When Additional Insured Isn’t on the Policy
A COI request can turn into an endorsement workflow the moment the policy fails to support the requested status.
Construction request: “Please name Northstar General Contractors as Certificate Holder and Additional Insured. Include Waiver of Subrogation.” The COI may take minutes; the coverage decision may not.
Two requests, not one
The certificate reports active coverage, limits, and dates. It creates no policy rights.
The policy must extend coverage through the applicable endorsement and its conditions.
You can list a holder on a certificate. You cannot create Additional Insured coverage by checking a box.
Read the endorsement, not the request
Construction policies may include scheduled Additional Insured forms, blanket endorsements, or carrier-specific equivalents. The forms schedule is only the starting point. The endorsement wording determines who qualifies and when.
- 1Find the CGL policy and applicable Additional Insured endorsement.
- 2Read its conditions, including written-contract requirements.
- 3Match the contractor, holder, and project to those conditions.
- 4Confirm whether ongoing and completed operations are both required.
- 5Check Waiver of Subrogation and Primary & Noncontributory separately.
When the endorsement is missing
Imagine the policy is active, its limits satisfy the contract, and a Waiver is available—but there is no blanket or scheduled Additional Insured endorsement for Northstar.
That is no longer a certificate task. It is an endorsement request. The agency may need to confirm the contract, send the request to the carrier, MGA, or wholesaler, and wait for the policy to be changed. Until then, the certificate should not represent Northstar as Additional Insured.
Useful escalation
Make the decision clear
“Needs review” is not enough. The account manager needs the conflict, the source, and the next step.
Additional Insured requested. No applicable blanket or scheduled AI endorsement found. Carrier endorsement needed before issuance.
One email can contain several decisions
“COI + AI + Waiver” is shorthand for distinct checks. A policy can support one requirement and not another. A blanket AI form may require a written contract. An ongoing-operations form may not meet a completed-operations requirement. A Waiver may live on a separate endorsement.
Each claim on the certificate needs support in the policy—not in the last certificate sent.
Send us five COI requests.
See completed work and the judgment calls we surface.