General Liability Additional Insured Endorsement Gaps

General Liability is the policy where Additional Insured requirements are most detailed. A contract or lease rarely asks only for “Additional Insured status” under General Liability — it asks for that status to apply to a particular kind of exposure, and each of those is granted by a different endorsement form.

The three most commonly required forms are the following. These are separate grants of coverage. An endorsement covering Ongoing Operations does not extend to Completed Operations, so where the contract requires both, both forms (or an equivalent combined form) must be provided.

Form	Grants Additional Insured status for
CG 20 10	Ongoing Operations — work the vendor or subcontractor is performing
CG 20 37	Completed Operations — work already finished, after the vendor has left the site
CG 20 11	Managers or Lessors of Premises — a tenant’s occupancy of leased premises

None of this is satisfied by the Certificate of Insurance. A line in the Description of Operations box stating that the required entities are Additional Insureds for ongoing and completed operations describes what the broker understands the policy to do, but it does not itself amend the policy and it confers no rights. The endorsement is the policy form that actually grants the coverage: it is issued by the carrier, attaches to a specific policy, and forms part of the contract of insurance. Where the requirement calls for an endorsement, the gap stays open until the form itself is provided, however clearly the COI is worded.

Providing the right form is not always the end of it either. An endorsement is evidence of coverage only if it was actually issued against the policy in place, so the same four checks apply to every form on this page:

The policy number on the endorsement must match the one shown on the Certificate of Insurance
The effective and expiration dates must span the policy period
The form must carry no invalidating watermark
The schedule box must be complete with the correct information

Understanding the gap:

If the gap says	The issue is
Missing a copy of the Additional Insured Endorsement covering Ongoing Operations (CG 20 10 or equivalent)	Separate Additional Insured endorsement form covering work in progress isn’t attached — Wording on the COI alone isn’t enough for this requirement
Missing a copy of the Additional Insured Endorsement covering Completed Operations (CG 20 37 or equivalent)	Separate Additional Insured endorsement form completed work isn’t attached — Wording on the COI alone isn’t enough for this requirement
Missing a copy of the Additional Insured Endorsement for Managers or Lessors of Premises	Separate Additional Insured endorsement form covering the leased premises isn’t attached — Wording on the COI alone isn’t enough for this requirement
Missing a copy of the Blanket Additional Insured Endorsement	Separate Additional Insured endorsement form covering all additional insured entities per written contract isn’t attached — Wording on the COI alone isn’t enough for this requirement
Name of Persons or Organizations box on the Additional Insured endorsement must include “Entity Name” or Name of Persons or Organizations box on the Additional Insured endorsement must list all Additional Insured entities	A scheduled endorsement is on file, but not all required Additional Insured entities are named in its schedule
Locations of Covered Operations box on the Additional Insured Endorsement is blank or Locations of Covered Operations box on the Additional Insured Endorsement lists an incorrect address	A scheduled endorsement is on file, but the schedule does not identify the correct location
Policy number on the Additional Insured endorsement does not match the “Policy” policy number	An endorsement is provided, but it does not reference the policy shown on the Certificate of Insurance
Additional Insured Endorsement for Policy cannot be accepted due to an invalid effective date or Additional Insured Endorsement for Policy cannot be accepted because the expiry date has passed	The dates listed on the provided endorsement do not cover the current coverage period
Additional Insured Endorsement cannot be accepted due to an invalidating watermark	The provided endorsement is marked as a specimen, sample, draft, or void copy

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

Missing Additional Insured Endorsement covering Ongoing Operations (CG 20 10 or equivalent)

Ongoing Operations coverage applies while the work is being performed. It responds to harm arising out of the vendor’s or subcontractor’s activities at the site during the job: an injury to a passer-by, damage caused while equipment is being moved, and similar events occurring in the course of the work.

This is the most frequently required Additional Insured form, and the one most often satisfied with certificate wording alone. Where the contract calls for the endorsement, CG 20 10 or a carrier equivalent must be attached.

How to fix this gap? The broker must provide an Additional Insured Endorsement covering Ongoing Operations (CG 20 10 or equivalent) for the General Liability policy.

See the example below:

Missing Additional Insured Endorsement covering Completed Operations (CG 20 37 or equivalent)

Completed Operations coverage applies after the work is finished. It responds to harm arising out of the completed work once the vendor or subcontractor has left the site: a fixture that later fails, a repair that causes damage months afterwards.

Because construction defect claims commonly surface long after completion, this is the coverage that matters most once a job has closed. It is a separate grant from Ongoing Operations: CG 20 10 alone does not satisfy a Completed Operations requirement, and the gap stays open until CG 20 37 or an equivalent form is provided.

How to fix this gap? The broker must provide an Additional Insured Endorsement covering Completed Operations (CG 20 37 or equivalent) for the General Liability policy.

See the example below:

Missing Additional Insured Endorsement covering Ongoing and Completed Operations for Managers or Lessors of Premises (CG 20 11 or equivalent)

Managers or Lessors of Premises coverage applies to leased property. It grants Additional Insured status to the owner, landlord, or property manager for harm arising out of the tenant’s occupancy of the leased premises, and is the form ordinarily required under a lease rather than a vendor agreement or subcontract.

The schedule on this form identifies both the designated premises and the persons or organizations covered, so it must be completed with the actual property address and the entity names required by the lease. An endorsement naming the right entities against the wrong premises does not close the gap.

How to fix this gap? The broker must provide an Additional Insured Endorsement for Managers or Lessors of Premises (CG 20 11 or equivalent) for the General Liability policy, listing the required entities and the leased premises.

See the example below:

Missing Blanket Additional Insured Endorsement

Some requirements call specifically for a blanket Additional Insured Endorsement. Rather than naming entities, the schedule or the body of text of the endorsement must carry wording along the lines of any person or organization required by written contract, so that Additional Insured status attaches automatically to everyone the Named Insured has agreed contractually to cover.

How to fix this gap? The broker must provide an Additional Insured Endorsement whose Name of Persons or Organizations box or body of text states “any person or organization required per contract” or equivalent blanket wording.

See the example below:

Incorrectly Filled Endorsement Schedule

Endorsements that include Schedule boxes must be filled in correctly with the applicable information to be acceptable. If the Additional Insured endorsement is attached but a gap for the Name of Persons or Organizations box is flagged, the required Additional Insured entity is either missing or listed incorrectly in the Schedule.

Many Additional Insured forms grant coverage only to the persons or organizations listed in the schedule, and only in connection with the location shown there. When the schedule is left blank, the required entities are not covered.

The schedule must name the actual entities required by the contract and identify the property or project the coverage relates to.

How to fix this gap? The broker must have the carrier reissue the endorsement with the schedule completed, listing the required entity names as they appear in the contract and identifying the correct property or project.

Wrong Policy Number on the Endorsement

An endorsement only amends the policy it is attached to. When the policy number on the endorsement does not match the policy number shown on the Certificate of Insurance, there is no evidence that the coverage applies to the policy in place for the contract term and the endorsement may belong to a prior term or to an entirely different policy.

How to fix this gap? The broker must have the carrier reissue the endorsement under the correct policy number, matching the policy shown on the Certificate of Insurance.

Invalid Policy Period on the Endorsement

An endorsement grants coverage only for the period it is in force. When the endorsement’s effective date falls after the policy inception, or its expiration date falls before the policy expiration, the Additional Insured status does not span the full policy term shown on the Certificate of Insurance, leaving the required entities uncovered for part of the contract period.

This gap is most often seen when an endorsement was issued mid-term for a prior contract and then resubmitted, or when a renewal policy is evidenced with the expiring term’s endorsement.

How to fix this gap? The broker must have the carrier reissue the endorsement under effective and expiration dates that match the policy period shown on the Certificate of Insurance.

Invalidating Watermark on the Endorsement

Endorsements are sometimes submitted as blank forms or unissued copies, marked with wording such as Specimen, Sample, Draft, For Illustration Only, or Void. These markings indicate that the document has not been issued against the policy, so it cannot be relied on as proof of coverage no matter how complete the rest of the form appears.

How to fix this gap? The broker must have the carrier reissue the endorsement free of any wording indicating that it is a specimen, sample, draft, or otherwise unissued document.

Before Resubmitting

Small details are a common cause of repeat gaps — a provision written for only one policy, or an endorsement that names the wrong party. The list below summarizes what should be confirmed before the corrected documents are submitted.

If an endorsement is specifically required, it is attached — wording on the certificate alone is not sufficient
The endorsement references the applicable policy and states the coverage is both primary and non-contributory — one term alone is not enough
The endorsement carries no SAMPLE, SPECIMEN, DRAFT, or VOID watermark
Any policy number, effective date, and expiration date printed on the endorsement match the information shown for the applicable policy on the certificate
Where the endorsement includes a Schedule, all the applicable information is listed and spelled exactly as required. When applicable, the Schedule extends coverage to the required Additional Insured entities and locations
The endorsement and certificate both fall within the current policy period