Acord Form Processing: All You Need to Know

ACORD stands for the Association for Operations Research and Development. It is an international non-profit organization created in the 1970s by a group of companies that realized the need to standardize insurance forms.ACORD aims to get rid of confusing procedures and help the insurance industry reduce clutter from their functions. 

The ACORD certificate of insurance is a standardized document that proves insurance coverage. It has been adopted by insurers around the world, including 90% of casualty and property insurers in the US. These forms carry a tangible method of data acquisition and records that are universal to all agencies. They also serve as a resource for object technology, eCommerce, EDI, XML, etc., in the United States and around the world.

Acord Forms

After publishing the first paper form in 1971, ACORD has paved the way for standard forms throughout the insurance industry. These forms are now available in multiple formats, including PDF, electronic fillables, and eForms. 

These forms, along with the certificate of insurance, summarize essential information regarding different insurance policies. They cover aspects like coverage type, policy number and information, insurance limits, expiration dates, and related information.

There are several types of Acord forms, each with its own specifications and functions. Let’s have a look at them one by one:- 

Acord 25

Acord 25 is known as the Certificate of Liability Insurance. It represents the contractual agreements between clients and insurance agencies. It also holds information about all parties listed on the policy. 

Acord Form 25 is required when one party needs to hold a certain amount of insurance coverage for the transaction to occur. It helps in settling insurance-related disputes, ensuring legal security, and elevating the chances of successful collaboration. It covers:-

• Producer details
• Insured details
• General liability
• Automobile liability
• Excess/Umbrella liability
• Workers’ compensation and employer’s liability
• Cancellation information

The form itself is just part of the process of ensuring that the terms of a liability insurance agreement are properly understood by all parties involved, especially clients.

For example, people taking out cover for their vehicle need to know everything about liability car insurance so that they are aware of their obligations in the case of making a claim.Documentation and paperwork will go a long way to defining roles and removing ambiguity, of course. But good insurers will go the extra mile to explain complex terms and concepts, both to avoid confusion and to boost customer retention rates.

Acord 26

Acord 26 or the Policy Certification Log is used to keep a hard copy or manual record of soft copies related to all certifications issued for a single insured. This form summarizes information contained in a few other forms and identifies key aspects during renewals.

It is used along with Acord 24, 25, 27, and 28. It has a combination of all information related to:-

• Insured and insurer information
• Identification section
• Certificates/Evidence
• Expiry information

Acord 27

Acord 27 covers Evidence of Property Insurance and provides a coverage statement for mortgages and loss payees. It is important for people who provide mortgages or loans on residential properties, small commercial properties, or personal property.

This single-page form is used to provide proof of coverage to interested property buyers. It has:-

• Agency and insured information
• Property information
• Coverage information
• Remarks
• Additional interest

Acord 28

Acord 28 is for Evidence of Commercial Property Insurance. It holds information related to the coverage statement for mortgages, additional insureds, and loss payees. This is for payees who provide loans or mortgages on business or personal property insured and named under the Commercial Lines policy.

It covers aspects like:-

• Identification section
• Property information
• Coverage information
• Remarks
• Additional interest

Acord 80

Acord 80 is the Homeowner Application. It is used in the underwriting process for the homeowners. It records the coverage amount the insured should receive in case any unfortunate event happens at home.

This form covers information related to:-

• Identification section
• Status of transaction
• Applicant information
• Coverages/Limits of liability
• Deductibles
• Forms and endorsements
• Payment plan
• Rating/Underwriting
• Location schedule
• Prior coverage
• Loss history
• Optional coverages - Endorsements
• General information
• Additional interest
• Attachments
• Remarks

Acord 90

Acord 90 is for Personal Auto Application. It covers all vehicle-related information required to apply for household auto insurance.

The information required for this form may include:

• Agency and applicant information
• Billing and payment plan
• Residence
• Garage location
• Vehicle description/use
• Coverage/premiums
• Driver information
• Accidents/convictions
• Additional interest
• Employment information
• Prior coverage
• General information

Acord 125

Acord 125 is for Commercial Insurance Application. This form records general information about clients and is used in almost every commercial insurance policy. It covers business location, contact details, prior insurance coverage, loss history, description, and other such information. 

Some segments of the form include:-

• Agency information
• Carrier information
• Status of transaction
• Lines of business
• Policy information
• Applicant information
• Contact information
• Premises information
• Nature of business
• Additional interests
• General information
• Prior carrier information
• Loss history

Acord 126

Commonly known as the Commercial General Liability Section, the Acord 126 form records client information and can be used in combination with Acord 125 while creating a carrier submission.

This application covers the insured’s liability exposure, loss history, and business operation details. Some of its sections are:-

• Agency and Insured information
• Coverage and Limits
• Schedule of hazards
• Claims made
• Employee benefits liability
• Contractors
• Products and completed operations
• Additional interests or Certificate recipient
• General information

Acord 127

Commonly known as the Business Auto Section, this Acord 127 records general client information, including data related to driver lists, vehicle schedules, and business operations. 

This form is used by almost all commercial auto policy providers; hence it is important to know and fill out. It asks for the following information:

• Agency and carrier information
• Driver information
• Acord 163 for additional driver information
• General information
• Additional interest/Certificate recipient
• Vehicle description 

Acord 130

Acord 130 or the Workers Compensation Application is used to cover policy information specific to the needs of rating workers’ compensation, including payroll, loss history, and other business operations.

It covers the following information:-

• Status of submission
• Billing/Audit information
• Locations
• Policy information
• Contact information
• Individuals included/excluded
• State rating worksheet
• Premium
• Prior carrier information and loss history
• Nature of business
• General information

Acord 131

Acord 131 or Umbrella/Excess Section captures data about a liability coverage that affords high limit excess and/or extended coverage. This policy is separate from other basic liability policies that the insured might possess.

A completed Umbrella/Excess application includes the Applicant Information Section, Acord 125 and Acord 131. Many companies prefer to separate the applications for rating purposes. Ideally, it should contain:-

• Identification section
• Policy information
• Employee benefits liability
• Primary and location subsidiaries
• Underlying insurance
• Care, custody, control
• Vehicles
• Additional exposures
• Remarks

Acord 140

Acord 140 is for the Property Section. It is designed to cover the basic underwriting and rating needs for commercial properties. It is generally filed along with the Applicant Information Section in Acord 125.

Acord 140 records specific property information, like the insured’s business locations, property values, and other property details. It has the following sections:-

• Agency and insured information
• Premises information
• Additional coverage
• Additional interest
• Additional premises information

Steps to Automate Acord Form Processing

It is difficult to keep track of all the forms involved in insurance processing. Since all the data needs to be recorded digitally today, processing Acord forms manually becomes even more difficult.

It also decreases the efficiency of the workplace and compromises the accuracy rate of the information. Hence, a company that can automate this process naturally becomes better at managing the whole process.

The ACORD index runs for 13 pages, with many of them having over 80 forms. Some of them are accepted throughout the United States and some of them are state-specific. 

Keeping all these details in mind can become confusing. To avoid that, you can automate Acord form processing by converting any form to Excel or JSON format. This introduces uniformity and makes standardization easier.

Docsumo offers you the ease of uploading forms and processing them automatically. All you have to do is follow these steps.

1. Upload Documents

Sign up to Docsumo and get access to over 50 free document processing. With a simple click, you can upload documents to the portal. They can also be dragged from your email or local drive. The supported document types are image or PDF.

2. Edit Fields

We use a combination of neural networks and reverse image searches to provide edit options. You can extract entries directly by OCR or add them manually to the form. Once all the fields are edited and customized according to your requirements, you can move on to the next step.

3. Validate Fields

To increase accuracy in value extraction, Docsumo assigns the correct data type through Advanced Deep Learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing.

The data is then approved and extracted to be consumed directly by other software or APIs. If any field has errors in the data format or entry, it will be flagged as invalid.

4. Review and Approve Suggestions

Once you validate fields, Docsumo extracts data and flags the errors, if any. You can review these suggestions and choose to accept or reject them. After reviewing all suggestions and correcting whichever necessary, you can click ‘Approve’ to save the file.

5. Download CSV/Excel/JSON

You can download the extracted data in CSV,Excel, or JSON formats. Excel helps in better analysis of local data, whereas JSON is the choice of format for sending the data to other software or databases. 

With Docsumo, you can process multiple documents in the same template. You can also create your own document type to abide by the structure of choice for yourself or your business. 

Conclusion

With so many insurance agencies requiring multiple Acord forms for each policy, keeping track of all the paperwork is tedious. With our automated software, you can map these forms and reduce workload by a great deal. So, go paperless in just a few steps and track all your insurance information efficiently.

Get Docsumo today!