What is the difference between a certificate holder and an additional insured?
A certificate holder is simply the person the certificate was sent to. An additional insured has actual coverage under your policy, granted by an endorsement, for liability arising out of your work. Being listed as a certificate holder gives someone a piece of paper; being an additional insured gives them a defense and a limit.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
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Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
The detail
The certificate holder box on the ACORD 25 identifies the party to whom the certificate is issued, and the form states that the certificate confers no rights on that party.
Additional insured status is created by endorsement to the policy, and the certificate form directs that the policies must be endorsed where such status is required.
What this means for you
- When a contract says the other party must be "named on the certificate", read further. If it also requires defense, or says "additional insured", it is asking for an endorsement.
- Listing a party as certificate holder costs nothing and changes nothing. Adding them as an additional insured changes the policy and may change the premium, which is why the request needs to reach your broker rather than being handled at the front desk.
- A subcontractor who has only ever been made a certificate holder on their own subs' policies has no rights against those subs' insurers. The distinction exists to prevent exactly that exposure.
Related questions
- My landlord asked to be "added to my policy". Which one do they want?
Usually additional insured, and often also loss payee on the property side if they own the building. Commercial leases typically require additional insured status for liability arising out of your use of the premises. Send us the lease clause rather than the email: the clause states what is required, and the email rarely does.
- Does adding an additional insured cost me anything?
Sometimes, and usually modestly. Some policies include a blanket additional insured endorsement that grants the status automatically wherever a written contract requires it, in which case there is nothing to add and nothing to pay. Where there is no blanket, each one is scheduled individually and may carry a charge. Knowing which of those two situations you are in is worth five minutes before you sign anything that requires it.
- Can someone be both?
Yes, and normally they are. The party who is an additional insured by endorsement is also listed as certificate holder so they receive the paperwork. The point is that the second does not create the first.
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Written by the licensed brokers at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-08-21. See all guides.