Certificate of insurance (COI)

Who asks for one — and why

Landlords before a lease, general contractors before you set foot on a site, and clients before a contract — the certificate is how they confirm you carry the coverage the deal requires, most often general liability and workers' compensation. It's routinely the reason a small business buys insurance in the first place.

License boards can ask too: some states make proof of coverage a condition of the license itself — our state pages for bars, restaurants, fast food, home-health agencies, and physician offices quote each state’s own rule. Contractor boards more often require a contractor license bond instead — a different document that promises the board money if you break its rules. It isn't proof of insurance.

What’s on it

Most certificates use the insurance industry's standard one-page form (ACORD 25). It shows the named insured — whose policy this is — each coverage line with its limits (per occurrence and aggregate), the policy dates, the issuing insurer, and the certificate holder the document was prepared for.

Sometimes a contract demands more than proof — it wants the other party named as an additional insured, a waiver of subrogation, or primary and non-contributory wording. Those changes are made by endorsements — add-ons to the policy itself; the certificate just carries checkboxes and notes reflecting them. The certificate documents the endorsement; it can't create it.

How you get one

Your insurer or broker issues certificates — typically free, and typically same-day once the policy exists. Send them the exact requirement language from the lease or contract, since the wording (holder name, limits, endorsements) has to match what's being asked. Never edit a certificate yourself; an altered certificate misrepresents your coverage. And if you don't have a policy yet, that comes first — once it's in place, the certificate is the easy part.

What it doesn’t do

A certificate gives you no coverage by itself — it's information, not protection. Being the certificate holder doesn't make someone covered by your policy; that takes the additional-insured endorsement. And if a demand asks for higher limits than you carry, the fix is on the policy side — often an umbrella — not on the certificate.