CERTIFICATES OF INSURANCE MADE EASY
BY JOHN BACCARELLA
Hello, my name is John Baccarella.  I have been in the insurance industry for over 20 years as an insurance broker serving the needs of Contractors.

This book is intended to be a guide to Certificates of Insurance, whether you are giving a certificate to a government agency, general contractor, homeowner or you are receiving a certificate from a general contractor or sub-contractor.

On the back inside cover you will find a Certificate of Insurance completely filled out. Please use this certificate as a basis of reference as we go through this book.

I made every effort to keep things simple and try not to use too many insurance words, but insurance wording cannot be completely ignored.

Over the years I have seen three attitudes towards certificates of insurance.

  1. The contractor understands the importance of the certificate and takes great care in making sure it is handled correctly and has a "system" in his office that monitors the certificates.
  2. The contractor understands the importance of the certificate but is too busy to make sure it is done and hands the duties over to someone else in the office that is not trained to properly handle the job.
  3. The contractor does not understand the importance of the certificate and does nothing.

The truth is Certificates of Insurance, not handled properly,
can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 Here are a few examples of how certificates can cost you money.

At the end of your policy period, your insurance company has the right to audit your books. When the auditor comes in to look at your books he is trained to look for sub-contracted work. Since sub-contracted work is an expense to your company, it is very easy to find. He will then look for the certificate of insurance that corresponds to the work subbed out. If you cannot produce the certificate he will add the amount of sub-contracted work to your payroll, or gross receipts, in either case you will owe the insurance company an additional amount for your general liability insurance. This can add substantial amounts owed to the insurance company. This is an extra expense you did not plan on.

Successful contractors take the cost of insurance into account when bidding jobs. If you are audited and have to pay an additional amount to an insurance company, your cost of insurance has gone up and the "extra" is not in your bids. The result: You did not make as much money as you thought you did, or you lost more money than you thought you did! Either way it is a lose-lose situation.

In the event of a claim there are two ways to lose additional money.

If you do not get a certificate of insurance from a sub that does not have coverage and your policy does not cover subs, the cost of this claim will be directly out of your pocket!

If your sub does not have coverage and your policy does then the claim will go against you. When you purchase insurance for the coming years, that claim will show against your record, since your cost of insurance is partly based on your claims history, your insurance will go up.

Certificates of insurance are not to be taken lightly!

LINE BY LINE

Now we are going to go through each line of the certificate of insurance so you will have an understanding of what all of this means. I have broken down the certificate into 14 parts.  Click below to open a copy of the certificate form so that you may refer to it as me continue our discussion.

View the Acord Certificate of Insurance Form

Acord Certificate of Insurance Item by Item

 Date—This is the date the certificate was typed. If you request a certificate of insurance in May 99 and the certificate is dated Dec 98 you should ask for a newer certificate. Why? A lot could have happened in the last 6 months. It also tells you that the contractor has had the certificates in his briefcase for months. Insurance agencies usually get a request from the contractor to send out a certificate on his behalf. You should receive the certificate from the insurance agency; not the contractor and it should be recently dated.
Producer—This is the agency that wrote the policy. There should be an agency name, address, and phone number and sometimes the agent’s name that wrote the policy.
Insured—This is the person or the company name who owns the insurance policy. The complete name and address must be in the box. If the name or the address is not listed, do not accept the certificate until it has been corrected.
Companies Affording Coverage
This section is important. Read it carefully!

This statement, which usually no one ever reads, is very important. The only way to actually know you are covered is to have a copy of the entire insurance policy, and the ability to interpret the exclusions. (We will talk about exclusions later on)

Company A— This is the insurance company that is providing coverage. Look for the corresponding A in the co. ltr. Box on the left side of the certificate.

Company B— This is the insurance company that is providing coverage. Look for the corresponding B in the co. ltr. Box on the left side of the certificate.

Company C— This is the insurance company that is providing coverage. Look for the corresponding C in the co. ltr. Box on the left side of the certificate.

Company D— This is the insurance company that is providing coverage. Look for the corresponding D in the co. ltr. Box on the left side of the certificate.

What do we know about these companies? Are they strong solid companies, or on the verge of bankruptcy?

There is a source of information on all these companies. The A.M. Best company is used throughout the industry to evaluate the financial strength of insurance companies.

INSURANCE COMPANY RATING

Insurance Companies are given a grade, just think about the grades you received in high school or college. A, B, C, D, F. Insurance companies are given a financial report card by the A.M. Best Company.

An Insurance company with less than an "A" rating can be a potential problem for two reasons. 1. There is a risk of the company going out of business, and, 2. If you work for the state, county or city, they will usually not accept any company with less than an "A" rating. Also if you hire on as a subcontractor most general contractors will not accept any rating less than an "A". With some state government offices and general contractors not accepting your liability insurance, you will be limited to the type of jobs you can accept.

A. M. Best’s Ratings

A.M Best assigns two types of rating opinions. Best’s ratings (letter scale) and Best’s FPR (numerical scale). Both ratings involve a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a company’s financial strength, operating performance and market profile.

Financial Performance Ratings (FPR)

The FPR is assigned to small or new companies, which do not meet the criteria required for a Best’s rating. Both ratings provide an overall opinion of an insurance company’s ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

Secure Best’s Ratings

Secure FPR Ratings
A++ and A+

Superior

 FPR 9

Very Strong
A and A-

Excellent

 FPR 8 and 7

Strong
B++ and B+

Very Good

 FPR 6 and 5

Good

Vulnerable Best’s Ratings

Vulnerable FPR Ratings
B and B-

Fair

 FPR 4

Fair
C++ and C+

Marginal

 FPR 3

Marginal
C and C-

Weak

 FPR 2

Weak
D

Poor

 FPR 1

Poor
E

Under Regulatory Supervision

    
F

In Liquidation

    
S

Rating Suspended

    

Not Rated (NR) Categories

Companies not assigned either a Best’s Rating or FPR opinion are assigned to one of five NR categories. The NR category identifies the primary reason a rating opinion was not assigned to the company.
NR-1

Insufficient Data
NR-2

Insufficient Size/or Operating Experience
NR-3

Rating Procedure Inapplicable
NR-4

Company Request
NR-5

Not Formally Followed

Financial Size Category (FSC)

In $ millions of reported capital, surplus and conditional reserve funds
FSC I > 1 FSC V 10 to 25 FSC IX 250 to 500 FSC XIII 1,250 to 1,500
FSC II 1 to 2 FSC VI 25 to 50 FSC X 500 to 750 FSC XIV 1,500 to 2,000
FSC III 2 to 5 FSC VII 50 to 100 FSC XI 750 to 1,000 FSC XV < 2,000
FSC IV 5 to 10 FSC VIII 100 to 250 FSC XII 1,000 to 1,250    

If you do not know you're Company Rating feel free to call your insurance agent or broker. All Insurance offices should have an A. M. Best Rating Guide.
Coverages

You get the feeling they are trying to tell you something? This is the second warning on the certificate that tells you to beware!

EXCLUSIONS

First off lets get one thing clear… All policies have exclusions. You hear terms like all risk, special form, comprehensive, full coverage. Those phrases do not mean there are no exclusions.

In a contractors general liability policy all the exclusions are listed on the (Dec) front page of the policy or on the second page of the policy. The problem is that they are usually listed by form number, not by name.

In order to make sure you understand the exclusions, look at the form numbers on the front page and go find that form (by number) in the policy. (Usually the form number is in the bottom left hand corner)

If you see a form number on the front of the policy but you cannot find that form in the policy, your policy is not complete! Someone forgot to add that form to the policy when the policy was put together. People make mistakes! If you find a form number on the front of the policy and cannot find that form in the policy Call your insurance broker and ask them for the missing page(s). It may be a very important exclusion.

The exclusions are critical, When you get a proposal for insurance the first thing you should look at are the exclusions.

For instance, if you are a concrete contractor and you do house pads, if you have exclusion for foundation work in your policy you have a problem. The worse thing is you will not find out about your problem until you have a claim and it is denied, by then its to late.

Here is a list of exclusions I have found in many policies; this list is by no means "all inclusive".

Look over this list and see what exclusion would apply to your operation.

DESIGNATED WORK
Most general liability policies automatically cover a business for just about any type of work that it engages in during the policy year.  Let’s say a sub’s premium is based on the carpenter classification.  Although, that’s what he does 90% of the time, he may do a little roofing, electrical, or plumbing work.  Most policies will cover him for this other work, and if he does enough of it, they’ll just charge him accordingly for those classes of work at his year end audit.  If an underwriter didn’t want to cover his roofing or electrical work, he/she could use the designated work endorsement to exclude those classes.  This exclusion could be nasty.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
Claims arising out of: The acts or omissions of independent contractors while working on behalf of any insured, or the negligent hiring or contracting, investigation, supervision, training, retention of any independent contractor for whom any insured is or ever was legally responsible and whose acts or omissions would be excluded.  If you use subs, this exclusion can be a killer.
ASBESTOS
No coverage for exposures to asbestos, asbestos fiber, or any material containing asbestos or asbestos products, including without limitation, the costs of asbestos removal or damage in the course of effecting such removal (Very common exclusion).
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY
Claims arising out of the rendering of or failure to render any professional services by you or any engineer, architect or survey, or who is either employed by you or performing work on your behalf in such capacity. Professional services include preparing, approving, or failing to prepare or approve maps, shop drawings, opinions, reports, surveys, field orders, change orders or drawings; and supervisory, inspection, architectural or engineering activities. For example, if you make a structural change without the architect's approval, there is no coverage. (Typical exclusion)
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ERRORS
* See Professional Liability
CONTRACTORS WARRANTY
This means that if you hire subcontractors, you must get a certificate of insurance from them.  If you do not, the amount of your contract with the sub will be added to your payroll or gross receipts and you will be charged.  In other words you will pay for the subs general liability.  Some companies use a stricter version of this.  They require the sub to have the same limits of insurance as you do.
FORMALDEHYDE
Claims arising directly or indirectly out of formaldehyde whether or not the formaldehyde is airborne as a fiber or particle, contained in a product, carried or transmitted on clothing contained in or a part of: any building, building material, insulation product or any component part of any building.
X.C.U.
Explosion, collapse, and underground property damage.  Not a good exclusion for Grading, Excavation, Sewer, Plumbing,  Septic, and Fencing contractors just to name a few.
CLAIMS IN PROGRESS
* See Prior Claims
KNOWN LOSSES
* See Prior Claims
ROOFING
Some roofing exclusions are plain and simple.  NO ROOFING.  Some are not as strict.  You must read the exclusion care-fully.  Some roofing exclusions say there is no coverage while the roof is under construction or repair.  For example: You tore off a roof, and since the weather forecast called for sunny skies, you decided there was no need to cover the roof overnight.  It rained.  There is no coverage.  Read all exclusions carefully.
DEMOLITION
Plain and simple.  No demolition!
SUBSIDENCE
Insurance does not apply to any liability arising out of landslide, mud flow, earth sinking, earth rising or earth shifting.
LEAD
Claims arising out of the actual or alleged presence or actual, alleged or threatened dispersal of lead, lead particles or products containing lead.
EARTH MOVEMENT
* See subsidence
NUCLEAR
Self explanatory
MULTI UNIT RESIDENTIAL
Any work in connection with the pre-construction, construction, post-construction, reconstruction, exterior remodeling or repairs of any multi-unit residential building.
CONDOS
No condos
TOWN HOUSES
No town houses
APARTMENTS
No apartments
EMPLOYMENT RELATED PRACTICES
Refusal to employ, wrongful termination, coercion, demotion, evaluation, reassignment, discipline, defamation, harassment, humiliation, discrimination or other employment-related practices, policies, acts or omissions.
PRIOR CLAIMS
Claims that are in progress prior to the commencement of this policy.
PESTICIDE, HERBICIDE AND FUNGICIDE EXCLUSION
Not a good idea if you are a landscape contractor.
PRIOR ACTS
This is a very severe exclusion.  This says that any work you did prior to the policy date is not covered.  For contractors this can be a death sentence on all prior work. 90% of all contractor claims occur after the work was completed.
EXTERIOR INSULATION AND FINISH SYSTEM
Exterior insulation and finish system means the design, manufacture, construction, fabrication, preparation, installation, application, maintenance or repair, including re-modeling, service, correction, or replacement, of an exterior insulation and finish system (commonly referred to as synthetic stucco) or any part thereof, or any substantially similar system or any part, including the application or use of conditioners, primers, accessories, flashing, coatings, caulking or sealants in connection with such a system when performed  by you.
POOL POP UP
The elevation of swimming pool due to high water table.
FOUNDATION WORK
Claims arising our of foundation work, including but not limited to the design, specification, inspection, construction, installation, repair, replacement, improvement or reinforcement of any foundation or any part of a foundation.  Foundation means the entire substructure below the first floor or frame of a building, including but not limited to any footings, footing beams, piers, grade beams, pilings, pilings or supports upon which the building rests.

Don't Panic!
 My Verification checklist System will solve these potential traps!

 
General Liability 

Commercial general liability must be checked.
Occur box must be checked ***

Occurrence vs. Claims Made.

Construction claims made policies became popular in the mid 1980’s and have been around ever since. The promise of these policies were lower rates, but at what long-term damage? In some instances there is no cost savings. Claims made policies for a contractor are the worst possible policy you can buy. Let me explain: Claims made policies allow you to make a claim on your policy only during the policy year they are in force. Contractors have claims down the road not in the same year as the project is built!

If you want to leave that company and go to another company you will have to purchase additional insurance to cover you for the next 10 years…that’s right 10 years! Why? Because the law allows customers to file a lawsuit for construction problems up to 10 years after the project was completed. [1]

Here is an example:

You build a new room addition, everything goes well and you and your customer are very happy with the final outcome… 4 years later your customer calls you and says that the roof is leaking and water came in the house and ruined his new $25,000 grand piano. He expects you to repair the roof, the drywall, wallpaper, carpets and, of course, replace the grand piano…

A claims- made will not allow you to file a claim 4 years later unless you stayed with the claims made company the whole time. Your current non-claims made company may possibly be on this claim; it depends on the exclusions, (See Prior Acts exclusion on page 13).

There would be coverage for this claim on the claims made policy if you purchased "tail" coverage. Tail Coverage allows you to make a claim on a claims made policy after the policy period. Tail coverage is not cheap and it is limited as to how long you can report a claim. To make matters more unsettling, some companies do not offer tail coverage.

If you decided not to buy the "tail" you will not be able to report a claim against the claims made policy.

If you intend to shop other companies after the claims made policy expires you must make a decision, since you cannot make a claim against a claims made policy after the policy expires unless you buy extended liability coverage called a "tail."

When your policy comes up for renewal with a claims- made policy you must decide.
  1. Do I leave the company and pay the additional insurance for coverage for the next 10-year period or go without.
  2. Do I stay with the same company? Their prices on the New Year may stay the same or go up sharply.
  3. Do I switch to another company who has better rates and coverages?

This limits the marketplace for you, and makes it harder to accept a better bid from another carrier. Claims made policies may work in other lines of insurance, but for Contractors they are a disaster.

Take time after reading this report to look for your policy and see if your current policy is either an occurrence form or claims made…

Owners & Contractors prot. must be checked.
Policy number – General Liability policy number must be completed.
Effective Date – Date must be completed.
Expiration Date – Date must be completed.
Limits – All limits must be completed.
Auto Liability

Any Auto - means any owned, rented, leased or borrowed auto. It includes hired, non-owned, newly acquired, replacement and temporary substitute autos.[2]

All Owned Autos - means autos you own that are not of the private passenger type. It includes any trailer or semi-trailer while attached to that auto. It also includes newly acquired autos of the same type; replacement autos of the same type; and temporary substitute autos.

Hired Autos - means any auto that you hire, rent, lease or borrow from others, other than your employees or members of their households.

Non-owned Autos - means any auto that: you don't own, hire, rent, lease or borrow; and is used in the conduct of your business. It includes autos owned by your employees or partners or member of their households. But only while such autos are being used in the conduct of your business.

Why are these auto descriptions important?

When hiring sub contractors it is important because the subs are bringing their cars to your jobsite. If a sub drives onto the job site and causes an accident, The sub is responsible. But if the sub does not have auto insurance, the general contractor is next in line. Why? Because you hired him and he is on the job site working on your project. When hiring a sub you should require him to have auto insurance. The next step is to require the sub to have high limits of auto insurance, if you have $1,000,000 auto insurance so should the sub.

To protect yourself, you should require the sub to carry "Any Auto" coverage. When reading the description above concerning "Any Auto" you are covered if the vehicle he is driving is owned, rented, leased or borrowed, as opposed to the Owned auto, where only vehicles he owns is covered.

Additional problems occur when the sub brings along his employees who may or may not have insurance on their personal vehicles on your jobsite.

To fully protect your business, insist that the sub have "Any Auto" or Owned auto coverage and Hired Auto and Non-owned Auto.

It may seem that you are asking a lot from your sub, but that is what it takes to protect your business.

Policy number—Auto Liability policy number must be completed.
Effective Date—Date must be completed.
Expiration Date—Date must be completed.
Limits—All limits must be completed.

 
Excess Liability— Optional / Umbrella Form or Other than Umbrella Form?

What’s all this umbrella talk? Is it raining?

Sometimes you will have to give a certificate of insurance to a general contractor or ask a sub contractor to increase the limits of his general liability. There are two different ways of doing this. Most people think an Umbrella Policy and an Excess Policy are one in the same but they are not.

Excess Policy— An excess policy is simple, you can add additional coverage to your general liability. You may have a $1,000,000 limit but you are required to have $3,000,000 for the project. An excess policy is written for the two additional million that you need.

Umbrella Policy— this is a little different, actually it is a lot different. You may be asked for $3,000,000 liability AND $3,000,000 Auto liability also. In this case an Umbrella is needed. Umbrella policies increase your general liability AND auto insurance.

Policy number—Excess Liability policy number must be completed.
Effective Date—Date must be completed.
Expiration Date—Date must be completed.
Limits—All limits must be completed

 
Workers Compensation
 "The proprietor/partners/executive officers are included or excluded."

Let’s stop and think about this for a minute

If you receive a certificate from a sole proprietorship or a partnership and the owners are on the jobsite, the owners do not have work comp on themselves. Why? Because non-corporations cannot buy work comp and have it apply to the owners. They may have work comp but only for their employees.

This is an area that is misunderstood by most contractors, and to make matters worse, most agencies do not mark the box at all.

Make sure the box is marked, so you will know the situation…

Solution?

There is none! That's right, the owners cannot buy work comp on themselves. That means if the owners are injured on the job, they make a claim for work comp benefits under your policy. Will they win? Absolutely! There is no clear-cut way to protect yourself from this.

Hiring subs you know personally or come highly recommended will help to a certain degree. But let's face reality here, If a man is injured and he needs medical treatment and has no other means to pay for it, he will put a claim in under your workers comp.

If the sub you hire is a corporation, call and see if the owners are included or excluded. (I will explain how to do this in more detail latter on)

Policy number—Work Comp policy number must be completed.
Effective Date—Date must be completed.
Expiration Date—Date must be completed.
Limits—All limits must be completed.
Description— This box is used to explain things such as:

Name and address of project.
Naming the additional insured. (This is discussed latter on )
Cancellation wording for non-payment or reporting or work comp. payroll.
Exclusions (Did I get your attention?)

Certificate Holder 

This is the person that the certificate is issued to. A Full name and address is mandatory!!!
 
Cancellation

    Will endeavor to... is the problem here

    Will endeavor to simply means the insurance company will try to let you know if the policy has been cancelled. For many certificate holders will endeavor to is not good enough. The reason is they want to be notified if a contractors insurance is going to be cancelled so they can ask the contractor for a new certificate or get him off the job site before his coverage runs out.

    This causes a problem because some insurance companies will not allow the agent to cross out will endeavor to wording. Read your contract, see what the requirements are and call your agent to work out an arrangement.

    Even with the will endeavor to wording crossed out, there is no guarantee that you will get notice of cancellation.
Signature must be signed.
 
Acord form version

This should be Acord 25 or 25-s. There are other certificates of insurance other than the Acord form. Sometimes a city or county will have their own, or an insurance company may have their own. But all the information will be there. Maybe not in the exact order of the Acord form.

Attachments to the Certificate of Insurance

Everything we have talked about up to this point are part of the Acord Certificate of Liability Insurance form. Now let's talk about additional form(s) that must be attached to the Certificate form (if they apply).

Acceptance

Many governmental agencies, cities, general contractors and more and more, smart homeowners will ask to be additionally insured.

What is an Additional Insured Endorsement?

The primary reason for additional insured endorsements is defense coverage; another reason is to insulate your loss experience by making it unnecessary to make a claim under your own liability policy.

Here is an example:

A general contractor hires an electrical contractor and asks the electrical contractor to name the general contractor as an additional insured on the electrician's liability policy.

Let's stop right here...
Click below to view both the Additional insured form CG 20 10 11 85 and the CG 20 10 10 93:

View the CG 20 10 11 85 Attachment

View the CG 20 10 10 93 Attachment

Find the statement:

"WHO IS AN INSURED is amended to include as an insured the person or organization shown in the Schedule, but only with respect to liability arising out of "your work" for that insured by or for you."

What that means is the electrical contractor is adding the general contractor as an additional insured to his policy, giving the general contractor the right to turn in a claim against the electrical contractors policy for liability arising out of the work of the electrical contractor.

This way the general contractor does not have to turn the claim into his liability insurance company. He is protecting himself from errors made by the electrical contractor.

Any time you hire a sub-contractor you should ask to be named as additional insured on his policy to protect yourself from errors of the sub. If a claim occurs down the road, the sub-contractors insurance company must provide a defense on your behalf and you do not have to turn the claim into your insurance company, saving your loss experience, thus saving you money down the road.  The same goes if you are a sub who hires a sub.

There are many additional insured endorsement forms, the two most popular for contractors are:

CG 20 10 11 85 (you may view above by clicking on the appropriate link.)
CG 20 10 10 93 (you may view above by clicking on the appropriate link.)

If you read both forms carefully you will find that there are only a few words that are different.

CG 20 10 11 85—The last line says with respect to liability arising out of "your work" for that insured by or for you.

CG 20 10 10 93—The last lime say with respect to liability arising out of your ongoing operations performed for that insured.

The second one (CG 20 10 10 93) implies that you must be working on the project at the time of the claim. This form is restrictive and should be avoided.

In summary, When hiring sub contractors you must be very careful to get the right insurance certificates from the sub and make sure that you are named as additional insured on his policy. Be sure to ask for the CG 20 10 11 85, and do not settle for the form with the more restrictive wording.

The CG 20 10 11 85 usually will cost the sub an additional charge.  Some companies include the endorsements at no additional charge but build the extra charge into the policy itself. Other companies will charge as little as $30 to a high of $500.

Many insurance agencies will put the following wording in the descriptions of the operations portion of the certificate only. That is not good enough, the Additional insured endorsement filled out completely with your company name must be a separate form (shown on the following page) and attached to the certificate.

What is a Primary Endorsement?

Along with the above Additional Insured Endorsement, many people are asking for primary endorsements.  Ninety-nine percent of all insurance companies have an additional charge for these as well, mostly from $30- $250 each.

Primary insurance wording is issued in conjunction with additional insured endorsements.

Stop here and go read the Primary Endorsement wording.

Click Here to View the Primary Endorsement Now!

Using our general contractor and electrician example above. The general contractor wants to be sure that regardless of what insurance he (the general contractor) has the electricians insurance company is first (primary) on any claim.

It also goes on to state that the liability is determined to be solely the negligence or responsibility of the electrician.

Baccarella's Certificate of Insurance
Checklist & Verification Procedures
(I named it after myself)

I know I have been throwing all this information at you and now its time to sort it out. The first thing you must do is to set a standard set of insurance requirements that all sub contractors must meet in order to work for you.

Step by Step

Step #1
ESTABLISH SUB-CONTRACTOR INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

What insurance requirements are you going to ask of your subs?

The certificate of insurance on the inside back cover of this book is a good example of insurance limits that most general contractors require. (Except for the umbrella option). Look it over, adopt this as your requirement or make changes. Remember to require your subs to name you as additional insured and primary.

Remember that these requirements are yours. Asking for these limits and endorsements allow you to protect your biggest asset. YOUR BUSINESS.
 

Step #2
WHO'S IN CHARGE

Someone in your office must be in charge of certificates of insurance. Depending on the size of your operation, it can be the owner or a person designated by the owner to handle the job. It has been my experience that contractors like to build things, they do not like to handle paperwork. If you are a one-man operation, make this a priority, or nicely ask your spouse to do this job. (After, you both sit down and read this book)

If you have employees, designate someone to do the job. (After, you both sit down and read this book)

P.S. Another good reason for the owner not to handle the certificates is that certificates need to be verified. To verify a certificate you need to make a phone call. An office person is better suited for this job than an owner who is in the field.
 

Step #3
NO EXCEPTIONS

DO NOT MAKE EXCEPTIONS FOR ANYONE... Not your brother, uncle, father, best friend since high school, current girlfriend or boyfriend, good buddy who is down on his luck right now, NOBODY...

Step #4
NOBODY STEPS ON JOBSITE WITHOUT A CERTIFICATE

NOBODY goes on the jobsite until you have received his or her certificate of insurance and it has been checked and verified.

Step #5
TELL THE SUB-CONTRACTORS YOUR REQUIREMENTS IN ADVANCE

When you send out your specs for the subs to bid, include a copy of the certificate of insurance (with your requirements typed in) and the additional insured endorsement(s) and primary endorsement you require in order for them to bid on your project.

Starting on the next page I have put an example of an insurance packet you can include with the job specs.

Use my sample packet or devise your own.

A good time to get your certificates of insurance file in good order is when you are not busy, you know, when you are between jobs. This way when your jobs start you will be ready and you will not hire subs and have to wait until they get their certificates in to you. You will already have them on file and ready to go.

(Place this on your company letterhead)

YOUR
LOGO


Insurance requirements for Sub Contractors

Dear Sub-Contractor

In order to work for (Your Company), we have a set of insurance requirements that must be met before you can start on our jobsite.

Please look over the requirements before bidding, to make sure you can comply. If you do not comply, your bid will not be considered.

A sample of the certificate of insurance, additional insured endorsement, (CG 20 10 11 85 edition) and primary endorsement are attached. If you are not sure if you have the required insurance and endorsements, fax a copy to your insurance broker for confirmation.

Your insurance broker can quickly tell you if you have the correct coverage or will need additional coverage to comply.

We are looking forward to your bid.

Thank You,
(Name of certificate person in your office)
Phone Number and Fax Number

 

Make sure you attach a copy of the CG 20 10 11 85 and
Primary Endorsement to the above letter when you send it.
 

Step #6
USE THE CHECKLIST

Now we have a copy of the sub-contractors certificate of insurance, additional insured endorsement, and a primary endorsement on our desk.

Using the checklist, go through each section of the certificate and see if anything is missing, misspelled or the dates are wrong. If there are errors Call the insurance agency who gave you the certificate and ask them to make the corrections and fax a new one back to you.
 

Step #7
THE EXTRA STEP—EXCLUSIONS

This is the area that can cause a problem and the only way to find out in advance is to ask.  For example; in California, 98% of insurance companies exclude Condo's, Townhouses and Apartments. If you were building one of these projects, you should call the insurance agency and ask a very simple question.

Call the agency and ask the agent or customer service person handling the sub-contractors account are there any exclusions on the policy regarding Condo's, Townhouses and Apartments? If the answer is yes, the certificate you are holding is worthless.

If the answer is no, then kindly ask the person to send you a short note stating there are no exclusions for Condo's, Townhouses and Apartments.

Each state is different; there may be areas of construction in your state that are a problem. You know what they are, and if you don't, call and ask your broker.

If you are hiring a concrete contractor for house pads, a good question to ask is, are there any exclusions on the concrete contractors regarding house pads?

If you are hiring a landscaper who is going to use chemicals, call and ask regarding the use of chemicals.

If you a hiring a grading or excavation contractor, ask about exclusions regarding earth movement.

Look at my list of exclusions and look at your own policy for exclusions to formulate your questions.

I realize this is more work, but the question is do you want to know about
these potential problems before or after the claim
 

Baccarella's Certificate of Insurance checklist

Subcontractor Name: _________________

Trade: _______ Lic. #: _______

_____ Contract signed
_____ Certificate received
_____ Company’s are A rated
_____ General liability section

Occurrence box marked
General liability limits $1,000,000
General Liability expiration date current

_____ Auto Section

Auto Liability limits $1,000,000
Any auto or all owned or scheduled auto marked
Non owned auto checked marked
Auto expiration date current

_____ Excess liability Section (optional)

Excess liability expiration date current
Excess limits correct

_____ Workers Compensation Section

Proprietor/partners/executive officers Included/Excluded
Workers compensation expiration date current
Workers compensation limits $1,000,000

_____ Description of operations

Certificate holder is named as additional insured
Location of job specified

_____ Certificate holder

Is your company name spelled correctly
Is endeavor to crossed out?
10 or 30 days notice of cancellation

_____ Signature

Is certificate signed

_____ Additional Insured Endorsement

Is additional insured endorsement attached
Is your name typed on the additional insured endorsement
Is the policy number typed on the additional insured endorsement
Name of person or organization typed in

_____ Primary Endorsement

Is primary endorsement attached
Policy number typed in.
Name of person or organization typed in.

_____ Verification

Called to verify exclusions


Verification performed by: ____________________  

Date: _________
 

ORGANIZATIONAL SUGGESTIONS

  1. Buy a three ring binder; Label the Binder SUB-CONTRACTOR INFORMATION.

  2. Three hole punch the Certificate of Insurance, Additional Insured Endorsement and the Primary Endorsement and put them in the Binder. It is much easier to keep track of things this way instead of putting the information in a file and filing it away.

  3. Have a packet of your company's certificate requirements already made up in advance so you can quickly send it out.

  4. You must have a way of keeping track of the expiration dates of the sub-contractors insurance. Remember, when you get a certificate of insurance, all the subs insurance policies may not expire on the same day. The General Liability may expire in March, the auto may expire in July and the work comp may expire in October.

There are many ways of doing this, depending on how may subs you use. A wall or
desk calendar, computer system, appointment book, etc. Pick the best one for you.

Final thoughts...

Over the years, my customers have asked me, What do I look for on the Certificates of Insurance?

I finally sat down and wrote it all out. If you have a question regarding anything in this Guide or have something to add, please give me a call, I am always looking for new material.

Lastly, I would like to thank my wife Clara who found the errors that the spell checker missed.

John Baccarella