Primary and Non-Contributory means that the contractor’s policy must pay before other applicable policies (primary) and without seeking contribution from them (non-contributory).

Where to Find

Primary and Non-Contributory wording usually appears in one of three places:

• In the Description of Operations box of the COI

• On an ACORD 101, aka Additional Remarks Schedule

• On a separate endorsement page

Primary and Non-Contributory Endorsement | General Liability

Primary and Non-Contributory Endorsement | Automobile Liability

Primary and Non-Contributory clause | BOP Endorsement

<aside> ⚠️

When auditing Schedule Additional Insured Endorsements, pay close attention to the Schedule Box, because you may identify PNC wording in it, which is acceptable:

Primary and Non-Contributory verbiage in a Schedule Endorsement

</aside>

Incomplete Verbiage

Sometimes, the Primary and Non-Contributory verbiage is incomplete; in such cases, the approach will vary depending on which part is given, as detailed below.

1. If the verbiage states that a policy is Primary/On a primary basis, that is enough for the PNC requirement.

<aside> ⚠️

The verbiage below is NOT acceptable for the PNC requirement, because, although it says that the insurance provided is Primary, it also says it is contributory, which is the opposite of what we are looking for:

Primary BUT Contributory clause | Endorsement

</aside>

1. If the verbiage states that a policy is Non-Contributory, that is NOT enough for the PNC requirement. A gap must be flagged.
   1. A policy can be excess (the opposite of primary) and noncontributory.