Skip to main content
1-800-252-6885
Greene & Associates Insurance
Commercial Auto Covered Auto Symbols Guide for Florida

Commercial Auto Covered Auto Symbols Explained

Your Florida guide to ISO symbols 1–9 and 19. Understanding which symbols appear on each coverage part can help prevent certificate, quote, and claim surprises.

Commercial Auto Symbols at a Glance

  • Symbols can differ by coverage part, so liability and physical damage may not apply to the same vehicles.
  • Symbol 1 is generally broad, while Symbol 7 depends on the vehicles scheduled and the policy's reporting conditions.
  • Symbols 8 and 9 matter when the business rents, borrows, hires, or has employees using personal cars for work.
  • A certificate showing a high limit is not enough if the symbol, driver, vehicle use, or contract wording is wrong.
  • Florida remains a no-fault/PIP state for currently registered vehicles; Senate Bill 522 died in committee on March 13, 2026.

The ISO (Insurance Services Office) commercial auto policy uses numbered "covered auto designation symbols" to define which vehicles are covered under each coverage section—liability, collision, comprehensive, and more. Different symbols can apply to different coverage parts of the same policy.

Understanding these symbols matters because an LLC-titled vehicle, employee-owned car, rented truck, new unit, trailer, or certificate requirement can change the answer. This guide explains the common symbols used in Florida and what to review before you assume a business auto policy covers every vehicle.

Need us to review the symbols on a quote or renewal?

Upload the vehicle schedule, driver list, current declarations, and certificate requirements through the commercial auto quote path. We will check whether the symbols match the vehicles and contracts.

Upload for Symbol Review

Symbol decoder for quote review

Match the symbol to the vehicle, coverage part, and contract before shopping the policy.

We use the schedule, declarations, driver list, and contract to shop available commercial auto markets for the best available fit and pricing. A lower premium can be the wrong answer if the symbol does not match how the business vehicles are used.

Symbol 1

Broad liability request

Ask whether the contract is asking for any-auto liability and whether the carrier is actually willing to offer it.

Symbol 7

Scheduled vehicle control

Check the listed VINs, garaging, drivers, lienholders, physical damage, and newly acquired auto reporting conditions.

Symbols 8 and 9

Hired and non-owned auto

Review rented, borrowed, and employee-owned vehicles used for errands, sales calls, deliveries, service calls, or customer visits.

Certificate request

Limits are not enough

Send the COI instructions and contract wording so our office can check symbols, AI wording, waiver requests, umbrella, and HNOA.

Quote packet: current declarations, vehicle schedule, driver roster, MVR concerns, garaging, radius, contract or certificate instructions, and any newly purchased or leased vehicles.

Upload Auto Schedule

All Commercial Auto Symbols

1

Any Auto

Generally the broadest liability symbol, intended to apply to any auto when the policy uses it for that coverage part.

Key Features:

  • Often used where the business wants broad liability wording
  • May address owned, hired, borrowed, and non-owned exposure depending on policy form
  • Usually reviewed alongside Symbols 8 and 9 for HNOA questions

Cost

Often priced as broader coverage

Best For

Businesses with changing schedules, rental/borrowed vehicle exposure, or contracts requiring broader business auto review

⚠ Risk / Note

Typically seen on liability; physical damage often uses narrower scheduled wording

2

Owned Autos Only

Covers all autos owned by the named insured, including newly acquired owned vehicles.

Key Features:

  • Can include newly acquired owned vehicles if policy conditions are met
  • Does not cover hired or non-owned autos
  • Cleaner coverage scope than Symbol 1

Cost

Often narrower than Symbol 1

Best For

Businesses that only use company-owned vehicles and don't rent or borrow

⚠ Risk / Note

Does not cover hired vehicles or employee personal cars

3

Owned Private Passenger Autos Only

Covers only owned private passenger vehicles (cars, SUVs, small pickup trucks).

Key Features:

  • Does not cover commercial vehicles like box trucks, dump trucks, or commercial tractor units
  • Very narrow scope

Cost

Often narrower; pricing depends on the policy and schedule

Best For

Rare; sometimes used for businesses with only passenger vehicle fleets (e.g., some consulting or professional service firms)

⚠ Risk / Note

Excludes any commercial-use vehicles by definition

4

Owned Autos Other Than Private Passenger

Opposite of Symbol 3—covers only owned commercial vehicles (trucks, vans, specialized equipment vehicles).

Key Features:

  • Focuses on commercial trucks and commercial-use autos
  • Does not cover private passenger vehicles

Cost

Often narrower; pricing depends on the policy and schedule

Best For

Specialized use; sometimes combined with Symbol 3 to split coverage between passenger and commercial vehicles

⚠ Risk / Note

Excludes passenger vehicles if they exist in fleet

5

Owned Autos Subject to No-Fault

Covers owned autos in states with no-fault auto insurance laws; specifically designates vehicles for PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage.

Key Features:

  • Florida-specific relevance: Florida is currently a no-fault state requiring PIP
  • Florida Senate SB 522 died in committee on March 13, 2026, so no repeal effective date should be assumed

Cost

Varies by state and coverage tier

Best For

Review when no-fault/PIP requirements apply to owned autos

⚠ Risk / Note

Future law changes could alter how this symbol is used, so current policy language matters

6

Owned Autos Subject to Compulsory Uninsured Motorist Law

ISO's generic wording for owned autos subject to compulsory UM/UIM rules; in Florida, this is mainly an offer/rejection review because UM/UIM can be rejected in writing.

Key Features:

  • Florida requires UM/UIM coverage to be offered (can be rejected in writing)
  • Worth discussing in Florida because uninsured/underinsured driver exposure can affect business vehicles

Cost

Part of overall policy cost

Best For

Businesses that want to evaluate UM/UIM alongside liability, vehicles, and drivers

⚠ Risk / Note

Rejecting UM/UIM can leave less protection against uninsured or underinsured drivers

7

Specifically Described Autos

Covers ONLY vehicles specifically listed and scheduled on your policy's declarations page.

Key Features:

  • Newly acquired vehicle coverage depends on the policy's reporting rules and conditions
  • Works best when the vehicle schedule is kept clean and current
  • Often used for physical damage on scheduled vehicles

Cost

Often narrower and schedule-based

Best For

Businesses with fixed, stable schedules and a disciplined process for adding vehicles

⚠ Risk / Note

Coverage problems can arise when new vehicles, substitutions, lienholders, or garaging changes are not reported correctly

8

Hired Autos Only

Covers vehicles rented, leased, hired, or borrowed by your business (does not cover owned vehicles).

Key Features:

  • Includes vehicles hired from employees for business use
  • Common for businesses that need occasional rental vehicles
  • Useful for employee travel and temporary vehicle needs

Cost

Moderate cost

Best For

Businesses that rent vehicles for employee travel, temporary vehicle needs, deliveries, or service calls

⚠ Risk / Note

Does not cover owned vehicles by itself and should be paired with the right owned-auto symbol when owned units exist

9

Non-Owned Autos Only

Covers vehicles NOT owned by your business but used for business purposes—typically employee personal cars.

Key Features:

  • Applies when employees use personal vehicles for business
  • Provides excess coverage after the employee's personal auto policy
  • Important to review when employees run errands, make deliveries, or visit customers in personal cars

Cost

Moderate cost; often bundled with Symbol 8

Best For

Businesses where employees drive personal vehicles for work-related errands, sales calls, deliveries, or customer visits

⚠ Risk / Note

Without the right HNOA setup, the business may have less protection than the owner expects

19

Mobile Equipment Subject to Compulsory or Financial Responsibility

Covers mobile equipment subject to motor vehicle registration and financial responsibility laws.

Key Features:

  • Examples: certain construction equipment driven on public roads (cranes, forklifts on streets)
  • Equipment-specific; requires vehicle registration

Cost

Specialized rating

Best For

Contractors, construction companies, and equipment operators in Florida

⚠ Risk / Note

Niche use; ensure your specific equipment qualifies

Common Symbol Combinations for Florida Businesses

Liability: Symbol 1 + Physical Damage: Symbol 7

A common structure: broader liability wording paired with scheduled physical damage for owned vehicles.

✓ Useful to review when the business wants broad liability but only wants physical damage on listed vehicles

Liability: Symbol 2 + Symbols 8 & 9

Owned vehicles plus hired and non-owned auto review for rentals, borrowed vehicles, and employees using personal cars.

✓ Useful for operations with stable owned vehicles plus occasional HNOA exposure

All Coverages: Symbol 1

A broad setup that may be possible for some coverage parts, but it is not automatic or necessary for every account.

✓ Review carefully for larger or frequently changing schedules where broad wording is requested

Florida-Specific Considerations

  • •Baseline auto requirements: Florida currently requires minimum property damage liability and PIP for registered motor vehicles, according to FLHSMV insurance requirements, but commercial motor vehicle, federal, lease, and contract requirements can add more. Do not use one minimum for every business vehicle.
  • •Uninsured motorist review: Florida has a high uninsured motorist rate — approximately 20.6% according to the Insurance Research Council (2023). UM/UIM should be discussed before rejecting or reducing it.
  • •Hired & Non-Owned (Symbols 8 & 9): Review this when employees drive their own cars, the business rents vehicles, or someone borrows a vehicle for work. It is especially relevant for errands, deliveries, sales calls, and customer visits.
  • •PIP repeal watch: Florida Senate SB 522 died in Banking and Insurance on March 13, 2026, so there is no enacted repeal effective date to build a commercial auto symbol recommendation around.

Frequently Asked Questions

ISO (Insurance Services Office) covered auto symbols are standardized codes (1-9 and 19) that insurance companies use to define which vehicles are covered under different parts of a commercial auto policy. Different symbols can apply to different coverage sections—for example, you might have Symbol 1 (Any Auto) for liability but Symbol 7 (Scheduled Autos) for physical damage on the same policy.
It depends on ownership, vehicle use, drivers, contracts, carrier forms, and which coverage part you are reviewing. Many businesses review broader liability symbols with narrower physical damage symbols, and Symbols 8 and 9 may matter when employees use rented, borrowed, or personal vehicles for work. The policy declarations and endorsements control the answer.
Symbol 1 is generally the broadest liability symbol available, while Symbol 7 is tied to autos specifically described on the policy schedule. The practical difference depends on the coverage part, policy wording, newly acquired auto conditions, reporting rules, and endorsements. Do not assume a certificate limit alone tells you which vehicles are covered.
Review Symbols 8 and 9 if the business rents, borrows, hires, or has employees using personal cars for work errands, deliveries, sales calls, or customer visits. These symbols do not replace the employee's own personal auto policy, and claim results still depend on facts and policy language.
A scheduled-auto setup can create a problem if a new vehicle is not reported as required by the policy. Some forms include limited newly acquired auto provisions, but the conditions and deadlines matter. The safer practice is to add vehicles before or immediately after purchase and confirm the symbol, coverage part, lienholder, garaging, and driver details.
Do not assume it does. Symbol 1 is generally reviewed in connection with business auto liability, and personal use, permissive use, employee use, and physical damage all depend on the named insured, policy form, endorsements, and facts of the loss. Physical damage is often scheduled more narrowly, commonly with Symbol 7.
Florida remains a no-fault/PIP state for currently registered vehicles. Florida Senate SB 522, a 2026 bill that would have repealed no-fault provisions, died in Banking and Insurance on March 13, 2026. Symbol 5 can still be relevant where no-fault/PIP applies, but the policy form and vehicle details should be reviewed before assuming how it applies.
Contractors and truckers should review owned, hired, non-owned, scheduled, and mobile-equipment exposures separately. A local contractor with service vans may not need the same setup as a for-hire motor carrier, and regulated trucking can involve filings, cargo, trailer, and federal financial-responsibility questions.

Related Resources

Commercial Auto Insurance

Florida commercial auto coverage options and requirements

Hired and Non-Owned Auto

Florida HNOA guide for employee personal cars, rented vehicles, borrowed vehicles, contracts, certificates, and symbols 8/9.

Commercial Auto Contract Requirements

COIs, additional insured wording, waivers, HNOA, umbrella, contract auto symbols, and certificate request review.

Commercial vs Personal Auto

When you need a commercial policy vs personal auto

Fleet & Transportation Insurance

Specialized coverage for commercial fleets in Florida

Commercial Auto Insurance Cost

What Florida commercial auto insurance costs depend on

Get Your Commercial Auto Quote

Upload your schedule, declarations, driver list, and certificate requirements. We will compare commercial auto markets and check whether the symbols match how your vehicles are actually used.

Upload Schedule for Review 1-800-252-6885