Resource · General Liability
Certificate of Insurance Guide.
A certificate of insurance (COI) is the one-page proof clients, landlords, and general contractors ask for before they let you on the job. Here's what it actually proves — and what the fine print they request really means.
What a COI is
What a certificate of insurance does and doesn't do
A COI is a snapshot summarizing your active policies — carrier, policy numbers, limits, and effective dates. It is evidence of coverage, not the coverage itself, and it doesn't change your policy. When a contract asks for more than proof — like naming someone as an additional insured — that requires an actual policy endorsement, not just a line on the certificate.
The fine print
Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary & non-contributory
These are the three requests that trip up contractors most often:
- Additional insured — extends your liability coverage to protect the client/GC for claims arising from your work. Requires an endorsement (often a CG 20 10 / CG 20 37 form).
- Waiver of subrogation — stops your insurer from later pursuing the named party to recover a paid claim. Also an endorsement.
- Primary & non-contributory — your policy pays first, before the client's own coverage.
- Per-project / per-location aggregate — keeps one job's claims from eroding limits across all your work.
What gets requested
Typical California requirements
Requirements vary by who's asking. General contractors and project owners usually want GL with additional insured + waiver + primary/non-contributory, plus workers' comp and sometimes commercial auto. Commercial landlords want GL naming them as additional insured on the lease. Public works adds bond requirements. We issue the exact certificate in the format the requester wants, same-day during business hours, and confirm your policy actually contains the endorsements the contract demands.
Questions
Certificate of Insurance Guide FAQ
Is a COI the same as being covered?
No. The certificate summarizes coverage that already exists. If the contract requires additional-insured status or a waiver of subrogation, those are policy endorsements that must be on your policy — the certificate just reports them.
Can I add someone as additional insured for free?
Sometimes there's no charge, sometimes a small premium, depending on the carrier and the endorsement. What you can't do is simply type it onto a certificate — without the endorsement on the policy, the additional-insured language is meaningless.
How fast can I get a COI?
On policies we manage, same-day during business hours in the format the requester wants. Send us the contract's insurance requirements and who needs to be named.
What limits do contracts usually require?
$1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate is the common GL baseline, often with higher limits or an umbrella on larger projects. Always quote off the actual contract language rather than a generic assumption.
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