What is the difference between the ACORD 125 and the ACORD 126?

The 125 describes the business and what coverage it wants; the 126 is the general liability section that attaches to it, with the class codes, the premium basis and the liability questions. A submission for general liability carries both. A submission for workers compensation carries the 125 and the 130 instead.

Which edition of the ACORD 125 is current?

ACORD revises its forms and prints the edition date in the form footer. The agent's management system holds the current edition, and a carrier will accept a recent one. A fillable copy downloaded from a random site is often several editions old.

How long does the ACORD 125 take to complete?

With the documents to hand, twenty minutes of conversation. The slow part is never the form; it is waiting on loss runs from the current insurer and a payroll or sales figure from the bookkeeper. Start those before the form.

A commercial insurance application on a dark desk, the first page uppermost with its business information fields, a fountain pen across it and a leather binder of company documents beside it

What does the ACORD 125 commercial insurance application ask for?

The ACORD 125 is the front page of every commercial submission. It asks who the business is (legal name, entity type, FEIN, addresses, years in business, a description of what you do), what you are asking for (the lines of coverage and the proposed dates), where you operate (each premises with its ownership and occupancy), who insured you before and at what price, and whether you have had claims in the last five years. It is four pages, and most of the rating happens on the section forms and supplements that attach to it.

Call/Text(626) 344-2158

Page one on top. Pen across it. Binder closed.Four pages that say who you are. The price is decided on the pages that follow.

/ Start here

Fill the 125 with us.

The questions above, asked once, in plain English, by a licensed agent.

Fill the 125 with us

/ Don’t want to read all this?

Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.

Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.

Have it reviewed Call/Text(626) 344-2158

The detail

The ACORD 125 captures the named insured, mailing address, FEIN, entity type, premises, nature of business, prior carrier and a loss-history summary, in four pages of fields.
Insurance Pro Agencies, "ACORD 125 Commercial Insurance Application: Complete Agent Guide (2026)"
The lines-of-business block on the 125 lists the coverages requested, such as general liability, property, crime, business auto and umbrella, and which boxes are ticked decides which section forms the submission needs.
Total CSR, "How to Complete the ACORD 125 Commercial Insurance Application"
The policy information block asks for the proposed effective and expiration dates, who is billed for the premium and the payment plan chosen.
Total CSR, "How to Complete the ACORD 125 Commercial Insurance Application"
Every ACORD 125 carries state fraud statements, a signature block for the applicant and a producer attestation, so the applicant signs to the accuracy of the answers.
Insurance Pro Agencies, "ACORD 125 Commercial Insurance Application: Complete Agent Guide (2026)"
Across the 237 applications this agency has read, the facts asked on the 125 (legal entity, FEIN, years in business, locations, prior carrier, five-year claims) are asked again on 9 of every 10 carrier supplements, which is why a wrong answer on the 125 tends to be repeated everywhere.
Boring Insurance question bank, 237 applications read, measured 2026-09-25

What this means for you

Get the legal name and entity right the first time.The name on the 125 is the name on the policy, the certificate and the claim check. "ABC Construction" when the entity is ABC Construction Group LLC is a coverage argument waiting to happen.
The FEIN is nine digits and nobody says the dash.Carriers match the account on it, comp filings depend on it, and a mistyped one causes quiet damage months later. Read it off the IRS letter rather than from memory.
Five years of claims, not "none that I remember".The loss summary is checked against your prior carrier's loss runs. A claim you forgot reads as a claim you hid. Ask your current insurer for the loss runs before the application is filled.

Go deeper on any of these

Need this handled?

Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.