Certificates of Insurance

​As we head into a new year, there’s no better time to equip producers with foundational insurance industry knowledge and concepts.

What is the proper wording to reflect additional insureds on certificates of insurance (COIs)?

An insured’s client keeps rejecting certificates of insurance (COIs), stating they need to apply additional insured status to all persons or “indemnified parties” instead of limiting that status to persons with whom the parties have a contract.

How should the agency respond? And how can agencies curb the trend of COI requests becoming more and more onerous?

Certificates of insurance (COIs) account for plenty of headaches. Here are answers to some common questions asked during Big “I” Virtual University webinars.

Must the person signing a certificate of insurance be licensed in all the states where the insured has exposure? Or must the signatory be someone with internal agency authorization?

An insured has a $5-million limit on their umbrella policy but wants to show only a $2-million limit on the certificate of insurance. Is it permissible for an agent to list lower limits on the COI than what the policy actually provides?

An agent insures a small general contractor that is considering performing work for a large local school system. The school is requesting that a clause be added to the certificate of insurance.

A client’s policy includes an endorsement which provides “blanket additional insured” status to the entity with whom they have a written contract, but the certificate holder still insists that the certificate of insurance must specifically list both it an

An agent is issuing a new certificate of insurance with policy limits of $1 million/$2 million. The agent knows of a $500,000 claim. What policy limits should be shown on the COI?