How do I find out if my policy has one?

Look in the endorsements and the conditions for words such as subcontractor, independent contractor, warranty or condition precedent. The certificate will not show it. Send us the policy and we will read it.

Sometimes at renewal, more often by moving to a carrier that does not use it. Mid-term removal is rare. Varies by carrier.

Can you check the insurance requirements in my contract?

Yes. Paste the insurance section into our free Contract Insurance Decoder and it names the endorsement behind each clause, flags the ones that are often missing, and prints a checklist, without the text leaving your browser. Send that with your current policy and a licensed agent compares them line by line, usually the same business day.

A framing contractor holding a folder of certificates from his own subcontractors on a residential job site at sunset, stacked lumber and framed walls behind him

What is a subcontractor warranty or independent contractors exclusion?

It is carrier wording, not a standard ISO form, that conditions or removes your coverage for work done by your own subcontractors. A warranty typically requires you to collect certificates, set limits and get additional insured status and a hold harmless from every sub; an exclusion removes coverage for their work outright. General contractors forbid both because their claim against you may arise from your sub’s work.

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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.

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The forms, side by side

Form	What it does	Blanket or scheduled	Carrier availability	What to ask your agent	Common trap
Subcontractor warranty (carrier)	Coverage conditioned on collecting insurance from your subs	Carrier condition	Varies by carrier	What exactly must we collect, and at what limits?	One sub without a certificate voids or reduces the claim
Independent contractors exclusion (carrier)	Removes coverage for work by subs	Carrier exclusion	Found in lower-cost and hard-to-place markets	Is any work by subcontractors excluded?	Fails every general contractor contract
Subcontractor premium charge	Uninsured subs’ costs added to your payroll or sales at audit	Rating rule	Common	How are uninsured subs charged at audit?	A large audit bill a year later

Subcontractor warranty (carrier)
What it does
Coverage conditioned on collecting insurance from your subs
Blanket or scheduled
Carrier condition
Carrier availability
Varies by carrier
What to ask your agent
What exactly must we collect, and at what limits?
Common trap
One sub without a certificate voids or reduces the claim
Independent contractors exclusion (carrier)
What it does
Removes coverage for work by subs
Blanket or scheduled
Carrier exclusion
Carrier availability
Found in lower-cost and hard-to-place markets
What to ask your agent
Is any work by subcontractors excluded?
Common trap
Fails every general contractor contract
Subcontractor premium charge
What it does
Uninsured subs’ costs added to your payroll or sales at audit
Blanket or scheduled
Rating rule
Carrier availability
Common
What to ask your agent
How are uninsured subs charged at audit?
Common trap
A large audit bill a year later

The detail

The ISO additional insured endorsements cover the additional insured for injury or damage caused in whole or in part by your acts or omissions or "the acts or omissions of those acting on your behalf", which includes subcontractors working for you.
ISO endorsements reproduced in Risk & Insurance Education Alliance, "Certificates of Insurance and Additional Insureds" course materials (2019)
Pollution exclusion f(1)(d) of CG 00 01 refers to "any insured or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on any insured's behalf", which shows the standard form treats work by your subcontractors as part of your operations.
ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13 (specimen)

What this means for you

Collect certificates before the sub starts. Most warranties require the paper before the work, at limits at least equal to yours, with you as additional insured. Collecting it after a claim does not cure the breach.
Match your contract downward. Whatever the general contractor requires of you, require of your subs. The flow-down is how your own policy stays whole.
The audit finds uninsured subs. Even without a warranty, carriers commonly charge for uninsured subcontractor costs at audit. Keep the certificates where the auditor can see them.

Go deeper on any of these

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.