Scheduled autos vs "any auto" coverage

Each coverage on the declarations page usually has one or more numbers beside it. Those numbers are the covered auto symbols, and they generally decide which vehicles that coverage applies to. A policy might show 7, 8, 9 next to liability, 7 next to physical damage and 7 next to uninsured motorist: a scheduled policy with hired and non-owned liability. The Department of Insurance's commercial guide describes the same numbered system, running from 1 to 13, and California's auto insurance statute generally requires a policy to identify the vehicles or class of vehicles it covers, by description or by reference, which is the job the symbols do.

• 1: any auto (liability only).
• 2: all owned autos.
• 4: owned autos other than private passenger autos.
• 7: specifically described autos, the ones listed on the schedule.
• 8: hired autos.
• 9: non-owned autos.

Symbols 2 and 4 sit between the two: They generally cover the vehicles the business owns, including new ones, without reaching vehicles it doesn't own. For how limits attach to whichever symbols you carry, see how much auto liability a fleet needs.

This is often where the choice matters most. Under a scheduled policy, a truck bought mid-term is generally covered only if the policy's conditions for newly acquired autos are met. Those typically require that the carrier already insures all your owned vehicles for that coverage, or that the new one replaces a covered vehicle, and that you report it within the window the policy sets.

Miss those conditions, and a new truck can be on the road without liability or physical damage coverage. Some fleets carry physical damage on symbol 2 or 4 instead of 7, which generally reaches newly owned trucks as they're acquired, though carriers still expect prompt reporting and charge for each unit. Either way, call before a vehicle goes into service, whatever symbols you carry. Similar rules usually apply to a trailer bought mid-term; see insurance for work trailers. Growing fleets tend to feel this most, as insurance for a growing fleet explains.

Some public agencies and large general contractors write "any auto" or "symbol 1" into their insurance requirements. A scheduled policy with 8 and 9 added usually covers the same situations in practice, and many contract administrators accept it, but some won't. Send us the requirement before you bid, so we can tell you whether your current symbols are likely to satisfy it or whether you need a carrier willing to offer symbol 1.

Carriers tend to offer symbol 1 to fleets with steady loss records and good controls, such as the ones described in our guide to fleet safety measures underwriters often credit.