What to check on a subcontractor COI

The header and the holder

Check the date the certificate was issued, then ignore it as the expiration. The dates that matter are the policy effective and expiration dates on each line of coverage. A certificate issued yesterday can describe a policy that ends tomorrow. Next, read the insured's name. It should be the company you subcontracted with, not a parent company you have never heard of and not a similarly spelled firm from another city. If the name does not match your subcontract, stop and ask. Do not file it under the name you wish it said.

Read the certificate holder. It should be the legal entity your contract tells the sub to name. A holder of 'to whom it may concern' is a certificate that was not made for you. A holder that names a different general contractor is a certificate made for someone else. Either one can be renewed into the right name. Neither one should be accepted as-is just because the limits look familiar.

Lines, limits, and what is missing

General liability should show a policy number, an insurer, and dates. Compare the limits to the subcontract. If you do not have the subcontract in front of you, do not invent a pass. Workers' compensation should be present when the sub has employees, unless you have a written reason to accept an exemption, and that exemption needs its own end date. Automobile liability matters when they drive to the site. Umbrella or excess, if required, should show a limit and a date, not a blank row that someone assumes is included in the liability number.

Look at the description of operations only after the lines. That box is where brokers type additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and the project name. Treat it as a statement to verify, not as proof. The additional insured checklist explains why the endorsement is a separate document. If a line you need is blank, the sub did not meet that item. Do not copy the general liability date into the blank. Absence is information.

• Insured name matches the subcontract.
• Certificate holder matches the required legal entity.
• Each required line has its own carrier, policy number, and expiration.
• Limits are compared to the contract, not to last year's memory.
• A blank line is missing, not included.
• Description-of-operations wording is not the endorsement.

After you accept it

Type each line's expiration into its own document on that subcontractor's party. Attach the PDF. Notes can hold the holder name and whether you saw an endorsement. The board will mark it expiring and then expired. Reminders go at 30, 14, and 7 days. The email template is the wording for that chase. When the new certificate arrives, read it again. Renewals drop lines. Review is the second reading. Starter, Pro, and Business are $29, $59, and $99 a month, or $290, $590, and $990 a year, which is two months free. Party limits are 25, 100, and 300. The 7-day trial is for first-time subscribers only.

The product will not call the insurer to confirm the policy is still in force. If you need that confirmation, ask the broker or the carrier. What the file gives you is a consistent reading and a date you will see again. Pair this page with the spreadsheet alternative if the current system is a workbook, and with the general contractor page if you want the workspace defaults for liability, workers' compensation, auto, umbrella, and a W-9.