CASUALTY TYPES & BONDS · 5 MIN READ

Commercial Auto: BAP, Garage, and Trucking Forms

Commercial auto coverage is built around the Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01) and its covered-auto symbol system. In Item Two of the declarations, the insured assigns a numeric symbol to each coverage separately: Symbol 1 (Any Auto) is the broadest and is typically used for Liability; Symbol 7 restricts a coverage to specifically described autos and is common for Physical Damage; Symbol 8 covers hired autos only and Symbol 9 covers non-owned autos. A vehicle is a covered auto only for the coverages whose assigned symbol embraces it, so one policy can cover any auto for liability while insuring only scheduled autos for physical damage. The Hired and Non-Owned Auto (HNOA) exposure, Drive Other Car (CA 99 10), and broadened pollution (CA 99 48) endorsements extend the base form. Auto businesses use their own forms. The Garage Coverage Form (CA 00 05) serves repair shops, service stations, and parking operations, using a parallel symbol series from 21 through 31 — Symbol 21 is any auto for liability, Symbol 30 designates customers' autos for garagekeepers coverage. The Auto Dealers Coverage Form (CA 00 25) serves franchised and independent dealers holding inventory, adding dealers physical damage for stock, loaner and demo exposure, and garagekeepers. Garagekeepers coverage itself — protection for customers' vehicles in the insured's care — comes in three options: legal liability (pays only if the garage is legally liable), direct primary (pays regardless of liability), and direct excess (pays over the customer's own insurance without regard to liability). Trucking exposures use the Truckers form (CA 00 12) and Motor Carriers form (CA 00 20). The MCS-90 endorsement is a federal financial-responsibility guarantee for motor carriers, not true insurance coverage — it assures the public that minimum judgments will be paid but preserves the insurer's reimbursement rights. When an owner-operator leased to a carrier drives the tractor for personal use after dropping the trailer, the carrier's policy typically excludes that leg; Bobtail/Non-Trucking Liability coverage fills the gap. Trailer Interchange (CA 99 02) covers physical damage to non-owned trailers in the insured's possession under an interchange agreement.