How do I read a certificate of insurance, and what should I check?
Read it top to bottom against what you required: the insured’s exact name, each policy type with its policy number and dates, the limits in the right-hand column, the ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD columns, the description of operations box, and the certificate holder. Then ask for the endorsements. The ACORD 25 says on its face that it confers no rights on the holder and that a statement on it does not replace an endorsement.
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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.
Every box on the ACORD 25, and what to check
Date
- What it shows
- The day the certificate was issued
- What to check
- A certificate is a snapshot; one issued before the current policy term proves nothing about today
Producer
- What it shows
- The agency that issued it
- What to check
- Who to call to verify it or get the endorsements
Insured
- What it shows
- The business the policies cover
- What to check
- The exact legal name on your contract, including the LLC or Inc
Insurers A to F, NAIC #
- What it shows
- The carriers, each with a letter
- What to check
- Look up the AM Best rating if your contract sets one
INSR LTR
- What it shows
- Which carrier writes each policy
- What to check
- Match each line to its carrier letter
ADDL INSD
- What it shows
- A Y where the agent states you are additional insured
- What to check
- A statement only; ask for the endorsement page
SUBR WVD
- What it shows
- A Y where the agent states subrogation is waived
- What to check
- Some policies need an endorsement for it; ask for it
Policy number, EFF, EXP
- What it shows
- The policy and its dates
- What to check
- Covers your contract dates, and diary the expiration
Limits
- What it shows
- Each occurrence, aggregate, damage to rented premises and so on
- What to check
- Every figure your contract names, line by line
CLAIMS-MADE / OCCUR
- What it shows
- The general liability and umbrella form
- What to check
- Claims-made needs a retroactive date question
GEN’L AGGREGATE LIMIT APPLIES PER
- What it shows
- Policy, project or location
- What to check
- Per project or location if your contract requires it
Any auto, owned, hired, non-owned
- What it shows
- Which autos the auto policy covers
- What to check
- Hired and non-owned only means no company vehicles are covered
Proprietor or officer excluded (Y/N)
- What it shows
- Whether owners are excluded from workers comp
- What to check
- Matters when the owner does the work
Description of operations
- What it shows
- Free text: job, location, endorsements that apply
- What to check
- The endorsements your contract requires, by name or form number
Certificate holder
- What it shows
- Who the certificate was issued to
- What to check
- Your exact legal name and address
Cancellation
- What it shows
- Notice per the policy provisions
- What to check
- Does not promise notice to you
Field names as printed on the ACORD 25 (2016/03).
The detail
The ACORD 25 (2016/03) states that it is issued as a matter of information only, confers no rights upon the certificate holder, and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage afforded by the policies listed.
The form states that if the certificate holder is an additional insured, the policy must have additional insured provisions or be endorsed, and that a statement on the certificate does not confer rights to the holder in lieu of such endorsements.
The general liability section prints limits for each occurrence, damage to rented premises (each occurrence), medical expense (any one person), personal and advertising injury, general aggregate and products and completed operations aggregate.
The form states that limits shown may have been reduced by paid claims, and that notice of cancellation will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions.
The workers compensation section asks whether any proprietor, partner, executive officer or member is excluded, and says the answer is mandatory in New Hampshire.
What this means for you
- Check the names before the limits. Most rejected certificates fail on an exact legal name or address, not on coverage. Compare the insured and the certificate holder against the contract letter for letter.
- A Y is not an endorsement. ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD are the agent’s statements. The form itself says the endorsement is what confers rights, so a careful requester asks for the endorsement pages with the certificate.
- Read the description box. It is where the agent says which job, location or contract the certificate is for, and which endorsements apply. Blank is common, and it is the box a contract reviewer reads first.
- What is not on it matters most. Exclusions never appear on a certificate. A policy that excludes your kind of work, or caps abuse or liquor claims, can produce a perfect-looking certificate.
Related questions
- Where can I see a sample certificate of insurance?
Our COI Requirements Decoder loads a sample ACORD 25 marked as a sample and reads it line by line: the policies it shows, the limits, what the description box says, and what it cannot prove. Paste one you were sent and it does the same for yours, in your browser.
- Read a sample certificate
- What does a Y in the ADDL INSD column mean?
That the agent who issued the certificate states the holder is an additional insured on that policy. It is not the coverage. The coverage is an additional insured endorsement on the policy, and the form says a statement on the certificate does not confer rights in place of one.
- Certificate holder vs additional insured
- Does a certificate prove the policy is still in force?
No. It shows the policies on the day it was issued, and the limits may already have been reduced by paid claims, as the form says. For a long contract, ask for a renewal certificate each year and call the producer named on it if anything looks off.
- Can I make my own certificate if my agent is slow?
Not from a template. A certificate is a statement by the agent or insurer about coverage in force. Some agencies give clients authority to issue their own from vetted templates on live policy data, which is different.
- Making your own certificate
- Can you check the insurance requirements I was sent?
Yes. Paste them into our free COI Requirements Decoder, pick your type of business, and it explains each requirement, flags what is often missing and lists the lines to quote, without the text leaving your browser. One button then asks a licensed agent to quote what it found.
- Open the COI Requirements Decoder
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 Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822, at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-10-05. See all guides.