A COI, short for certificate of insurance, is a one-page summary of the insurance a business carries: the types of coverage, the limits, the policy numbers and the dates each policy runs. The business's insurance agent, broker or insurer issues it. When you hire a subcontractor or vendor, the COI is how you confirm they have the insurance your contract asks for. It describes coverage on the day it was issued. It isn't the policy, and nothing written on it can change the policy.
Most guides to COIs are written by insurers for the business that has to produce one. This one is for the person on the receiving end, usually an office manager, coordinator or admin who requests certificates, files them and decides whether the PDF that just landed in the inbox is good enough. It's easy to treat that as filing work. Then a contractor gets hurt or damages property on your job, and that certificate is the first thing you go looking for.
COI meaning: certificate of insurance definition and forms
It's proof of insurance in summary form. Instead of handing you a policy that runs dozens of pages, the contractor's agent fills in a standard form that lists each policy, the company insuring it, the limits and the dates. You'll also hear it called an insurance certificate, a business insurance certificate or a certificate of liability insurance, which is the title printed on the most common form.
Most certificates you receive will be on ACORD forms. ACORD is the insurance industry organization that maintains standard forms, and its ACORD 25, titled "Certificate of Liability Insurance," is the one contractors and vendors send most often. There are others, such as the ACORD 24 for property insurance and the ACORD 23 for vehicles and equipment, so make sure the form you got is the one you asked for.
Four parties are named on a certificate:
- The insured is the contractor or vendor whose insurance the certificate describes.
- The producer is the agent or broker who arranged that insurance, and usually the one who issues the certificate.
- The insurers are the insurance companies behind the policies. One certificate can list several, labeled Insurer A, B, C and so on.
- The certificate holder is you, the company that asked for proof.
Who issues a certificate of insurance?
The contractor's insurance agent, broker or insurance company. Not ACORD. Its certificates FAQ explains that ACORD provides the fillable forms, and the brokers, agents and other licensed users who fill them in are the ones who issue the certificates. In practice the chain is short. The contractor asks their agent, the agent produces the certificate, and it gets sent to you.
Pay attention to how it reaches you. A certificate sent straight from the agent is easier to trust than a PDF the contractor forwards, since nobody in between had a chance to edit it. The Hartford calls accepting a certificate that didn't come from an insurance agent or company one of the biggest mistakes you can make when hiring a third party. If the contractor sends it themselves, look at the producer's name and contact details on the form. Anything look off? Call that agency and confirm.
When you ask for a COI, give the contractor your company's exact legal name and mailing address so the agent lists you correctly as certificate holder. That saves you a round of corrections later.
What's on a certificate of insurance
An ACORD 25 is a dense grid of small boxes and abbreviations. It gets easier once you see it as a handful of blocks.
| Part of the certificate | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Date (top right) | The day the certificate was issued. Coverage can change after that day. |
| Notices at the top | That the certificate is for information only, and that additional insured status or a waiver of subrogation has to come from the policy itself, usually through an endorsement. |
| Producer | The agent or broker who issued it, with a contact name, phone and email. |
| Insured | The business the policies belong to. This should be the company you're hiring. |
| Insurers affording coverage | Each insurance company, with its letter (A, B, C…) and its NAIC number. |
| Coverages | One row per policy: type of insurance, insurer letter, policy number, effective and expiration dates, and limits. |
| ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD columns | Whether additional insured status or a waiver of subrogation is shown for that policy. |
| Description of operations | Free text, such as a project, location or contract number, or notes about additional insureds. |
| Certificate holder | Your company's name and address. |
| Cancellation | What happens if a policy is cancelled before it expires. On the current form, notice follows the policy's own terms. |
| Authorized representative | The signature of the person allowed to issue the certificate. |
On a contractor's certificate, these are the coverage rows you'll see most often:
- Commercial general liability, for claims of bodily injury or property damage caused by the contractor's work or premises.
- Automobile liability, for accidents involving the vehicles they use on the job.
- Umbrella or excess liability, which adds limits on top of the policies above.
- Workers' compensation and employers' liability, for injuries to the contractor's own employees.
The blank rows at the bottom can hold other coverage, like professional or pollution liability, when the work calls for it.
What to check before you accept a COI
Keep the contract open while you review, or at least its insurance clause. A certificate can only be "good" relative to what you required. Go through these in order.
- It came from the agent or insurer. The producer block should show a real agency with contact details, and ideally that agency is who sent you the file.
- The insured is the company you hired. Match the name against the legal name on your contract. If you see a different name, a trade name or a parent company, settle that before work starts.
- Every coverage the contract requires is listed. Each row needs an insurer letter and a policy number. Blank policy numbers are worth pushing back on.
- The limits meet your minimums. Compare each limit (each occurrence, general aggregate, auto combined single limit, employers' liability) with the figure in the contract.
- The dates cover the work. Every policy should be in force on the start date. If one expires before the job ends, write that date down, because you'll need the renewed certificate.
- Your company is the certificate holder. It should show your correct legal name and address rather than a person's name or a department.
- Endorsements match the contract. If you need to be an additional insured, or the contract requires a waiver of subrogation, the ADDL INSD or SUBR WVD box should be marked. Ask for a copy of the endorsement as well. A checked box by itself doesn't give you that coverage.
- The issue date is recent. A certificate from last year only tells you what was in force last year.
Requirements differ by company, project and state, so treat your contract as the reference and any generic list (this one included) as a starting point. If something fails, ask the contractor to have their agent send a corrected certificate before anyone starts work. Once it passes, file it and note the earliest expiration date on it. You'll want that date later.
What a certificate of insurance does not do
Near the top of an ACORD 25 is a line saying the certificate is "issued as a matter of information only." It's easy to skim past. For you as the certificate holder, the form's own wording means five things.
- It is not the policy. ACORD's FAQ says a certificate does not provide, endorse, amend, extend or alter the terms of a policy. Coverage changes only through an endorsement, rider or amendment to the policy.
- Writing something on it doesn't make it true. A note in the description box naming you as additional insured creates no coverage. A reference to your contract doesn't either, and ACORD says that on its own it provides no coverage.
- Certificate holder and additional insured are different things. The Connecticut Insurance Department's Bulletin S-14 states that a certificate doesn't make the holder an additional insured. Only the policy does that, through an endorsement or its own terms.
- You may never hear about a cancellation. According to ACORD, a typical liability policy requires the insurer to notify only the first named insured, unless the policy is endorsed to notify someone else. The Connecticut bulletin adds that the certificate holder isn't owed notice if the policy is cancelled.
- The limits may already be partly used up. The form itself warns that paid claims may have reduced the limits shown.
Insurance is regulated state by state, and departments such as Connecticut's have warned agents that a certificate can't be used to change coverage. So if your contract depends on specific protection, ask for the endorsement or the relevant part of the policy. Getting the certificate reworded doesn't change what the policy covers.
Certificate of insurance vs declarations page
Sometimes you ask for a COI and the contractor sends their declarations page instead (the "dec page"). They look similar, but they do different jobs.
| Feature | Certificate of insurance | Declarations page |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | A third party asking for proof (you) | The policyholder |
| What it is | A summary on a standard form, issued for information only | The summary at the front of the policy itself |
| What it covers | Several policies on one page | One policy |
| What it shows | Coverage types, limits, policy numbers, dates, and you as certificate holder | Coverages, limits, dates, deductibles, endorsements and premium (Next Insurance) |
A dec page is handy for confirming a detail, like whether an endorsement was purchased. Still, it covers a single policy, it doesn't name your company, and it shows pricing that a lot of contractors would rather keep to themselves. For most contracts, ask for the certificate, and add the endorsement to the request when you need to be an additional insured.
Every COI expires, so plan for the renewed one
A certificate has no expiration date of its own. Every policy listed on it does, though, and once the first of those dates passes the certificate no longer shows current coverage, even if the contractor renewed on time. The file in your folder still looks fine. It just doesn't prove anything about today. ACORD notes that most certificates are issued when a policy renews, which gives you a natural cue to ask for the new certificate.
The Hartford also suggests getting a fresh COI every time you hire a third party, even one you've used before, because their coverage may have changed since the last job.
A routine that holds up looks something like this:
- Record the earliest policy expiration date on each certificate, not the issue date.
- Ask for the renewed certificate about a month before that date, so the agent has time to send it.
- Follow up until it arrives, then run it through the same checks as the first one.
- Keep the old certificate on file. It shows what coverage was in place during the period it covered.
- If the contract requires coverage to continue after the work ends, keep collecting renewals for that whole period.
With a handful of contractors, a spreadsheet with a column for each policy's expiration date can work. With dozens of subcontractors and vendors, the chasing is what slips, and you find out when someone asks for a current certificate you don't have. ExpirationPilot keeps every certificate's expiration date in one list and emails the person responsible 30, 14 and 7 days before by default. It can also email the contractor an upload link for the renewed certificate and follow up once a week, up to six times, until a file comes in. Someone on your team still has to review each certificate and enter the new date. The tool doesn't read coverage for you. If you also collect W-9s and licenses from the same companies, see vendor compliance tracking.
Quick answers
Is "COI insurance" a type of insurance?
No. People say "COI insurance" when they mean the certificate that shows what insurance a business has. You don't buy a COI the way you buy a policy. The business's agent or insurer issues it from the policies the business already has, such as general liability or workers' comp.
What is a COI form?
Usually the ACORD 25, titled "Certificate of Liability Insurance." Property insurance goes on a different ACORD form, such as the ACORD 24.
Does a certificate of insurance cost anything?
Usually not. The Hartford says there's no cost to get one, and Travelers says it's typically free once a policy is in place.
How long is a certificate of insurance good for?
Until the earliest expiration date among the policies it lists, and even then it's only a snapshot. A policy can be cancelled before that date, and as the certificate holder you might not be told.
Can a contractor fill in their own COI?
They shouldn't. The agent, broker or insurer issues certificates. If one comes from the contractor and something looks wrong, check it with the agency listed as producer before you accept it.