What information do I need for a commercial crime insurance quote in Texas?

By Mark Melliand, owner, Melliand Insurance Agency · 13 years as an independent agent · Published October 28, 2026

The short answer

What an insurer asks for depends on the insurer, your business and the coverage you request. The crime applications we reviewed ask about:

your business and its financial condition
employees and locations
how money moves through the business
internal controls, such as reconciliations, separation of duties and check signing
money, securities and property kept on site or carried off site
the insuring agreements and limits you want
prior insurance and losses

Having your finance or accounting contact help with the answers makes the process smoother.

For what crime insurance can cover, see our guide to what commercial crime insurance covers.

The applications we reviewed

Great American Insurance Company, Commercial Crime Policy Application for Small Businesses, F.9907C (11/22). A shorter four-page application.
Great American Insurance Company, Crime Insurance Application for Commercial Entities, F.9856G (12/23). A longer eight-page application, with additional sections for audits, funds transfer procedures, vendors, money and securities, premises protection and optional kidnap, ransom and extortion coverage.

Both forms come from one insurer and are illustrative examples. They are not confirmed current Texas offerings or universal requirements. Application questions don’t establish what a policy covers. Each item below is attributed to the form that asks it.

Business identity and financial information

Both forms ask for the applicant’s name and principal address, a list of all insureds (including any employee benefit plans to be covered), the requested policy period, the date the business was established and a description of the business (F.9907C; F.9856G).
The commercial entities form also asks for the legal entity type, the business type (such as distributor, retailer or servicer) and whether ownership or management has changed in the past three years (Great American F.9856G).
Both forms ask for financial status as of the latest fiscal year-end: gross assets, gross sales, net income or profit, and net worth, with the percent change from the prior year (F.9907C; F.9856G).
The commercial entities form asks applicants to submit the latest audited year-end financials, the CPA’s letter to management and management’s response (Great American F.9856G).

Employees and locations

The small business form asks for total employees, independent contractors and locations (Great American F.9907C).
The commercial entities form asks for employees and locations in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. It asks for an employee census by department, and defines employee for that request as including full-time, part-time and temporary employees (Great American F.9856G).

How an application counts personnel doesn’t decide who is an “employee” under the policy. That depends on the policy’s definitions. See our crime coverage guide for what to review.

Financial controls

These are underwriting questions from the reviewed applications, not a statement that every business is legally required to follow each practice. Have the person responsible for finance or accounting answer them.

The small business form asks whether bank accounts are reconciled monthly, and by someone not authorized to deposit, withdraw or write checks; whether paid records are stamped; whether you keep an approved vendor list; whether checks above a stated amount require countersignature; whether no single employee can control a transaction from beginning to end; whether employees are screened for prior acts of dishonesty; whether shipping and receiving are reconciled to orders; whether there is a system to detect payments to fictitious vendors; and whether purchasing is centralized. It also asks whether an owner personally supervises daily activities, which duties that person performs, and about segregation of duties for inventory, vendor approval, check stock, and shipping and receiving (Great American F.9907C).
The commercial entities form adds questions about audits (whether statements are audited and whether the opinion is unqualified), internal auditors, whether wire transfer procedures are audited, securities controls, verification of accounts receivable, payroll and purchasing separation, and vendor practices such as background checks and authorized vendor lists (Great American F.9856G).

A control being in place doesn’t guarantee coverage, and its absence doesn’t automatically mean a loss is excluded. Coverage depends on the policy terms.

Hiring and personnel practices

Both forms ask whether you screen employees for prior acts of dishonesty (F.9907C; F.9856G).
The commercial entities form also asks whether persons with prior convictions have been hired or retained, includes related questions about a New York state law for employees in New York, and asks whether passwords are changed when employees leave (Great American F.9856G).

Don’t send employee personal information through a website form or ordinary email.

Payments and funds transfers

The commercial entities form has a funds transfer procedures section (Great American F.9856G). It asks:

which departments make wire transfers
whether a documented procedure manual and sequential numbering are used
the total annual volume of transfers, the largest amount one person can transfer, and the average size
whether telephone transfer instructions to banks are confirmed in writing within a stated period
whether no one employee can initiate and complete transactions without approval by others
how many employees have transfer authority
how you detect when an employee exceeds their authority

Both forms list Funds Transfer Fraud and Fraudulently Induced Transfer as separate insuring agreements. The small business form says Fraudulently Induced Transfer is “available upon request” (Great American F.9907C). The commercial entities form says it requires a separate application (Great American F.9856G). That separate application wasn’t reviewed, so its questions aren’t described here.

For payment-verification questions that appear on cyber applications, see our guide to what information you need for a cyber insurance quote. Crime and cyber policies don’t automatically coordinate or eliminate gaps. Review them together.

Money, securities and property

The small business form asks the total cash, retail checks and credit card receipts for all locations combined. If you handle valuable or precious metals, it asks you to complete a separate questionnaire (Great American F.9907C).
The commercial entities form asks for the maximum exposure for money, securities and checks, listing peak and non-peak figures separately if applicable, including amounts kept overnight and amounts carried by messengers. It asks about deposit frequency, use of a night depository, business hours and average employees on duty. It also asks you to describe the property to be covered and its maximum value, and asks about safes or vaults, messenger protection and premises alarms (Great American F.9856G).

Note where cash and valuables are kept, how they’re moved, and how much is on hand at peak times.

Coverage you want quoted

Both forms list insuring agreements, each with its own limit and per-occurrence deductible (F.9907C; F.9856G):

Employee Dishonesty
Forgery or Alteration
Inside the Premises
Outside the Premises
Computer Hacking
Money Orders and Counterfeit Paper Cash
Loss of Clients’ Property
Funds Transfer Fraud
Fraudulently Induced Transfer
ERISA Fraud or Dishonesty

These are separate coverages. Employee dishonesty, forgery, computer hacking, funds transfer fraud and fraudulently induced transfers address different kinds of losses. Ask which you need and at what limits. Not every dishonest act, fraudulent payment or unexplained inventory shortage is covered.

The forms list ERISA Fraud or Dishonesty as an insuring agreement. Whether it meets any requirement for an employee benefit plan, and how it relates to a separate ERISA fidelity bond, is a question for your agent and the plan’s advisers.

The commercial entities form also asks whether kidnap, ransom and extortion coverage is desired, which needs a separate application (Great American F.9856G).

Existing insurance

Both forms ask whether similar insurance has been declined or canceled in the past three years, and for details of prior insurance to be superseded: carrier, effective and expiration dates, limit, and deductible or form of insurance (F.9907C; F.9856G).

Have your current crime policy declarations ready, along with any cyber policy, so they can be reviewed together. Whether your current crime coverage is a discovery or loss-sustained form affects how prior losses and a change of insurer are handled. See our crime coverage guide.

Prior losses and known matters

Both forms ask you to list all claims, or occurrences that may give rise to claims, for the prior five years, with the date of occurrence, a description, the date of claim, the amount paid and the status. Both ask for any corrective action taken (F.9907C; F.9856G). That period comes from these forms; other insurers may ask differently.

Disclosing a loss on a new application is separate from giving notice under a policy you already have. If something may need to be reported under a current policy, follow that policy’s notice requirements.

Getting the answers right

Have the person responsible for finance or accounting verify control answers.
Report the practices in place now, and describe planned changes separately.
Read the representations before signing. Both forms state that the authorized representative “represents that reasonable inquiry has been made” and that the answers are “true, correct and complete” to the best of their knowledge (F.9907C; F.9856G).
Let your agent know about changes before coverage begins.

How an inaccurate answer affects coverage depends on the policy, the facts and applicable law. Questions about the legal effect of an application statement belong with an attorney.

Information, preparation and questions

Information	What to prepare	What to clarify
Business and financials	Insureds and benefit plans, business description, financial status; audited financials if asked	Which entities and plans should be listed?
Employees and locations	Counts of employees, contractors and locations; census if asked	How does the policy define “employee”?
Financial controls	Reconciliation, check signing, separation of duties, vendor controls	How should partial or informal controls be answered?
Funds transfers	Who can transfer, volumes, approval and confirmation procedures	Is a separate application needed for fraudulently induced transfers?
Money and property	Cash and securities amounts, peak exposures, property values, safes and alarms	What do inside and outside the premises coverages need?
Coverage wanted	Insuring agreements, limits and deductibles	Which agreements fit our risks?
Existing insurance	Current crime and cyber declarations	Is the current form discovery or loss-sustained?
Loss history	Five-year claim details and corrective actions, as these forms ask	Does a current policy need separate notice?

A staged checklist

Initial discussion

Business description, insureds and any benefit plans
Employee, contractor and location counts
Insuring agreements and limits you want to discuss
Current crime and cyber policies

More complete submission

Completed application, with control answers verified by finance or accounting
Financial status figures
Money, securities and property exposures
Prior insurance details and five-year loss history, if the form asks

Additional underwriting, if requested

Audited financials, CPA management letter and management response
Employee census by department
Separate applications for fraudulently induced transfer or kidnap, ransom and extortion coverage
Metals questionnaire, if applicable

Questions to ask your finance or accounting contact

Are bank accounts reconciled monthly by someone who can’t move money?
Can any one person start and finish a payment or transfer alone?
How are new vendors and changes to vendor bank details approved?
Who can send wires, and what’s the largest amount one person can send?
How much cash or other valuables do we hold at peak times, and where?

Keep sensitive information protected

Don’t send bank details, account numbers, employee personal information, detailed payment-security procedures or claim files through a website form or ordinary email. Ask what’s actually needed, and arrange an appropriate secure way to provide it.

Requesting a quote doesn’t bind coverage

Asking for a quote or completing an application doesn’t put coverage in place. Ask your agent to confirm whether coverage has been bound, its effective date and the agreed terms.

Sources

About Melliand Insurance Agency

Melliand Insurance Agency is an independently operated insurance agency affiliated with Premier Group Insurance (PGI), a nationwide agency network.

If you’d like help preparing for a commercial crime insurance quote, call (972) 346-4666 or email melliandinsurance@gmail.com, Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM Central.

This article provides general information only. It is not legal advice and is not a statement of coverage. Application questions, eligibility and coverage vary by insurer and policy. The applications described here are illustrative examples identified by form and edition and are not confirmed current Texas offerings. Requesting a quote or completing an application does not bind coverage.