ACORD 36: The Agent/Broker of Record Change Form

ACORD 36 at a glance

Form number	ACORD 36
Title	Agent/Broker of Record Change
Current edition	2007/01
What it does	Notifies the insurer that a new producer is the insured's exclusive representative for the policies listed
Who signs	The insured
Sent to	The insurance company that issued the policies

How to fill out the ACORD 36

1. Date the form is completed.
2. New agency: your agency's name, address, phone, fax and email, plus the code and subcode the carrier assigned you and your agency customer ID.
3. Insurance company: the legal name of the company that issued the policy, as it appears on the policy. The field guide is explicit that this is not the group or trade name.
4. Current agency and current producer: who the carrier has on file today.
5. Policies: up to seven rows of named insured, policy number, effective date, expiration date and line of business. Copy the policy number exactly, prefix and suffix included.
6. Producer, code and effective date: the agency being named, and the date the authorization takes effect.
7. Insured's signature, date, title and company name (if signing for a business), and the insured's address.

Check the details before you send it: the issuing company's legal name rather than its group name, the full policy number, and a signature from someone who can sign for the insured.

ACORD 36 or a letter on the insured's letterhead

Carriers do not agree on format. One wholesaler's published broker of record guidelines accept a BOR "printed on employer's letterhead or on ACORD 36". Another carrier requires the letter on the policyholder's letterhead and does not mention the ACORD 36. Before you send anything, check the carrier's or wholesaler's BOR guidelines.

What happens after you send it

Carriers commonly notify the incumbent agent and allow a short window, often called the countermand or rescission period, in which the incumbent can return a letter from the insured reversing the change. There is no standard length. One wholesaler publishes five business days; the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas describe five to ten. Asking to waive the window in your BOR may not help: one wholesaler's guidelines say a waiver in the BOR does not relieve it of giving the incumbent that period, and another carrier says only the incumbent broker can waive it.

Why your loss run request stalls until the BOR clears

Carriers release loss runs to the agent of record or to the named insured, not to a prospective agent. During the countermand window, at least one wholesaler's guidelines say only the original broker and the named insured have access to underwriting information. A loss run request sent before the change clears is likely to be refused or simply not answered. No ACORD 611 or request letter will change that.

Two ways to keep the account moving:

• Have the insured request their own loss runs and forward them. The carrier will release them to the named insured. Our request letter generator writes that letter in seconds for any carrier, and the insured can send it themselves.
• Send the BOR early, so the window has closed before you need currently valued loss runs for the submission.

Once you are agent of record, see how to get loss runs and the carrier directory for each carrier's request route.

ACORD 36 vs. ACORD 35 vs. ACORD 611

Form	Title	Use
ACORD 36	Agent/Broker of Record Change	Move servicing to a new producer; the policy stays in force
ACORD 35	Cancellation Request / Policy Release	End the policy
ACORD 611	Claims History / Loss Run Request	Request claims history, once you are entitled to it

If the client wants a new agent but is happy with the policy, the 36 is the form: it changes who services the policy without cancelling it.

Where to get the ACORD 36

ACORD forms are copyrighted and cannot be redistributed, so we do not host a copy. Use one of:

• ACORD.org: requires an ACORD account, free for member agencies
• Your agency management system's ACORD forms library
• The carrier's agent portal