What is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?

If you have Business Insurance, you might get asked for a Certificate. A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a document issued by an insurance company that provides evidence of insurance coverage. It summarizes key details about an insurance policy and is often requested by third parties as proof that a person or business has insurance coverage. The COI typically includes information such as the type of insurance, coverage limits, policyholder's name, effective dates of coverage, and any special conditions or endorsements. 

For example, a contractor might be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance to a client before starting a project to demonstrate that they have liability insurance in case of accidents or damages. Similarly, tenants may be asked to provide a COI to landlords to show that they have liability insurance and property insurance. If you want to sell products on a third party website, they may also ask for COI. 

When requesting a COI from your agent or broker, it is very important to provide them with the following information:

• Name they wanted listed as a certificate holder
• Address of the certificate holder
• Special wording or endorsements needed

It may be helpful to provide your agent or broker a sample COI from the person or business requesting it. Generating a COI can take anywhere from 5 min to days (if special wording and/or endorsements are required). It's important to note that a Certificate of Insurance is not the actual insurance policy but rather a summary of key information from the policy.

If you have any questions about Certificates of Insurance or anything else pertaining to Business Insurance, please feel free to contact me.

Jason Matison
Commercial Insurance Agent
Austin, Texas