ACORD 303 (Excess/Umbrella Supplement)
An ACORD supplement providing detailed underlying policy information for excess and umbrella liability submissions.
What It Is
The ACORD 303 is a detailed supplement form used in conjunction with the ACORD 160 for excess and umbrella liability submissions. While the ACORD 160 captures the general umbrella application information, the ACORD 303 provides a structured format for documenting each underlying policy in the coverage tower.
The form captures each underlying carrier's name, A.M. Best rating, policy number, coverage form, limits, and attachment point. For layered excess programs with multiple carriers, the ACORD 303 documents the complete tower from primary through the highest excess layer.
This form is essential for large commercial and habitational risks where the coverage tower may include 5-10 or more layers of excess coverage.
Why It Matters for Brokers
Excess and umbrella carriers must understand the complete coverage tower to price their layer appropriately and ensure no gaps exist between layers. The ACORD 303 provides this transparency in a standardized format. Brokers handling large property or casualty programs with multiple excess layers use the ACORD 303 to ensure every carrier in the tower has complete information about the layers above and below them. This coordination is critical for avoiding gaps in coverage. Accurate ACORD form completion reduces back-and-forth with carriers and accelerates the quoting and binding process significantly.
Real-World Example
A real estate portfolio with $100M in total asset value needs a casualty tower with $1M primary CGL, $10M first excess, $15M second excess, and $25M third excess. The broker completes the ACORD 303 documenting each carrier, their policy numbers, attachment points, and limits. The third excess carrier uses this information to confirm that $26M of limits sit below their $25M layer, verifying no gaps exist.
Common Mistakes
- 1Not updating the ACORD 303 when carriers or limits change in the underlying tower, leaving higher-layer carriers with outdated information.
- 2Failing to document the A.M. Best ratings of underlying carriers, which excess carriers evaluate as part of their credit risk assessment.
- 3Not identifying gaps between layers where one carrier's limits end below where the next carrier's attachment begins.
How brokerageaudit.com Handles This
BrokerageAudit automatically generates the ACORD 303 from policy data in the system, ensuring the complete coverage tower is documented accurately. The platform flags gaps between layers and carrier rating changes that affect the tower structure.