On the right side of an ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance, next to each line of coverage, there are two narrow columns: one for additional insured status and one for waiver of subrogation. They are easy to overlook, and easy to over-trust.
For owners, property managers and general contractors, a checked box often feels like the answer to the question, “Am I covered?” It is not. Here is what those boxes really represent.
The box refers to the insurance contract, not your contract
When an agent checks the additional insured box, the only contract they can be speaking to is the insurance policy. They are indicating that the policy contains some form of additional insured endorsement. They are not confirming that your lease, subcontract or service agreement has been satisfied.
ACORD’s own guidance recognizes this. When a certificate holder asks for a statement that they are an additional insured, ACORD suggests qualifying language along the lines of “as per the insurance contract,” so the statement cannot be read as confirming a third-party contract.
That distinction matters because the policy and your contract can say very different things.
What the box can’t tell you
Modern additional insured endorsements come with conditions and limitations that cannot fit on a certificate. They may cover an additional insured:
- Only to the extent the injury is caused by the named insured’s acts or omissions.
- Only for ongoing operations, with nothing for completed operations after the job is finished.
- Only for vicarious liability, meaning liability that exists solely because of the insured’s conduct, not the additional insured’s own negligence.
- Only when required by a written contract signed before the loss.
- Only for the party the insured contracted with directly, leaving upstream parties out.
- Only up to the limits the contract requires, which may be less than the limits shown on the certificate.
A checked box looks identical whether the endorsement is broad or extremely narrow. It also looks identical whether the endorsement covers you or covers someone else entirely.
Blanket forms and the checkbox
Careful agents will not check the additional insured box unless there is an endorsement that actually applies. When the only endorsement on the policy is a blanket form, whether the box can be checked depends on the wording of that form and whether your relationship fits within it.
Some agencies check the box liberally whenever a blanket form exists. Others will only check it when they have seen the contract and confirmed the relationship qualifies. From the certificate alone, you have no way of knowing which approach was used.
What about the waiver of subrogation box?
The same logic applies. A checked waiver box indicates that some form of waiver endorsement exists on the policy. It does not tell you whether the waiver is blanket or scheduled, whether it applies to your project, or whether it extends to all the parties your contract requires. And it certainly does not tell you whether the umbrella or excess policy above it contains a matching waiver. Many do not unless they are specifically endorsed.
How to verify what the box claims
- Request the endorsement behind every checked box that matters to you. Additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording should each be backed by a form.
- Confirm the form applies to your relationship. Is it scheduled with your entity name? If it is blanket, does your relationship meet its description?
- Check both ongoing and completed operations for construction work. Completed operations coverage is often a separate endorsement.
- Look at every layer. If your contract requires umbrella or excess coverage to be primary, non-contributory or subject to a waiver, confirm those endorsements exist on each layer.
- Keep the endorsement with the certificate. When a claim comes in, the endorsement is the document that will matter.
A common scenario
A property manager receives a certificate from a landscaping vendor with the additional insured box checked and the manager’s name in the description box. After a visitor trips over equipment left on a walkway, the manager tenders the claim. The vendor’s endorsement turns out to cover only parties the vendor contracted with directly, and the vendor’s contract was with the owner entity, not the manager. The checkbox was accurate in the narrow sense that the policy had an additional insured endorsement. It simply did not cover the party relying on it.