Certificate of Insurance (COI): How to Read One and Check It Against a Lease
A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page summary of a party's insurance, issued by its broker or insurer, listing the insured, the insurers, policy numbers and dates, and limits. In the US, liability certificates usually use the ACORD 25 form. A COI is evidence of coverage on the day it was issued. It is not the policy, and it cannot add coverage the policy lacks.
Why landlords collect COIs from tenants
Most commercial leases have an insurance article setting the coverage the tenant must carry, the minimum limits, who must be added as an additional insured, and whether the parties waive subrogation against each other. The certificate is how the tenant shows it has complied, usually before taking possession and again at each renewal.
Typical requirements include commercial general liability, umbrella or excess liability, property insurance on the tenant's improvements and personal property, business interruption, workers' compensation, and auto where the tenant uses vehicles. Restaurants often add liquor liability. The additional insureds are usually the landlord entity and its property manager, plus the lender on a financed property, since loan documents often require it. The lender's own relationship with each tenant is set by the SNDA between lender and tenant.
How to read an ACORD 25, section by section
The ACORD 25 is the certificate of liability insurance published by ACORD, the insurance industry's forms organization. It reports liability coverage only; property coverage is usually evidenced on a separate form. From top to bottom:
- Date
- When the certificate was issued. It is a snapshot as of that day and says nothing about later cancellations or changes.
- Disclaimer box
- Says, in substance, that the certificate is for information only, confers no rights on the holder, and does not amend, extend, or alter the policies. It also warns that additional insured status and waivers of subrogation may need endorsements.
- Producer
- The broker or agent who issued it, and the contact for verifying coverage or requesting endorsements.
- Insured
- The named insured's legal name and address, which should match the tenant entity in the lease.
- Insurers A through F
- Up to six insurers, each with a letter and NAIC number. The letter ties each coverage line to the company writing it.
- Coverages
- One row per line (general liability, auto, umbrella or excess, workers' compensation) showing the insurer letter, ADDL INSD (additional insured) and SUBR WVD (subrogation waived) columns, policy number, dates, and limits. The general liability row also shows occurrence or claims-made, and whether the aggregate applies per policy, project, or location.
- Description of operations
- Free text for the property address, additional insureds, waivers, and primary and non-contributory wording, often citing endorsement numbers. It describes coverage; it does not create it.
- Certificate holder
- The party the certificate is issued to, usually the landlord.
- Cancellation
- Says notice will be delivered according to the policy provisions. Unless the policy is endorsed to notify the holder, the landlord may not hear about a cancellation from the insurer.
Certificate holder vs additional insured
The certificate holder is the party that receives the certificate, and that role carries no coverage. An additional insured is a party the policy actually covers, within the scope its endorsement sets, typically for claims arising from the tenant's operations or use of the premises. A landlord is normally both, but only the second helps when someone injured in the tenant's space sues the landlord too.
Additional insured status requires an endorsement
A Y under ADDL INSD reports status; it does not grant it. That comes from an additional insured endorsement on the policy. A scheduled endorsement names the landlord specifically. A blanket endorsement covers any party the insured agreed in a written contract to add, so coverage follows the lease wording: if the lease never requires the property manager to be added, the endorsement may not reach it. Scope varies too, and some endorsements cover the landlord only for liability arising from the tenant's use of the premises. Where the lease requires additional insured coverage, ask for the endorsement as well as the certificate.
Waiver of subrogation, explained
Subrogation is an insurer's right, after paying a claim, to recover from whoever caused the loss. A waiver of subrogation gives that right up in advance. Without one, a fire that starts in a tenant's kitchen could be paid for by the landlord's property insurer, which then sues the tenant.
Commercial leases usually include a mutual waiver: each party waives claims against the other for losses covered, or required to be covered, by its property insurance. Many property policies permit a waiver agreed in writing before a loss; others, and many liability and workers' compensation policies, need an endorsement. The SUBR WVD column on the ACORD 25 covers only the liability lines on that form, so confirm the property-side waiver separately.
Checking a tenant COI against the lease
Start from the lease, not the certificate. Pull the insurance article and any amendment that changed it, and list each requirement separately, the way a complete lease abstract does. Then check the certificate against that list.
- 1
Named insured matches the tenant
Including any assignee. A parent or affiliate on the certificate may not cover the entity that signed the lease.
- 2
Every required line is present
Property, business interruption, and liquor liability often arrive on separate documents. Note what is still outstanding.
- 3
Limits meet the lease
Compare per-occurrence and aggregate limits line by line. If an umbrella makes up the total, confirm the lease allows that and the umbrella sits over the general liability.
- 4
Occurrence form and per-location aggregate
Leases often require occurrence-based general liability. A multi-site tenant with a per-policy aggregate shares one limit across every location.
- 5
Additional insureds, by exact name
Landlord, property manager, and lender as the lease names them, backed by endorsements, with primary and non-contributory wording if required.
- 6
Waiver of subrogation
A Y under SUBR WVD where required, and confirmation that the tenant's property policy allows the lease's mutual waiver.
- 7
Deductibles, insurer rating, and dates
Leases may cap deductibles and require a minimum insurer rating, which certificates rarely show, so ask. Record every line's expiration date, not just the first.
Illustrative example
A lease requires general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, a $5,000,000 umbrella, and the landlord, manager, and lender as additional insureds. The certificate shows the right general liability limits, a $3,000,000 umbrella, a Y under ADDL INSD on the general liability row only, and a description box reading “certificate holder is additional insured where required by written contract.” Three gaps: the umbrella is $2,000,000 short, nothing shows additional insured status on the umbrella, and the lender is missing. Ask the producer for a corrected certificate and the endorsements.
Common certificate deficiencies
Beyond short limits and missing lines, these come up repeatedly:
- An old certificate re-sent after renewal, with policy dates already passed.
- The wrong certificate holder or additional insured: the manager instead of the ownership entity, or the previous owner after a sale.
- A marked-up certificate, or added description-box wording, claiming coverage the policy lacks. A number of states restrict what certificates may say.
Expirations, renewals, and cancellation
Most policies run for a year, so each tenant owes a new certificate at every renewal, often due before the old policy expires. Because the current ACORD 25 does not promise the holder notice of cancellation, a landlord relying on last year's certificate may not learn of a lapse until a claim. Record every expiration date, request renewals early, re-check requirements after an amendment or sale, and treat a missing renewal like any other missed covenant in your lease compliance and covenant tracking.
Matching certificates to lease requirements with Abstria
Abstria's AI lease abstraction software captures the insurance article among the 200+ fields it extracts from each lease and amendment, each linked to its source clause in the dual-panel editor. It also reads certificates of insurance and policies, extracting limits, named insureds, endorsements, and expiration dates, so requirement and coverage sit side by side. See how COI tracking against lease requirements works.
This guide is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Policy wording and state law vary, so confirm specifics with your broker or counsel.
Certificate of insurance FAQ
What is a certificate of insurance?
A certificate of insurance (COI) is a short document summarizing a policy: named insured, insurers, policy numbers, dates, and limits. The insured's broker or insurer issues it on request. In the US, liability coverage is usually shown on the ACORD 25, and commercial property coverage is commonly evidenced on a separate form such as the ACORD 28. A COI is evidence of insurance, not a contract.
How do I verify a certificate of insurance?
Contact the producer, ideally using contact details you find independently, and confirm the policy numbers, dates, and limits. For additional insured status and waivers, ask for the endorsements. If anyone other than the producer has edited a certificate, ask for a reissued one.
What does primary and non-contributory mean?
The tenant's policy responds first to a covered claim against the landlord, without calling on the landlord's own insurance to share the loss, so claims from the tenant's space stay on the tenant's policy. Like additional insured status, it usually depends on an endorsement or policy wording, not the certificate.
Can a tenant ask the landlord for a certificate of insurance?
Yes. Many leases require the landlord to insure the building, and the mutual waiver only works if the landlord's property insurer permits it, so asking for evidence of that coverage is reasonable.
Do tenant contractors need to provide certificates too?
Usually. Leases commonly require contractors working in the premises, especially on a build-out, to carry their own liability and workers' compensation insurance and name the landlord as an additional insured, with certificates delivered before work starts.
What happens if a tenant does not deliver a certificate of insurance?
It depends on the lease. Common remedies include a default after notice and cure, withholding early access or possession, and letting the landlord buy the coverage and charge the tenant. Read the insurance article and default provisions together.
See the insurance terms in your leases
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