the form needs the right basis and the estimated amount for the policy term, not last year's actuals unless nothing has changed.
How is ACORD 126 different from ACORD 140?
126 prices what the business does; 140 prices what the business owns. The 126 carries liability class codes and exposures, the 140 carries COPE detail and building and contents values per location.
Can PolicyFast AI prefill the ACORD 126?
Partly. Location and premises detail shared with the 125, and the operational context tied to a property address, are resolved automatically. Class codes, exposure amounts, and subcontractor answers stay with you to confirm — those come from the insured, not from public property data.