The document everybody misunderstands
Certificates and additional insureds
A certificate confers no rights on the person holding it and does not amend the policy. The form says so on its face, in the paragraph nobody reads — and understanding why is worth money to any business that signs contracts.
A certificate reports cover; it does not create any. A certificate of insurance is evidence, not cover. It is a snapshot of what was in force on the day it printed, it confers no rights on the person holding it, and it does not amend the policy. If your contract needs somebody named as an additional insured, or needs a waiver of subrogation, that comes from an endorsement on the policy — which costs something, has to be requested, and is the only thing that actually changes what is covered. We will not issue a certificate describing cover that has not been endorsed, however urgently the general contractor wants it.
Landlords, general contractors, customers and municipalities all ask for certificates of insurance, and for a working Queens business they are a weekly requirement. The document is genuinely useful: it tells the holder that on the day it printed you had certain policies with certain limits.
What it does not do is create coverage. It does not make the holder an additional insured, it does not create a waiver of subrogation, and it does not oblige your carrier to do anything it was not already obliged to do. Those come from endorsements on the policy itself.
Why we will not simply type it on
Because it would be false, and because it would leave you exposed in exactly the situation you were trying to cover. Follow the sequence: the general contractor accepts the certificate. An accident happens. They tender the claim to your carrier as an additional insured. The carrier looks at the policy, finds no endorsement, and refuses the tender. The general contractor then comes to you under the indemnity clause in the subcontract you signed — personally, with no insurance behind it.
You would have been better off if we had refused on the Friday afternoon and you had spent two hundred dollars on the endorsement. So that is what we do, and we explain it rather than simply declining. In practice a carrier can usually add the endorsement the same day, and the certificate follows within the hour of it being on there.
What your contract is actually asking for
Insurance requirement schedules are longer and more specific than most people read. Common terms include additional insured status for both ongoing and completed operations, on named form numbers; primary and non-contributory wording, meaning your policy pays first and does not seek contribution from theirs; a waiver of subrogation, giving up your carrier's right to recover from them; umbrella limits that follow the same additional insured status; and sometimes a carrier of a stated financial rating.
Ongoing against completed operations matters more than any other detail here. Ongoing covers them while the work is in progress; completed operations covers them for claims arising after the job is finished, which is when construction claims usually arrive. A certificate saying merely 'additional insured' does not tell anybody which one you have.
Send us the schedule before you sign the contract. Almost every expensive certificate problem we have seen began with a subcontract signed in March and read in June.
The notice-of-cancellation trap
Many contracts demand that the certificate holder receive thirty days' notice of cancellation. Certificates used to carry endorsement-style language promising that, and the standard forms no longer do, because a certificate cannot create an obligation the policy does not contain.
If the contract genuinely requires notice to a third party, that has to come from the policy — some carriers will endorse it and some will not. What you should not accept is a certificate with the words typed on as though they meant something. If the obligation is not in the policy, the holder will not get the notice, whatever the certificate says.
How we handle them
Certificates usually within the hour during office hours, for any policy placed here, free and unlimited. Standing holders are diarised so the replacement goes out before yours expires rather than after somebody chases you.
Before printing, we check the endorsement is actually on the policy. Every time, including at half past four on a Friday when somebody is waiting. That check is the service; the certificate itself is just paper.
In order
How this works in practice
Read the requirement schedule
Before signing the contract, so compliance is priced rather than discovered. Send it to us; that is what we are for.
Endorse the policy
Additional insured on the named form, ongoing and completed operations, primary and non-contributory, waiver of subrogation as required.
Then issue the certificate
Reporting what is actually on the policy. In that order, and only in that order.
Diary the renewal
So the standing holder gets a replacement before expiry instead of a chasing email afterwards.
Questions we are actually asked
Certificates and additional insureds — frequently asked
Is a certificate of insurance proof of coverage?
It is evidence of what was in force on the day it printed, and nothing more. It confers no rights on the holder and does not amend the policy — the standard form says so on its face. Additional insured status comes only from an endorsement on the policy itself.
What is an additional insured endorsement?
A change to your policy extending certain cover to another party, usually a landlord or a general contractor, on a specific form. It costs something, needs the carrier's agreement, and is the only thing that actually gives them protection. The certificate merely reports that it exists.
What is the difference between ongoing and completed operations?
Ongoing operations covers the additional insured for claims arising while your work is in progress. Completed operations covers them for claims arising after it is finished — which is when most construction claims actually arrive. Contracts usually require both, and a certificate saying only 'additional insured' does not tell you which you have.
Why won't you just add the wording to the certificate?
Because it would be false and it would leave you personally exposed. If the holder relies on it, tenders a claim and the carrier finds no endorsement, the tender fails and the holder comes to you under your indemnity with nothing behind it. Refusing on Friday is much cheaper for you than that.
Bring the declarations page and we will read it with you
Ask us what it would cost
Send or bring the summary pages of what you already have — those two sheets are where most of the useful conversation is. We will tell you what we would place it with and what that would cost, what we are paid for doing it, and whether you should move at all. Quite often the answer is that your current policy is priced fairly and you should keep it, and that is an answer we give in writing like any other.