Ohio Mutual Insurance Group
Carrier website links, underwriting access points, mapped product lines, and appetite notes in one place.
This appetite summary is only a guide. Confirm eligibility, submission requirements, restrictions, and binding authority directly with the carrier or underwriter before relying on it.
Carrier appetite summary
Commercial Businessowners / Commercial Package – Ohio (proxy for broader commercial appetite) Preferred / target business (Businessowners focus) - Small to mid-size main-street risks whose occupancy appears in the Businessowners classification table and meet size and loss criteria. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Locations generally up to 35,000 square feet and $6,000,000 in annual sales per location (higher square footage allowed for specific classes such as office-only buildings up to 100,000 sq. ft., self‑storage and motels with no square footage limit, and apartments/condo associations with no square foot limit). ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Financially sound accounts with not more than one loss in the last three years, modern central heating (no solid‑fuel devices bound), and property insured to 100% of value when written on replacement cost basis. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Businessowners property limits typically bound up to $400,000 combined building/BPP for protection class 1–7, $200,000 for class 8–9 (PC 10 may not be bound), with ability to go up to $2,000,000 through the company’s e‑Quip’d platform. General liability may be bound up to $1,000,000. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Inland marine on BOP can be bound up to $50,000 per item and $150,000 total schedule, subject to overall BOP eligibility. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Apartments/condos (office/residential only) that are well‑maintained, with modern utilities (PVC waste lines, circuit‑breaker electrical with GFCI in kitchens/baths, no aluminum wiring), working smoke detectors in each unit and level, at least two means of egress per unit, and local owner management. Preferred risks are less than 25 years old with roof, furnace and water heater updated within 15 years, valued at 100% replacement cost, and generally limited to 16 units per building. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Standard (non‑preferred) apartments can be considered with company approval using a rate factor and similar construction/valuation criteria, subject to square‑footage limits when combined with mercantile or service occupancies. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Light‑trade contractors (e.g., certain carpentry, driveway, landscape, other small artisan types) under employee and subcontracting thresholds (max ~15 FTE, lower for some trades; subcontracted work not more than 10% of annual sales) and with no high‑hazard operations. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) Restricted or declined classes / ineligible operations - General BOP ineligible when occupancy/operation is not listed in the Businessowners classification table or when size/loss history/heat source requirements are not met. Non‑listed incidental operations under 10% of sales must be referred to underwriting for consideration. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Major EPL‑related BOP classes not eligible for Employment Practices Liability under the program: legal services/attorney offices, employee‑leasing or temp‑help firms, clubs (including golf and country clubs), municipalities and governmental entities (including townships, police, fire), and educational institutions/schools/colleges. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Broad business‑class ineligibles include: auto dealers (new or used), manufacturing operations (even incidental), businesses primarily selling used/second‑hand merchandise, operations offering sun‑tanning beds or public exercise equipment, and cigarette/cigar/tobacco stores other than incidental sales. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Contractors are ineligible if they: operate as a general contractor; exceed employee/subcontracting thresholds; do work above three stories; rent/lease equipment to others; engage in commercial/industrial roofing as a main operation; or perform any of a listed set of higher‑hazard operations (crane work, demolition/blasting/wrecking, high‑pressure boiler or LPG work, asbestos/lead abatement, radon mitigation, fire‑alarm/extinguisher installation, elevator work, sandblasting, bridge/road work). Home‑builder firms (new home construction) are specifically declined. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - For restaurants in the BOP program, full‑cooking risks are ineligible when located in protection class 9–10 or when the insured has owned the operation less than three years. Bars/cocktail service is not permitted on the BOP, catering must be no more than 10% of sales, and there is a 7,500 sq. ft./150‑seat limit. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Self‑storage facilities must have no outdoor storage of autos/boats/RVs and no chemical or waste storage; any such exposures would be out of appetite. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Apartments/condos are declined if: converted dwellings or motels; student or boarding houses; any adult/nursing/medical care provided; subsidized housing; under major renovation (unless specifically written as under construction); or with playground/exercise equipment on site. Household personal property of owner‑occupied units is not covered under the BOP form. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) Geographic notes - Ohio Mutual writes through independent agents in CT, IN, ME, NH, OH, RI and VT; BOP guidelines viewed are the Ohio commercial lines manual. Appetite in other states is generally similar but agents should confirm state‑specific manuals and protection‑class rules in their state’s version of the commercial manual. ([public.omig.com](https://public.omig.com/?utm_source=openai)) Submission & binding expectations (commercial/BOP) - Agency binding authority is limited to: (1) eligible business classes in the BOP table, (2) property limits within stated thresholds for protection class, (3) liability limits up to $1M, and (4) inland marine within noted per‑item and total‑schedule caps; risks outside these parameters require consultation with a Commercial Underwriter. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - A completed ACORD application (or change form) is required within 10 days of binding new business or changes. For business written through e‑Quip’d, the agent must retain the signed application in agency files and provide on request, rather than sending it automatically. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - Any account quoted by a company underwriter or Business Insurance Specialist carries implied binding authority for the quoted limits unless specifically restricted in the quote instructions; agents must follow any contrary instructions attached to those quotes. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - For BOP water‑backup extensions beyond the $5,000 automatically included in the Premier Property endorsement, underwriters will obtain a Water Back‑up Risk Rating Report; agents do not have authority to bind higher limits than the platform allows without prior company approval, especially where any location is high/very‑high risk or has no rating “hit.” ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) - When books of business are transferred into Ohio Mutual (e.g., renewal‑rights deals), a Transfer Renewal Stabilization Factor may be used to minimize premium disruption; rating is done per manual, with TRSF applied for the first two renewal cycles. Agents should expect transitional premium smoothing on such conversions but still provide full current rating details. ([omig.com](https://www.omig.com/static/guides/pdf/BP_Manual_Guidelines_OH%282015-12%29.pdf)) Broker/producer notes - Ohio Mutual distributes exclusively through independent agents and explicitly emphasizes partnership with those agents in its mission and agent‑recruitment materials; producers should leverage their field sales manager and company underwriters for risks near or outside standard BOP guidelines rather than binding to the edge of authority. ([public.omig.com](https://public.omig.com/about/become-an-agent/?utm_source=openai)) - Local agents are positioned as the primary interface with insureds for both personal and commercial products; producers should maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of state‑specific manuals (BOP, CPP, commercial umbrella, homeowners) available through the agent portal, and default to “submit for approval” on any risk not clearly matching the published BOP eligibility/class criteria.