How to Read Your Commercial Property Declarations Page

The declarations page — often called the "dec page" — is the summary document at the front of your commercial property insurance policy. It's the first thing your agent sends when you ask "what does my policy cover?" and the first thing an adjuster asks for when you file a claim. Most business owners receive it, file it away, and never actually read it.

That's a problem. The declarations page contains every critical number and term that determines how your policy performs when a loss happens — coverage limits, deductibles, coinsurance requirements, valuation method, and the list of endorsements attached to your policy. Not understanding what's on it is essentially not understanding your coverage.

This guide walks through every section of a typical commercial property declarations page in plain English, explains what each item means, and tells you what to check to make sure the numbers are right.

How to Follow Along

Pull out your actual declarations page and read this alongside it. Every carrier formats their dec page slightly differently, but the core sections are nearly universal. If you can't find your dec page, your agent can email you a copy in minutes — just ask.

What a Commercial Property Declarations Page Looks Like

Here's a walkthrough of the standard sections you'll find on a commercial property dec page, with plain-English explanations of each field:

Policy Basics

Named Insured

The legal name of the business or individual the policy covers. Make sure this matches exactly — claims can be complicated if the named insured doesn't match the entity that owns the property.

Check: matches legal entity

Policy Number

Your unique policy identifier. You'll need this for every claim, every certificate of insurance, and every conversation with your carrier.

Save this number

Policy Period

The effective and expiration dates of your coverage. Losses that occur outside this window are not covered. Make sure you know your renewal date and calendar it.

Check: annual renewal date

Premises Address

The specific location(s) covered by this policy. Coverage applies at the listed address only — property at other locations is not covered unless specifically added. If you operate from multiple locations, make sure all are listed.

Check: all locations listed

Coverage and Limits

Building Coverage Limit

The maximum the policy will pay for damage to the building structure itself — walls, roof, floors, permanently installed fixtures. This is the number that gets compared against your coinsurance requirement. If this number is lower than your building's true replacement cost, you may be underinsured.

Critical: check annually

Business Personal Property (BPP) Limit

The maximum payout for your business contents — equipment, furniture, inventory, computers, tools, fixtures you own. This is separate from the building limit and often significantly underestimated because most owners never do a formal BPP inventory.

Check: matches real inventory value

Business Income / BI Limit

The maximum the policy will pay for lost income and continuing expenses if a covered loss forces you to close. Usually expressed as a dollar amount or a number of months. Most policies default to 12 months — many businesses need 18 or more.

Check: realistic recovery period

Extra Expense Limit

Covers additional costs you incur to keep operating during a covered loss — temporary location rental, expedited shipping, equipment rental. Often included alongside BI coverage but with a separate sublimit.

Check: sublimit is adequate

Deductibles and Coinsurance

Deductible

The amount you pay out of pocket before the policy pays anything. A $5,000 deductible means the first $5,000 of every claim is yours. Higher deductibles mean lower premiums but more out-of-pocket exposure per claim. Some policies have separate wind/hail deductibles that are expressed as a percentage of the coverage limit rather than a flat dollar amount.

Know your deductible amount

Coinsurance Percentage

The minimum percentage of your building's replacement cost you're required to insure. Usually 80%, 90%, or 100%. If your building limit is below this percentage of true replacement cost, a coinsurance penalty reduces every claim you file. This is one of the most financially dangerous items on the dec page and one of the least understood.

Critical: verify compliance

Valuation: ACV or Replacement Cost

How the insurer calculates your payout. Replacement Cost pays what it costs to replace with new equivalent property. Actual Cash Value deducts depreciation, often resulting in significantly lower payouts on older property. Make sure you know which one applies to both your building and your contents.

Replacement Cost preferred

Schedule of Endorsements

Endorsements List

Additional coverages, exclusions, or modifications attached to your base policy. This is where you'll find Ordinance or Law coverage, Equipment Breakdown, flood endorsements, Waiver of Subrogation, Additional Insured designations, and other customizations. If an endorsement isn't listed here, it's not on your policy — regardless of what you were told when you bought it.

Review every line

The 5 Most Important Numbers to Verify Right Now

If you've never carefully reviewed your declarations page, here are the five items that matter most and should be verified immediately:

→Building coverage limit — Compare this against your building's current replacement cost. If construction costs have risen since your policy was written, this number may be significantly behind. Use our Replacement Cost Estimator to get a benchmark.
→Coinsurance percentage and compliance — Take your building limit and divide by your building's replacement cost. If the result is less than your coinsurance percentage, you have a penalty exposure on every claim.
→Business Income limit and restoration period — Make sure the BI limit is actually sufficient to cover your monthly income exposure multiplied by a realistic recovery timeline — typically at least 12–18 months.
→Valuation method — Confirm whether your building and contents are covered on replacement cost or actual cash value. If it says ACV, understand the depreciation gap you'd face on a major claim.
→Endorsements — Check whether Ordinance or Law, Equipment Breakdown, and any required Additional Insured or Waiver of Subrogation endorsements are actually listed. If they're not on this page, they're not on your policy.

Common Mistakes Found on Declarations Pages

Wrong named insured. If your business operates as an LLC or corporation, the named insured should be the legal entity — not your personal name. A mismatch can complicate or delay claims.

Missing locations. If you operate from a location that's not listed on the dec page, property at that location is not covered. This catches businesses that open additional locations or storage sites without notifying their insurer.

Stale building limits. Commercial construction costs have risen significantly in recent years. A building limit set 3–5 years ago may now represent only 70–80% of actual replacement cost — triggering a coinsurance penalty even if the limit seemed adequate when the policy was written.

No endorsements despite assurances. If your agent told you "you have flood coverage" or "you have ordinance or law," but those items don't appear in your endorsements schedule, you don't have them. The dec page is the authoritative record.

Wrong deductible. A surprisingly common error — especially after policy changes or endorsement additions. Verify the deductible on your current dec page matches what you agreed to pay.

What to Do If Something Doesn't Look Right

If you find a discrepancy between what you expected your coverage to be and what's actually on your declarations page, contact your agent immediately. Most errors can be corrected with a policy endorsement that takes effect the same day. Don't wait until renewal — a gap in coverage that exists today is a gap in coverage that affects any claim that occurs today.

Be specific when you call: reference the policy number, the specific field that's incorrect, and what it should say. Ask for written confirmation of any change — a new declarations page or endorsement document that reflects the correction.