Who asks for a certificate of insurance?
A COI is the standard way one business verifies another is insured before money or risk changes hands. You will be asked for one by:
- •Landlords and property managers before you sign a commercial lease
- •General contractors before you step onto a job site as a sub
- •Hospital systems, Medicaid programs, and referral networks before they send you clients
- •Franchisors, staffing platforms, and vendor-compliance portals during onboarding
- •Corporate clients and municipalities as a condition of the contract
- •Event venues, which often need a one-off certificate naming the venue
How to read an ACORD 25, field by field
Almost every certificate in the United States uses the ACORD 25 form, so once you can read one you can read all of them. Here is what each block on the page means.
- Producer
- Your agency or broker — the party that issued the certificate and the contact for corrections. On KTL certificates this is KTL Business Insurance, 858-350-0555.
- Insured
- Your legal business name and address. This must match the entity named in the contract, including DBAs, or the requester will reject the certificate.
- Insurer(s) affording coverage
- The carriers on the risk, each with a NAIC number and A.M. Best rating. Many contracts require carriers rated A- VII or better.
- Coverage rows
- One row per policy: general liability, automobile, umbrella, workers' compensation, and other lines such as professional liability or abuse & molestation.
- Policy number and effective/expiration dates
- Proof the coverage is currently in force. A certificate showing an expired term is worthless to a contract holder.
- Limits
- Each occurrence, general aggregate, products/completed operations, personal & advertising injury, and the workers' comp employers liability limits.
- Description of operations
- The free-text box where additional insured status, primary & non-contributory, waiver of subrogation, project names, and job numbers are referenced.
- Certificate holder
- The party requesting proof — a landlord, general contractor, hospital system, franchisor, or client. Exact name and address matter.
- Cancellation
- States that the issuing carrier will notify the holder per policy provisions. Most modern forms no longer promise 30 days' notice, despite what older contracts ask for.
Additional insured vs certificate holder vs waiver of subrogation
These four phrases cause more certificate rejections than anything else. They are not interchangeable, and three of the four require an endorsement on your actual policy.
| Term | What it actually does | When it is required |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate holder | Receives proof your policy exists; gets notice per policy terms. | Almost every request. Free, no endorsement needed. |
| Additional insured | Extends your liability coverage to that party for claims arising out of your work. | Commercial leases, subcontracts, vendor agreements, hospital and referral contracts. |
| Primary & non-contributory | Your policy pays first and does not ask their insurer to share. | General contractor and large-client contracts, usually paired with additional insured. |
| Waiver of subrogation | Your carrier gives up the right to recover from that party after paying a claim. | Construction contracts and most workers' comp requirements on job sites. |
How to get a certificate of insurance
Certificates come from the licensed agent or broker who placed your policy, and they are free. To avoid a second round trip, send these five things in the first email:
- •The certificate holder's exact legal name and mailing address
- •The exact additional insured wording the contract requires, copied from the contract
- •Whether primary & non-contributory language is required
- •Whether a waiver of subrogation is required, and on which policies
- •Any minimum limits, project name, job number, or deadline
Realistic turnaround: a plain certificate should be back the same business day. One that needs an additional insured endorsement, a waiver, or a carrier signature usually takes a business day because the carrier has to issue the endorsement. Anything longer is a service problem, not an industry norm. If you do not have a policy yet, coverage has to be bound before a certificate can exist — KTL can often bind and issue within 24 hours on straightforward risks.
Need a certificate today?
KTL issues standard COIs the same business day, with additional insured and waiver wording handled by a dedicated account manager.
What a COI does not do
The disclaimer printed at the top of the ACORD 25 is doing real work: the certificate is issued as a matter of information only, confers no rights on the holder, and does not amend, extend, or alter the policy. In practice that means:
- •It is not a contract and not a guarantee that a specific claim is covered — the policy decides that.
- •Listing someone as a certificate holder gives them no coverage at all.
- •It does not stop the policy from being cancelled or non-renewed.
- •It does not override exclusions, deductibles, or sublimits in the underlying policy.
- •If a contract requires coverage you do not carry, a certificate cannot paper over the gap — you need the endorsement or the policy.
Typical COI requirements by situation
Commercial lease
Landlords typically require $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate general liability, the landlord and property manager as additional insureds, and a waiver of subrogation on property and workers' comp. Send your broker the lease's insurance exhibit rather than retyping it.
Subcontract on a job site
General contractors commonly require $1M/$2M GL with products-completed operations, $1M auto, $1M/$1M/$1M workers' comp, an umbrella, blanket additional insured on an ongoing and completed operations form, primary & non-contributory, and a waiver of subrogation.
Home care and healthcare referral networks
Hospital systems, Medicaid programs, and referral networks usually require professional liability alongside general liability, plus abuse & molestation coverage, non-owned auto for caregivers driving their own vehicles, and the facility named as additional insured.
Vendor and client onboarding
Corporate procurement portals often ask for cyber liability and crime coverage in addition to GL, and require the certificate be uploaded to a compliance vendor. Give your broker the portal requirements up front so nothing bounces back.
Limits vary by contract and by state. Send the insurance exhibit to your broker before you sign — it is far cheaper to negotiate a requirement than to buy coverage you did not price into the job.