Additional Insured Gaps

Contracts routinely require vendors, subcontractors, and tenants to name the property manager, landlord, or general contractor as an Additional Insured. That status extends liability protection to them for harm caused by or arising out of the Named Insured’s operations.

This gap means the submitted documents don’t confirm that coverage. The sections below explain what’s missing and how to resolve it.

Read more about Additional Insured coverage here.

Understanding the gap:

The Before Resubmitting checklist at the end of this article summarizes what should be confirmed on the corrected document.

Missing Additional Insureds

A “missing” gap is flagged when the required Additional Insured entities do not appear, or are incomplete, on the submitted insurance documents.

It is important to note that Additional Insured coverage must always be indicated on the same document as the applicable policy.

Where to Add the Missing Coverage

Additional Insured entities are usually included in the Description of Operations box of the Certificate of Insurance, like in the example below:

If there is no space to add the entities in the Description of Operations box, it can be mentioned on the Additional Remarks page (ACORD 101):

The Additional Insured entities can also be evidenced on a separate endorsement page, corresponding to the applicable policy:

Partially Missing Additional Insured

If the Additional Insured entities on the insurance documents seem identical to the required information but are still being flagged as a gap, a specific part may be missing. Jones uses quotation marks (“”) to highlight the exact problem.

Here are some examples:

1. Missing designation

In this case, most of the entity is listed on the documents, but the designation “LLC” is missing. To fix the gap, the document needs to be updated to reflect the complete entity name.

2. Missing related interests

Here, the gap is needed because, although the full entity is added as an Additional Insured, the related interest information is missing and must be provided alongside the main entity name.

Unacceptable Abbreviations

Sometimes, entities are listed with unacceptable abbreviations. In these cases, a “missing” gap will also be flagged.

Non-standard abbreviations are not accepted as equivalent because they can have different meanings. Here, the Additional Insured requirement calls for Lopez & Reis, Inc. and ABC Development, LLC. While similar entities have been provided as Additional Insureds (L&R, Inc. and ABC DVLP, LLC), the abbreviations used are not acceptable, so “missing” gaps will be flagged.

Name Listed as Certificate Holder Only

Being listed as a Certificate Holder does not grant any rights or benefits under a policy. If the required Additional Insured entity is only included as the Certificate Holder on the COI, a “missing” gap will be flagged.

In the example below, Alpha Landscape Associates is only listed as the Certificate Holder, and there is no wording confirming Additional Insured status, so coverage is not extended to them.

ADDL INSR Box Checked Alone

The ADDL INSR column on the COI confirms that the policy includes Additional Insured coverage. However, having the box checked alone is not evidence enough that the required entities are covered. In such cases, a “missing” gap is flagged.

On the following COI, although the ADDL INSR indicated that the General, Automobile, and Umbrella Liability policies have Additional Insured coverage, no name appears in the Description of Operations box, on the ACORD 101, or on any endorsement page.

For it to be acceptable, the required entities must be listed as Additional Insureds.

Misspelled Additional Insureds

A “misspelled” gap is flagged when the required Additional Insured entities appear on the submitted insurance documents, but the name contains an error.
Note that even if the difference is minor, such as a letter being missing or typed incorrectly, the gap is still needed. Jones uses quotation marks (“”) to highlight the exact problem.

In this example, the word “Collective” is missing one of the letters “l”, which might seem minor, but the misspelling gap still applies.

Missing Additional Insured Status

When the required entities appear on the documents, but are not explicitly named as Additional Insureds, a “status” gap will be flagged.

The following COI mentions Beta Organization Inc. in the Description of Operations box, but there is no explicit statement such as “Beta Organization Inc. is included as Additional Insured”; therefore, coverage cannot be confirmed, and a gap is needed.

In the example below, the verbiage listed alongside the entity name explicitly confirms their status as an Additional Insured, which is sufficient.

Missing Additional Insureds for Specific Policies

While Additional Insured coverage is most commonly associated with General Liability policies, it can also be required for other types of insurance, including but not limited to Automobile, Umbrella, Pollution, and Liquor Liability.

When Additional Insured coverage is required under multiple policies, each applicable policy must provide evidence of that coverage.

It is important to note that, when policies are provided on separate documents, the Additional Insured coverage must be indicated on the same document as the applicable policies.

Coverage may be shown in one of the following ways for it to be acceptable.
1. Specific wording listing each policy
When entities are added with respect to specific policies, the wording is accepted on its own for the listed policies.

In this case, the Additional Insureds are compliant for General, Automobile, and Umbrella Liability, as explicitly mentioned on the COI. This is the clearer format for providing coverage.

2. Broad wording, with no policy boxes marked
Accepted for all applicable policies on the COI, since broad language presents no restrictions and the coverage is also not restricted by the boxes.

In this example, Additional Insured coverage is compliant for the General, Automobile, and Umbrella Liability policies.

3. Broad wording, with some policy boxes marked
As explained, broad language presents no restrictions and applies to all policies. However, when the ADDL INSR column is checked for some policies but not all, the wording identifies the entities, and the boxes identify the policies that have the coverage.

The COI below shows broad language for the Additional Insured coverage and has the ADDL INSR box checked for General Liability, so the coverage is compliant only for this policy.

Missing Additional Insureds for Specific COIs

Sometimes, multiple Certificates of Insurance are required for different stakeholders  — one for the owner and a separate one for the management company. When that is the case, the requirement specifies that more than one entity must be listed as the Certificate Holder. 

If multiple Certificates of Insurance are required, the required policies and provisions must be present on all of them, including Additional Insured coverage.

The requirement calls out the required Additional Insured entities for each Certificate Holder entity:

When multiple Certificates of Insurance are required, all COIs that include policies for which Additional Insured coverage is required must list the required Additional Insured entities.

In case anything is missing or incorrectly provided, Jones indicates which COI must be corrected to include the missing Additional Insured entities or fix specific issues using its reference number (#).

In the example below, the two required COIs were provided listing Additional Insured coverage. While COI #2 includes all the required Additional Insured entities, COI #1 is missing one of the required entities.

A gap is needed indicating which Additional Insured entity must be included in which specific COI (#).

Before Resubmitting

Small details are a common cause of repeat gaps — a missing designation, or a name listed without Additional Insured wording. The list below summarizes what should be confirmed before the corrected documents are submitted.

• All required entities are listed and spelled exactly as required
• Full designations are included (LLC, Inc., LP, Co.)
• Related interests wording is included when required
• Wording explicitly states the entities are Additional Insureds for all the required policies
• Additional Insured coverage is provided for all the applicable policies
• Additional Insured coverage appears on the same document as the applicable policy
• If more than one COI is required, each one lists the required Additional Insured entities
  
• If more than one policy period is provided, the Additional Insured entities must appear on the documents for each applicable policy period