A Certificate of Insurance, commonly called a COI, is a document that provides a summary of certain insurance policies, coverage types, policy dates, and limits shown at the time the certificate is issued.

Contractors are often asked to provide a COI to general contractors, project owners, property managers, landlords, municipalities, and other organizations before beginning work.

A COI is an important form of evidence of insurance, but it is not the insurance policy itself. Actual coverage is determined by the underlying policies, forms, endorsements, exclusions, and conditions.

A COI is commonly used as evidence that certain insurance policies and limits are shown as in effect on the date the certificate is issued. However, it does not replace the actual insurance policy or guarantee that every contractual insurance requirement has been satisfied.

For example, a certificate may show General Liability coverage and policy limits, but that alone may not confirm the full scope of coverage, all exclusions, or whether a specific organization has Additional Insured status.

The underlying policy and applicable endorsements control actual coverage.

No. Being listed as a Certificate Holder does not automatically make a person or organization an Additional Insured.

The Certificate Holder is generally the person or organization receiving the certificate as evidence of insurance. Additional Insured status is different and generally depends on the terms of the policy, applicable endorsements, and sometimes the requirements of a written contract.

This is one of the most common misunderstandings contractors encounter when submitting Certificates of Insurance.

When someone refers to $1 million / $2 million General Liability limits, they are commonly referring to:

$1,000,000 Each Occurrence

$2,000,000 General Aggregate

The Each Occurrence limit generally refers to the maximum amount shown for a covered occurrence, subject to policy terms. The General Aggregate generally refers to the maximum amount shown for certain covered claims during the applicable aggregate period.

A COI may also display separate limits for Products-Completed Operations, Personal and Advertising Injury, Damage to Rented Premises, and Medical Expense.

The exact application of these limits depends on the policy terms and circumstances of a claim.

The Description of Operations / Locations / Vehicles section is an area of the certificate where additional information may be included about a project, location, contract, certificate holder requirement, or certain insurance provisions. For contractors, this section may contain references to items such as:

- Project names or job numbers

- Specific work locations

- Additional Insured provisions

- Primary and Noncontributory wording

- Waiver of Subrogation

- Completed Operations

- Applicable endorsements

However, wording placed in the Description of Operations box does not automatically create or change insurance coverage. Actual coverage depends on the underlying policy and applicable endorsements.

A Certificate of Insurance is a summary document used to provide evidence of certain insurance information. An insurance policy is the actual contract that contains the coverage agreements, definitions, exclusions, conditions, limits, forms, and endorsements that determine coverage.

A COI may show that a contractor carries General Liability, Commercial Auto, Umbrella, or Workers’ Compensation insurance, but it does not reproduce the complete terms of those policies.

When there is a question about whether a particular claim, project, organization, or contractual requirement is covered, the actual policy and applicable endorsements control—not the certificate alone.