How to check a certificate of insurance

A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary of a vendor's policies. It tells you what they say they carry. It doesn't create coverage for you, and it's only useful if you check it against what you asked for before the vendor starts work.

Property managers, general contractors and building owners get dozens of these a month. Here are the seven checks that catch nearly every bad one. Our free certificate of insurance checker runs them for you and writes the follow-up email.

1. The insured is the company you hired

The name in the Insured box should match the company that signed your contract, letter for letter. "Apex Plumbing" on the certificate and "Apex Plumbing Services LLC" on the contract can be two different companies with two different policies.

2. Every limit meets your minimum

Compare each limit to your requirements. The common ones for a trade working on a property:

The aggregate is the one that slips through. A certificate showing $1,000,000 each occurrence and $1,000,000 aggregate looks fine at a glance and is half what most contracts require.

3. No policy expires before the work ends

Check every expiration date, not just the first one. Umbrella and workers' compensation policies often renew on different dates from general liability. If any policy expires during the job, ask for the renewed certificate before that date and put a reminder on the calendar.

4. Additional insured is marked, and the endorsement is attached

If your contract requires you to be an additional insured, the ADDL INSD column should be marked for general liability, and for auto if you require it.

The mark isn't enough on its own. The certificate itself says it confers no rights on the holder and doesn't change the policy. The coverage comes from an endorsement to the policy, such as ISO forms CG 20 10 for ongoing operations and CG 20 37 for completed operations, or a blanket additional insured endorsement. Ask for the endorsement pages with the certificate.

5. Waiver of subrogation is marked where you need it

A waiver of subrogation stops the vendor's insurer from coming after you to recover what it paid. If your contract requires one, the SUBR WVD column should be marked, usually for general liability and workers' compensation. As with additional insured, the endorsement is what makes it real.

6. The certificate holder is your exact legal name

The Certificate Holder box should read your legal entity name and address, the one on the contract. A property name or a manager's name isn't the same thing.

7. The description covers your job

The Description of Operations box often names the project, the property or the contract, and may say that additional insured status applies. Read it. Language like "per written contract" ties the coverage to your agreement, so make sure you have one.

When something fails

Send it back the same day with a short list of exactly what's wrong and what you need instead. Vendors forward these to their insurance agent, and a specific list gets fixed in one round. A vague "this doesn't meet our requirements" takes three.

Asking for a certificate in the first place? Our certificate of insurance request builder writes the request email and a one-page requirements sheet for your vendor packet. Insurance agencies on the other side of these requests can read how to handle certificate requests faster.