To check additional insured status on a COI, read the ACORD 25 for what it claims, then request the endorsement that grants it. Confirm the endorsement form covers the operations your contract requires, names your entity or a category you fit, carries the same policy number and dates as the certificate, and is an issued copy, not a specimen.
What can the ACORD 25 actually prove?
The certificate is a summary written by the broker. A certificate of insurance confers no rights and cannot alter the policy; where the certificate and the policy disagree, the policy and its endorsements control. That limits what a reviewer can conclude from the form alone.
Three parts of the ACORD 25 are relevant to additional insured status. The ADDL INSD column next to each policy line indicates whether the broker believes additional insured status applies to that policy. The Description of Operations box usually carries the wording, such as “the owner and general contractor are included as additional insureds as required by written contract.” The Certificate Holder box at the bottom identifies who receives the document, and being the certificate holder gives no rights under the policy.
Together these tell you what to ask for. They do not tell you what you have.
What is the step-by-step procedure?
- Read the ADDL INSD column and confirm it is marked for every policy line your contract requires: general liability at minimum, and umbrella or auto where the contract says so.
- Read the Description of Operations and note the exact wording: which entities are named, whether it says “as required by written contract,” and whether it references an endorsement form.
- Request the additional insured endorsement itself for each policy line. Wording on the certificate alone does not close the requirement.
- Identify the form and its scope. Under ISO forms, CG 20 10 covers ongoing operations and CG 20 37 covers completed operations. If your contract requires completed operations, confirm CG 20 37 or an equivalent is present.
- Check how you are identified. On a scheduled form, read the Name of Persons or Organizations box and the Locations of Covered Operations box; your entity name must match the contract exactly and the location must be the correct project or property. On a blanket form, read the qualifying language and confirm a written contract between the parties exists that requires the coverage.
- Match the policy number on the endorsement to the policy number on the certificate. A mismatch means the endorsement may belong to a prior term or a different policy.
- Match the endorsement’s effective and expiration dates to the policy period on the certificate. Both documents must fall inside the current term.
- Reject any endorsement marked Specimen, Sample, Draft, For Illustration Only or Void. Those markings mean the form was never issued against the policy.
If any step fails, the certificate is not compliant for additional insured status, however clean it looks.
What does the Description of Operations box prove?
Less than most reviewers assume. The box is free text typed by the broker. It can name additional insureds, reference endorsement forms and repeat contract language, but it is descriptive. A statement there that the owner is an additional insured describes what the broker understands the policy to do and does not itself amend the policy, which is how the additional insured trap catches teams that stop at the certificate.
Two phrases deserve attention. “Additional insured per attached endorsement” tells you an endorsement exists somewhere; it does not tell you what the endorsement grants. “As required by written contract” tells you the coverage is conditional; it applies only if a qualifying contract exists between the named insured and your entity.
Read the box for instructions on what to request, not as evidence of coverage.
Which endorsement forms should you request?
Ask for the form that grants the status on each policy the contract requires. For general liability under ISO forms, that is typically CG 20 10 for ongoing operations, CG 20 37 for completed operations, or a carrier’s proprietary blanket form that covers both. Additional insured status is always added by endorsement and cannot be confirmed from the certificate, so the form is the evidence.
Scheduled forms list the additional insureds by name. Blanket forms cover whoever meets a definition, most often parties the named insured has agreed in writing to add. Contracts often specify one or the other; a scheduled form where a blanket form was required, or the reverse, may not satisfy the requirement.
Request the full form, including the schedule. A first page without the schedule proves nothing about who is covered.
How do you confirm the named insured and the policy dates?
The named insured on the certificate must be the same legal entity that signed your contract. Trade names, DBAs, holding companies and near-identical LLC names are the usual traps: the certificate looks right at a glance while coverage belongs to a different entity. Compare the name in the Insured box against the contract character by character, and treat any variance as an open question until the broker confirms it in writing.
For dates, check three things. The policy period on the certificate covers the contract term. The endorsement’s own effective and expiration dates fall inside that policy period. And the certificate itself is current, since a renewal policy evidenced with the expiring term’s endorsement leaves a gap.
How does this fit into a compliance workflow?
Manually, this procedure takes an experienced reviewer several minutes per certificate and requires a second round trip to the broker for the endorsements. At the volume of a large project or a property portfolio, the endorsement step is the one most often skipped.
Jones automates the procedure: when a certificate and its endorsements are submitted, the review reads the ADDL INSD column, the Description of Operations and each endorsement form, then checks scope, schedule, policy number, dates and validity against the contract requirements. Each mismatch is flagged as a specific gap with instructions for the broker to fix it, following the review process Jones applies to every insurance document, so the vendor or subcontractor is not cleared until the endorsement actually grants the status. Why the status matters in the first place is covered in our guide on why additional insured status matters.
FAQs
Does “additional insured” in the Description of Operations mean I am covered?
No. That box is broker-written text describing the policy; it does not amend the policy or grant rights. You are covered only if an endorsement issued by the carrier names your entity or defines a category you fit. Always request the endorsement.
Which endorsement should I ask for, CG 20 10 or CG 20 37?
Both, if your exposure continues after the work is done. CG 20 10 covers liability arising from ongoing operations and stops when the named insured finishes. CG 20 37 covers completed operations. Most construction contracts require both; many blanket forms cover both in a single endorsement.
What if the endorsement’s policy number does not match the certificate?
Treat it as non-compliant. An endorsement amends only the policy it is attached to, so a different number means there is no evidence the coverage applies to the policy in force for your contract. Ask the broker to have the carrier reissue the endorsement under the correct policy.
Can a blanket additional insured endorsement fail to cover me?
Yes. Blanket forms cover parties that meet the form’s definition, usually those the named insured agreed in a written contract to add. If no qualifying written contract exists between the named insured and your entity, or your relationship does not fit the definition, the endorsement does not reach you.
Jones runs this verification on every certificate and endorsement it receives, matching each form against the contract and tracking status across vendors, subcontractors and tenants. See how the Jones Platform handles COI verification.
