TL;DR. To get a certificate of insurance from a vendor, put your insurance requirements in writing first. Then send them to the vendor and to its insurance broker. Include the project name, your company’s exact legal name as certificate holder, a request for the endorsement pages, and the date you need it by. When the certificate comes back, check the coverages, limits, dates, endorsements and description of operations against your contract before anyone starts work.
That’s the short version. The rest of this page covers what to ask for, how to keep the request moving, and what to check when the certificate lands. We build software that collects vendor documents, so we see where these requests stall.
Start with the requirements, not the request
Send us your COI is the request that stalls most often. The vendor’s office forwards it to the broker, and the broker sends whatever certificate it issued last. That certificate rarely matches your job.
Your requirements already live in your contract or insurance exhibit. Pull them out before you ask, and put them in the request itself:
- Each coverage you require: general liability, auto, workers’ compensation, umbrella or excess, and any professional or pollution coverage the scope calls for.
- The limit for each coverage.
- The certificate holder: your company’s exact legal name and mailing address.
- Additional insured status, and who must be named: your company, the owner, and anyone else your contract lists.
- Waiver of subrogation and primary and noncontributory wording, if your contract requires them.
- The project name and address, so the description of operations ties the coverage to this job.
If the vendor can see exactly what you need, the broker can issue it right the first time.
Send it to the vendor and the broker
The vendor doesn’t issue its own certificate. Its insurance broker or agent does. When you bring on a new vendor, ask for the broker’s name and email along with the other paperwork.
A request that comes back right usually includes:
- The project name and address.
- The full list of requirements above, copied from your contract.
- A request for the endorsement pages, not only the one-page certificate.
- Where to send the certificate.
- The date you need it by, before the vendor mobilizes.
Send one request per vendor, per project, and keep it in one place. If three people on your team each ask the same vendor, the vendor gets confused and nobody knows which certificate is current.
Why requests stall, and how to keep them moving
The same questions run through most compliance teams’ heads every day. Did that vendor ever send the COI? Is this one current? Multiply that by every vendor, every policy and every job, and the list gets long fast.
Requests usually stall in one of four places:
- The vendor forwards your email to the broker without your requirements.
- The broker sends a generic certificate that’s missing a coverage or an endorsement.
- The certificate arrives, sits in someone’s inbox, and nobody checks it.
- A policy renews in the middle of the job, and nobody asks for the new certificate.
The fix is a set follow-up routine and one list of who owes what. Track each vendor’s certificate by project, note every policy’s expiration date, and ask for the renewal before the old policy runs out. Keep asking until the new certificate is in.
What to check before work starts
A certificate on file isn’t the same as a certificate that meets your contract. Before the vendor starts, check:
- Coverages. Every coverage your contract requires is listed.
- Limits. Each limit meets or exceeds what your contract requires.
- Dates. The policy periods cover the work, start to finish.
- Certificate holder. Your company’s exact legal name and address.
- Endorsements. The certificate summarizes coverage. The endorsement is what grants additional insured status. Read the endorsement pages and confirm they name your company and anyone else your contract requires.
- Waiver of subrogation and primary and noncontributory. Present when your contract requires them.
- Description of operations. It names this project, not a different job or nothing at all.
If something is wrong, send it back with each problem named: the missing coverage, the low limit, the wrong holder name, the missing endorsement. A specific list gets a corrected certificate faster than a general rejection.
Where Contracts Connected helps, and where it stops
Contracts Connected collects vendor documents through a vendor portal. Vendors get a link in their inbox, set up a free account from it, and never pay. Their task list shows what they owe, and the portal reminds them Monday and Wednesday mornings until everything is in.
AI COI Review reads your subcontract or insurance exhibit and sets up your insurance requirements. When the document leaves something open, it asks you instead of guessing. Then it checks the COIs your vendors upload, and the endorsement pages sent with them, for coverages, limits, endorsements and the description of operations.
You approve or reject. On a reject, the deficiency notice is already drafted with the problems listed. You edit it and send it. The AI never sends it. You do.
Here is where it stops:
- It doesn’t set your insurance requirements. Your contract and your team do.
- It isn’t insurance advice, and it doesn’t replace your broker or your risk manager.
- It doesn’t decide. Your team accepts or rejects every certificate.
- Vendors set up a free account to upload. There’s no upload without one.
- The AI is optional. One switch turns it off for your whole account, and the portal and reminders keep working.
The AI agent that emails vendors for you is in beta. Builders can apply to the beta or join the wait list.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues a certificate of insurance for a vendor?
The vendor’s insurance broker or agent issues it, not the vendor’s office. Ask the vendor for the broker’s name and email up front, and send your requirements to both so the certificate comes back right the first time.
Is a certificate of insurance enough to prove additional insured status?
Not on its own. The certificate summarizes coverage, and the endorsement is what grants additional insured status. Ask for the endorsement pages with the certificate, and check that they name your company and anyone else your contract requires.
When should I request a vendor’s certificate of insurance?
Ask when you bring on a new vendor, before the contract goes out, so the certificate is in hand before the vendor mobilizes. Ask again before any policy on file expires, and keep asking until the renewal arrives.
What should I do if a vendor’s certificate is wrong?
Send it back with each problem named: the missing coverage, the low limit, the wrong holder name or the missing endorsement. A specific list gets you a corrected certificate faster than telling the vendor it doesn’t meet your requirements.
Do vendors pay to upload certificates in Contracts Connected?
No. Vendors get a link in their inbox, set up a free account from it, and never pay. Their task list shows what they owe, and the portal reminds them Monday and Wednesday mornings until everything is in.
See it with your own requirements
Read how AI COI Review checks each certificate inside Contracts Connected, then book a demo and walk through it with your own insurance exhibit.
This page is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal or insurance advice. Requirements vary by contract, project type and state. Confirm your requirements with your insurance broker and qualified counsel before relying on them.