Commercial Insurance Business Owners Policy (BOP) Commercial Auto Commercial Flood Commercial Property Commercial Umbrella Data Breach Directors & Officers (D&O) Employment Practices Liability Environmental - Pollution Liability General Liability Product Liability Professional Liability (E&O) Workers Comp Personal Insurance

Commercial Insurance Business Owners Policy (BOP) Commercial Auto Commercial Flood Commercial Property Commercial Umbrella Data Breach Directors & Officers (D&O) Employment Practices Liability Environmental - Pollution Liability General Liability Product Liability Professional Liability (E&O) Workers Comp Personal Insurance

General liability classification codes are numbers that insurance companies use to put businesses into categories of risk. These ISO CGL codes help commercial insurers to underwrite & match premiums with exposures – which are used to determine your rates.

GL Class Codes

So what are general liability classification codes? The GL class codes are assigned to your business can have a huge impact on your insurance cost. Insurance companies assign you a code based on your industry - with the assumption that different types of businesses are vulnerable to various kinds and degrees of risk.

General liability classification codes allow insurers to group customers based on the type of work being performed. Over time the collect data that allows them to rate the business properly.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) who created the codes says the codes were created, “to group insureds into classifications so that the rate for each classification reflects the hazards common to those insureds.” The ISO classification system starts with a 5-digit code that describes the industry of the insured.
If your commercial general liability insurance rates seem too high, or you recently changed the duties of your business (like going from a contractor to consultant), you should check to see if your insurance company has assigned you the correct class code for your operations.
According to International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), “Properly classifying all of the business operations of an insured is no easy task. A great deal of underwriting judgment may be required. And, it should go without saying that every business does not fall fully or completely within a classification or classifications.”
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How General Liability Class Codes Are Used

Each of the general liability classification codes has a different premium basis. A computer data processor (ISO CGL Code 43151) is has less risk of bodily injury or property damage, where a roofer doing work over three stories (ISO CGL Code 98677) is more likely to cause damage or injury. Since each of these industries faces different risk exposures, they need different classifications.
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General Liability Insurance Information

For more info including coverages and cost you can check out this article on: General Liability Insurance.

Further Reading On Commercial General Liability Insurance

Different States General Liability Classification Codes

If you are looking for state specific General Liability Classification Codes quotes, costs and information:

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