ISO Rating is one of the most widely used pricing methodologies in the commercial insurance industry. Thousands of insurance carriers, Managing General Agents (MGAs), wholesalers, and program administrators use ISO content as the foundation for pricing commercial insurance products. While many people think ISO simply provides insurance rates, the reality is much broader. ISO provides classifications, rating rules, loss costs, manuals, statistical data, forms, endorsements, and product content that insurance organizations use as the starting point for their own commercial insurance products. Modern insurance platforms like SelectRate automate the management of ISO content while allowing carriers to configure proprietary pricing, underwriting rules, and product enhancements.
ISO, now part of Verisk, develops commercial insurance content used throughout the insurance industry. Rather than selling insurance policies directly, ISO provides standardized insurance information that carriers use to develop and maintain commercial insurance products.
ISO content includes:
Insurance organizations use this information as the foundation for commercial insurance rating.
ISO Rating is the process of calculating insurance premiums using ISO classifications, rating rules, and loss costs together with carrier-specific pricing.
Most commercial insurance products begin with ISO content and then apply carrier-specific adjustments such as:
The result is the premium quoted to the customer.
ISO content supports many commercial insurance products.
Workers Compensation generally follows separate bureau organizations such as NCCI or state-specific rating bureaus.
IA modern ISO rating platform manages multiple components.
Identify the type of business being insured.
Examples:
Classification codes determine which rating methodology applies.
ISO publishes advisory loss costs used as the starting point for premium calculations.
Carriers typically apply proprietary pricing using carrier multipliers. Learn more about Loss Cost Management.
ISO publishes rating methodologies that determine how premiums should be calculated.
Rules Evaluate:
ISO also publishes standard policy forms.
Includes:
Carriers may supplement these with proprietary documentation.
A simplified workflow looks like this:
Identify the business classification.
Retrieve the applicable ISO loss cost.
Apply ISO rating rules.
Apply carrier pricing.
Evaluate underwriting rules.
Calculate taxes and fees.
Generate the final premium.
Modern insurance platforms automate every step.
No. ISO provides standardized content, but every insurance carrier determines its own pricing strategy.
Most carriers apply:
This allows carriers to differentiate themselves while continuing to use standardized ISO content.
Insurance organizations frequently manage:
Managing ISO manually often leads to:
SelectRate centralizes ISO product management.
Organizations can configure:
Business users maintain products without software development. Learn more about ISO Rating Software, Commercial Insurance Rating Engine.
SelectRate provides a complete ISO product lifecycle.
Supports:
Organizations modernize ISO operations while preserving carrier-specific business rules.
Insurance organizations modernize ISO rating to achieve:
Simplify bureau updates, automate commercial insurance pricing, improve underwriting consistency, and manage every ISO product from one enterprise insurance rating platform with SelectRate.