What a certificate of insurance actually proves

A certificate of insurance is the most requested document in commercial insurance and the most widely misunderstood. Knowing what it is saves you from relying on something that does not do what you think.

What it is

A COI is a snapshot. It states that a policy existed, with certain limits, on the date the certificate was issued. That is the entire scope of it.

What it does not do

• It does not extend coverage. A certificate never adds anything to a policy. If the policy excludes something, the certificate does too.
• It does not guarantee the policy is still active. Coverage can be cancelled the day after issuance and the certificate will look identical.
• It does not make anyone an additional insured. Listing a party in the certificate box does nothing on its own — additional insured status comes from an endorsement to the policy itself.

The part that trips people up

When a client or general contractor asks to be named as an additional insured, they usually mean the endorsement, not the certificate line. If you send a certificate with their name typed in the holder box and no endorsement behind it, you have not met the contract requirement. That gap surfaces at exactly the wrong moment — after a loss.

What to send us

To get a certificate right the first time, we need three things:

• The holder’s exact legal name and address
• Any required wording from the contract or lease, verbatim
• Whether additional insured status or a waiver of subrogation is required

Send us the contract page rather than a summary of it. We read the requirement and issue to match — usually the same day.

And if you are on the receiving end of a certificate, ask for the endorsement. The certificate alone is a photograph, not a promise.