CG 00 01 is the ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form, the base document at the heart of most general liability policies sold in the United States. It promises to pay sums the insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of bodily injury, property damage, or personal and advertising injury, and it obligates the insurer to defend the insured against covered suits.
If your business carries general liability insurance, this form or a close carrier variation of it is almost certainly what you bought. Every endorsement a contract asks for, from CG 20 10 to CG 20 01, works by amending this base form, so understanding its structure is the starting point for understanding any GL requirement.
What does CG 00 01 cover?
Section I of the form contains three separate coverage parts, and each responds to a different kind of loss. Coverage A handles the classic liability claims, the customer who trips over a loose floor tile or the water line your crew ruptures at a neighbor's property.
Coverage B handles a set of specifically listed offenses like libel, slander, wrongful eviction, and advertising injury, which are intentional acts rather than accidents. Coverage C pays medical expenses for people injured on your premises or by your operations regardless of fault, which lets insurers resolve small injuries quickly before they become lawsuits. Here is how the three parts divide the work:
| Coverage part | What it pays for | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage A | Bodily injury and property damage the insured is legally obligated to pay | An occurrence during the policy period |
| Coverage B | Personal and advertising injury from listed offenses such as libel, slander, and wrongful eviction | An offense committed during the policy period |
| Coverage C | Medical expenses for injuries on your premises or from your operations | Injury without regard to fault |
An occurrence is defined in the form as an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions. That definition matters because Coverage A only responds when an occurrence happens, and disputes over when damage occurred can decide which policy year pays. For a deeper look at what falls inside and outside these coverage parts, see what general liability insurance covers, and for a section-by-section walkthrough of the form's architecture, see how the CG 00 01 coverage form works.
Who is an insured under CG 00 01?
Section II grants insured status automatically, and who gets it depends on the named insured's entity type. A sole proprietor's spouse is covered for conduct of the business, partners and their spouses are covered in a partnership, members and managers are covered in an LLC, and directors, executive officers, and stockholders are covered in a corporation within their roles.
Employees and volunteer workers are automatic insureds for acts within the scope of their duties, though the form carves out injuries they cause to co-workers, which is a workers compensation exposure rather than a GL one.
The form also extends named insured status to organizations you newly acquire or form, other than partnerships, joint ventures, and LLCs, but only until the ninetieth day after acquisition or the end of the policy period, whichever comes first. No person or organization is insured for the conduct of any current or past partnership, joint venture, or LLC that is not shown as a named insured in the declarations, and that gap catches businesses that restructure without telling their agent.
How is CG 00 01 different from a claims-made policy?
CG 00 01 is the occurrence version of the CGL form, which means coverage attaches to injury or damage that happens during the policy period even if the claim arrives years later. Its sibling form, CG 00 02, is the claims-made version, which responds based on when the claim is first made against the insured.
Most businesses buy the occurrence form, while claims-made appears in harder-to-place classes and professional lines. The distinction changes how long you stay protected after a policy ends, which is worth understanding before you switch carriers, and our guide to occurrence versus claims-made policies walks through it.
The insuring agreement in either version gives the insurer the right to investigate and settle any claim or suit as it sees fit within the limits. There is no consent-to-settle provision, so the insurer does not need your permission to resolve a claim, which surprises insureds who want to fight a suit on principle.
How do endorsements change the form?
The unendorsed coverage form protects the named insured and the automatic insureds, and everything a contract asks for beyond that arrives by endorsement. Additional insured endorsements like CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 amend Section II to protect upstream parties for your ongoing and completed operations. CG 20 01 amends the Other Insurance condition in Section IV so your coverage applies first when a written contract requires it.
Exclusion endorsements work in the other direction and remove coverage the base form would otherwise grant, so reading the endorsement schedule is as important as reading the form itself. Our overview of additional insured endorsements covers the most commonly requested ones.
Where can you see the actual form?
Menlo does not host ISO forms because they are copyrighted by Insurance Services Office, Inc. You can read the real text through your own policy, which attaches the coverage form and every endorsement issued on it, or by asking your broker for the specimen your carrier files. Regulator-approved filings are also publicly viewable through SERFF Filing Access, the state filing system, though the forms there remain copyrighted and are for reading, not copying.
Frequently asked questions
Is CG 00 01 the same thing as general liability insurance?
Effectively yes for most buyers. CG 00 01 is the standardized ISO coverage form that most carriers use as the foundation of a commercial general liability policy. Some insurers file their own proprietary versions, but those track the ISO structure closely, and contract requirements are written with the ISO form in mind.
What is the difference between CG 00 01 and CG 00 02?
CG 00 01 is the occurrence form and CG 00 02 is the claims-made form. The occurrence version covers injury or damage that happens during the policy period regardless of when the claim is made, while the claims-made version responds based on when the claim is first brought against the insured.
Does CG 00 01 cover my employees?
Employees and volunteer workers are automatic insureds for acts within the scope of their employment or duties. They are not insured for injuries they cause to co-workers or to the named insured, because that exposure belongs to workers compensation rather than general liability.
Can my insurer settle a claim without my approval?
Yes. The insuring agreement lets the insurer investigate and settle any claim or suit as it sees fit up to the available limits. The occurrence form contains no consent-to-settle provision, so the insurer has full authority to negotiate on your behalf.
This guide is for educational purposes and summarizes standard ISO policy language in Menlo's own words. Form numbers and titles are cited for identification only, and Menlo Insurance Services is not affiliated with Insurance Services Office, Inc. Your policy's specific terms, conditions, and endorsements control. Talk to a licensed broker about your actual exposures.