how certificates of insurance coi work
certificates of insurance cois are used in situations where liability and significant losses are of concern and require a coi which is in most business contexts a certificate of insurance is used for proving insurance coverage small business owners and contractors often have a coi that proves they have insurance that protects against liability for workplace accidents or injuries when you purchase liability insurance the insurance company will usually provide an insurance certificate without a coi a business owner or contractor may have difficulty winning contracts because many companies and individuals hire contractors the client wants to know that a business owner or contractor has liability insurance so that they will not assume any risk if the contractor is responsible for damage injury or substandard work a company that hires a contractor or another entity for services should obtain a copy of their coi and ensure that it is up to date typically a client will request a certificate directly from the insurance company rather than the business owner or contractor the client should confirm that the name of the insured on the certificate is an exact match of the company or contractor they are considering also the client should check the policy coverage dates to ensure that the effective date of the policy is current the client should secure a new certificate if the policy is set to expire before the contracted work is complete details of a certificate of insurancecertificates of insurance contain separate sections for different types of liability coverage listed as general auto umbrella and workers compensation the term insured refers to the policyholder person or company appearing on the certificate as being covered by the insurance in addition to coverage levels the certificate includes the policyholder s name mailing address and describes the operations that the insured performs the address of the issuing insurance company is listed along with contact information for the insurance agent or the insurance agency s contact person if several insurance companies are involved all names and contact information are listed 