Certificates of Insurance
A quick reference guide for business owners
CERTIFICATE of INSURANCE FAQ's
Commercial risks are often asked to provide proof of insurance protection. This is commonly done through a certificate of insurance. A certificate of insurance is not a contract — its purpose is to verify the policy term; coverage and amounts of insurance protection. In some instances a party having an interest in the premises or operations of the inured will ask to be added to the policy as an Additional Insured. When this is done, the Additional Insured is protected for vicarious liability arising from the insured’s premises or operations. As a protected party, any payments made on their behalf will dilute the limits of liability. Because of this, these requests are reviewed by Underwriting for approval. You should advise Underwriting of the reason for the Additional Insured protection (i.e. landlord, general contractor, loss payee for equipment, etc.). On occasion an Additional Insured may request that coverage be primary and non-contributory or, that the insured waive their rights of recovery against the Additional Insured. Any such request must be approved by the Home Office Underwriter. If an exception is to be made, the Underwriter would need to know the following:
- The size/scope of work performed
- The length of contract
- Will subcontract labor be used by the insured, and if so, what contractual arrangements have been made with this party? What limits of liability will be carried?
- Will any hazardous material be involved
The information below is from Hartford Insurance Company, one of the best and most well recognized in the insurance industry.
- Is issued by a legitimate insurance company
- Matches the name of the person or company you’re hiring
- Has the right coverages
- Lists each coverage amount
- Has a policy period that won’t expire until after completing your project.
An additional great excerpt from Hartford Insurance in response to this common question.
Our Certificate of Insurance Capabilities
Proprietary Certificate of Insurance tool that allows you to generate your own certificates of insurance through the Kelly Insurance Group portal. This tool allows you to login to our client portal and get a certificate when it matters most!
Access to our 24/7 certificate service team that can be contacted during a certificate of insurance emergency.
Experienced and proficient in various 3rd party certificate clearing houses such as: NetVendor, ISNETWORLD.
Free contract or agreement review to determine certificate requirements.
Additional Wording Examples on Certificates of Insurance
If a blanket Additional Insured is being used on a policy, does the Additional Insured information or certificate need to be sent to the insurance company?
If a blanket Additional Insured is on the policy, the Additional Insured information or certificate only needs to be sent to the insurance carrier if the Additional Insured requires Notice of Cancellation or if the Agent would like the insurer to issue the renewal certificate. If they do not require Notice of Cancellation and the Agent prefers to issue their own renewal certificates, the Additional Insured information does not need to be sent to the insurance company.
*This information is generally true. Some insurance carriers may have different ways of handling the additional insured by blanket record keeping.
What really is the difference between a Specific waiver and Blanket waiver?
Although, they both use the same form (WC000313), there is a difference in scope and premium. Specific waiver wording on the Declaration page describes “one contractor, one job”, whereas Blanket language is considered as “any contractor, any job”. Larger blanket premium reflects exposure.
