How to request a certificate of insurance from a vendor

A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary of a business’s policies: the lines of coverage, their limits and the insurer. For liability, the usual form is ACORD 25, the Certificate of Liability Insurance (ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions). You ask for one so you are not left paying for damage or injury a vendor causes on your job.

The certificate is evidence, not coverage. ACORD says a certificate is not an insurance policy and does not change a policy’s terms; only an endorsement, rider or amendment can do that (ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions). So if your contract makes you an additional insured, ask for the endorsement too.

The certificate holder is the party the certificate is addressed to: you. Being the holder lets you see the coverage. It does not, by itself, put you on the vendor’s policy.

The vendor’s insurance broker or insurance agent issues the certificate, not the vendor and not ACORD. ACORD tells policyholders who need one to contact their broker or insurance agent (ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions). Your request goes to the vendor, who forwards it to the broker; a well-run broker returns it within a few business days. Accounts payable, procurement or the project manager usually sends the request and files the result.

1. Pull the insurance clause from your contract or purchase order: coverage types, limits, additional insured and waiver wording.
2. Send the vendor the request letter on this page, with your exact legal name and address as certificate holder.
3. Ask the vendor to forward it to its insurance broker, and to copy you on the reply.
4. Check the certificate against your contract the day it arrives, using the checks below.
5. Log the expiration date of each policy and ask for the renewal before it lapses.

• A certificate typed up by the vendor instead of issued by its broker.
• Your company name misspelled, or a parent or sister company named as holder.
• Treating "additional insured" on the certificate as proof, with no endorsement behind it.
• A policy period that ends before the work does.
• Workers’ compensation left off with no exemption or explanation.

Brokers issue what you ask for, so be exact. Copy limits from your contract rather than guessing; there is no standard figure that fits every job.

Read it against the contract, line by line. A certificate that looks official can still be wrong in one field that matters.

1. Named insured: the vendor’s legal name, matching its Form W-9.
2. Policy dates: every policy runs past the last day of the work.
3. Limits: each one meets or beats the contract.
4. Holder: your name and address, spelled exactly.
5. Producer: the broker’s name and contact, so you can call to confirm.
6. Endorsements: attached when the contract requires additional insured status or a waiver.

Many requesters ask to be told if a policy is cancelled. Know the limit of that ask. ACORD notes that a typical liability policy obliges the insurer to notify only the first named insured, unless the policy is endorsed to notify someone else (ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions).

So do not rely on a notice that may never come. Track each expiration date yourself, and send a renewal request a few weeks before it, asking for the new certificate.

Ask for the current edition of the form, too. ACORD tells producers that withdrawn editions are not kept up to date with regulatory requirements and should not be used (ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions). Some states also regulate certificate forms and limit what a certificate may say. When you need coverage changed, ask for an endorsement, not new certificate wording.

Workers’ compensation rules differ by state. In Texas, for example, most private employers may choose not to carry it, and the state insurance department lists where to verify a subscriber’s coverage and where to find registered non-subscribers (Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ compensation coverage verification). Check your vendor’s state before you insist on a certificate it cannot get.

Ask for Form W-9 at the same time. A Form W-9 is the vendor’s certified taxpayer identification number and legal name, which you need to file information returns. The reporting line for nonemployee pay was $600 for 2025 (IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. 2025)). For tax years beginning after 2025, it rose to $2,000 (IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC). The IRS also offers TIN matching to payers, so you can check the number before the first payment (IRS, Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9).

• ACORD, Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions: ACORD 25 is the Certificate of Liability Insurance; certificates are issued by brokers or insurance agents, are not policies, and do not amend coverage, which only an endorsement can change; liability policies usually notify only the first named insured of cancellation.
• Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ compensation coverage verification: Most Texas private employers may choose not to carry workers’ compensation; TDI-DWC lists where to verify a subscriber’s coverage and where to find registered non-subscribers.
• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC: For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum reporting and backup withholding threshold for certain payments rose to $2,000, and may be adjusted for inflation from calendar year 2027.
• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (Rev. 2025): For 2025, nonemployee compensation of at least $600 is reported on Form 1099-NEC, and rents and other income of at least $600 on Form 1099-MISC.
• IRS, Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9: Explains what a requester collects on Form W-9, backup withholding, and the TIN matching e-services available to payers.