Standard Policy (ISO Forms)

Overview

A standard policy is an insurance policy written on forms developed and maintained by a rating organization — most commonly the Insurance Services Office (ISO) in the United States. These standardized forms provide uniform coverage language that is consistent across carriers, well-tested in courts, and widely understood by the insurance industry. The vast majority of commercial insurance policies in the U.S. are based on ISO forms or similar standard templates.

How It Works

ISO develops and publishes policy forms for nearly every type of commercial insurance, including:

• CG 00 01: Commercial General Liability occurrence form
• CG 00 02: Commercial General Liability claims-made form
• CA 00 01: Business Auto Coverage form
• CP 00 10: Building and Personal Property Coverage form
• WC 00 00 00: Workers' Compensation and Employers Liability form

Each form has a specific edition date (e.g., CG 00 01 04/13 is the April 2013 edition). Edition dates matter because coverage terms can change between editions. Carriers file these forms with state regulators, who approve them for use.

Standard policies are customized through endorsements — supplemental forms that add, remove, or modify coverage. For example, an additional insured endorsement (CG 20 10) modifies the standard CGL form to extend coverage to a third party.

The benefits of standard forms include:

• Predictability: Coverage language is well-known and court-tested
• Comparability: Policies from different carriers using the same ISO form provide equivalent base coverage
• Efficient review: Compliance teams can quickly identify coverage scope by referencing the form number

Compliance Relevance

Standard policies are the foundation of efficient COI compliance:

• Form identification: When a COI references an ISO form number, compliance reviewers can quickly understand the scope of coverage without reviewing the full policy
• Endorsement verification: Standard endorsement numbers (CG 20 10, CG 20 37, CG 24 04) allow reviewers to confirm specific coverage features are attached
• Edition date awareness: Different editions of the same form may have different coverage terms — compliance teams should know which editions meet their requirements
• Carrier modifications: Some carriers use proprietary forms that are similar to but not identical to ISO forms. These require closer review to confirm equivalent coverage.

Compliance platforms should maintain a reference database of standard ISO form numbers and their key coverage features to enable automated form verification against contract requirements.