ACORD Forms
ACORD 141: Crime Section
The ACORD 141 is the crime section of the commercial application. It attaches to the ACORD 125 and carries what a crime underwriter needs: the coverages requested, who handles money and securities, and what controls exist to keep employees and outsiders honest. The form is marked to attach to the applicant information section, so it never goes out alone.
What it is
The ACORD 141 is the crime section of the commercial application. It attaches to the ACORD 125 and carries what a crime underwriter needs: the coverages requested, who handles money and securities, and what controls exist to keep employees and outsiders honest. The form is marked to attach to the applicant information section, so it never goes out alone.
Crime is a controls line. The premium and the appetite ride on the audit and countersignature answers as much as on the limits, so the internal controls block deserves the same attention as the coverage schedule. Optimistic answers there become part of the application the carrier relied on.
When it's used
- Commercial submissions that include crime coverage: employee theft or dishonesty, forgery or alteration, computer fraud, or money and securities.
- Remarketing an account whose package includes crime, where the new carrier wants a full ACORD application.
- Accounts with ERISA plan assets, since fidelity coverage for people handling plan assets is addressed on this form.
Section-by-section walkthrough
Coverage schedule
The crime coverages requested with limits and deductibles, and whether the basis is discovery or loss sustained. The schedule spans employee dishonesty, forgery or alteration, computer fraud, premises coverage for money and securities, and robbery and safe burglary.
Watch for: Requesting limits with no basis marked. Discovery and loss sustained are different triggers and the underwriter needs to know which one is wanted.
Employee classification
The positions and locations of officers and employees who handle or have custody of money, securities, or other property, with counts by classification.
Watch for: Headcounts that disagree with the payroll picture elsewhere in the submission. Employee counts are ratable exposure on dishonesty coverage.
ERISA and plan assets
Details on employee benefit plan assets and who handles them, for fidelity coverage tied to ERISA obligations.
Watch for: Skipping it because the account has a 401(k) through a provider. The question is who at the insured touches plan assets.
Internal controls
The audit and controls questions: who audits and how often, whether bank accounts are reconciled by someone without deposit or withdrawal authority, whether checks require countersignature, whether securities sit under joint control, and whether employees must take annual vacations of at least five consecutive business days.
Watch for: Answering how things should work instead of how they do. A dishonesty claim will test every one of these answers.
Money and securities exposures
Maximum exposure amounts by category, inside the premises and with each messenger. The form asks for maximums, not averages.
Watch for: Entering typical daily amounts. The form instruction is maximum exposure, and the limit needs to cover the worst day, not the average one.
Premises and safe protection
Physical protections at the premises: door locks, alarm systems and their grade, safes and vaults, watch persons, and business hours.
Watch for: Blank safe and alarm details on a submission that requests premises money and securities coverage.
Messenger protection
Who carries money and securities off premises and what protects them in transit.
General information and remarks
The remaining yes/no questions plus space to explain them. The form notes to use additional forms when more than one location applies.
Watch for: Describing one location's protections when the account operates several.
In Relay
ACORD Generation is live in Relay. It drafts the ACORD 141 from the client record and the documents you already have, and a person reviews every field before anything goes out. See how →
Common errors
- Controls questions answered optimistically. If checks do not actually require countersignature, do not say they do.
- Money and securities amounts entered as averages when the form asks for maximum exposure.
- Employee counts that contradict the workers comp or payroll data in the same submission.
- Safe, vault, and alarm details left blank when premises coverage is requested.
- Multiple locations squeezed onto one form instead of using additional forms as the 141 instructs.
Common questions
Does the ACORD 141 go out on its own?
No. It is a section form that attaches to the ACORD 125 applicant information section, the same way the 140 does for property.
What is the difference between discovery and loss sustained?
It is the coverage trigger. Discovery basis responds to losses discovered during the policy period, whenever they happened. Loss sustained responds to losses that occur during the policy period and are discovered within the policy period or an extended discovery window. The 141 asks which basis the account wants.
Why does the form ask about employee vacations?
It is a classic fraud control. Embezzlement schemes often need daily tending and tend to surface when the person running them steps away. That is why the form asks whether officers and employees must take annual vacations of at least five consecutive business days.
Related forms
Part of the Relay ACORD form library. Updated 2026-07-11. See how we source content.
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