The commercial insurance intake process is the sequence of steps from first contact with a prospective commercial client to a completed submission ready for underwriters. Most delays, AI requests, and submission errors originate in a broken intake process — not in the ACORD forms themselves. A well-designed intake process makes the rest of the submission workflow nearly automatic.
1. Discovery
First contact with the prospect. Goal: understand what lines of coverage are needed and identify any obvious underwriting issues (prior losses, specialty operations, high-hazard class codes). This is the qualifying stage — not the data-collection stage. Do not try to collect complete ACORD information during a discovery call.
2. Intake data collection
Send the client a structured intake link or form that captures every field the submission requires. This should happen before any ACORD forms are touched. The intake form must capture: legal business name, DBA, FEIN, entity type, address, operations description, years in business, revenue, payroll, number of employees, prior carrier, and prior loss history. Industry-specific questions (subcontractor cost for contractors, seating capacity for restaurants, number of vehicles for fleets) should be included based on the client's business type.
3. Loss run collection
Order or request loss runs from the prior carrier. This step is commonly skipped or delayed — do not wait until forms are complete to request loss runs. Request them as soon as the prospect agrees to provide them, typically immediately after the discovery call.
4. Form completion
Complete ACORD forms from the structured intake data. With complete intake, ACORD 125, 126, and 130 completion should take under 15 minutes for most standard commercial accounts. The description of operations field should be expanded with industry-specific detail beyond what the client provided.
5. Submission assembly
Organize the complete submission package: ACORD forms, loss runs, prior dec page, supplemental applications, and a submission cover note or summary for the underwriter. Submit to selected markets with a specific target coverage structure and limit request.
General Liability
Annual gross revenue, operations description, subcontractor usage and cost, premises square footage, prior losses
Workers Compensation
Annual payroll by job function / WC class code, number of employees, states of operation, EMR (experience modification rate)
Commercial Property
Building replacement cost (not market value), construction type, year built, square footage, sprinkler status, business personal property value
Commercial Auto
Number and type of vehicles, drivers' names and license numbers, MVRs, annual mileage estimates, radius of operation
Professional Liability
Services provided, annual fee revenue, prior claims history, retroactive date of current E&O policy
✕Collecting intake information verbally during a discovery call instead of using a structured form — verbal intake produces incomplete and inconsistently formatted data
✕Not requesting loss runs at the time of the discovery call — loss runs take 3–10 days to receive and delaying the request delays the entire submission
✕Skipping the operations description and leaving it for the ACORD form — the operations field requires the most care and should be drafted from detailed intake responses, not invented at the last minute
✕Not separating discovery from data collection — agents who try to qualify the prospect and collect all ACORD data in one call typically end up with neither done well
✕Using intake information that is more than 90 days old for renewals — revenue, payroll, and headcount change; submitting stale figures creates rating problems after audit
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