Insurance Law Lesson 11: The Declarations Page

If an insurance policy is a book, the declarations page (affectionately referred to as the “dec” page) is the cliff notes.

Most dec pages include the following info:

-The type of policy (auto, CGL, workers comp, employers liability, E&O, D&O, cyber liability, commercial property, homeowners, etc)

-The named insured and address

-Name of the insurance company

-Name of the insurance agent (if any)

-The policy period

-The policy limits

-The premium charged

-Deductible(s)

Many insurance companies also list all of the policy forms in the dec page. Others include a separate form called the “schedule of forms.”

Dec pages can change within a policy period. For example, if you decide you need higher limits, add a driver, sell a property, change your deductible – those will result in changes to the dec page. So, it is important to always confirm that you are looking at the correct dec page.

If you are looking over your current coverage, then you look at the most recent dec. But, if you are looking at what coverage was effective when a loss occurred, you might need to flip through a few to get to the dec page that was current at that time.

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