It is one of the most common frustrations we hear from property managers and general contractors. You send your insurance requirements to a tenant or subcontractor. Their agent sends back a certificate. You ask the agent to add a simple line: “Coverage applies per the terms of the contract.” The agent refuses.
It can feel like the agent is being difficult. In reality, a careful agent is protecting everyone involved, including you. Here is why that request cannot be honored, and what you should be asking for instead.
The agent cannot see your contract’s future
When you ask an agent to confirm that coverage applies “per the contract,” you are asking them to certify something they have no control over.
The agent does not control the scope of work your subcontractor agreed to perform. They do not know whether that scope will change mid-project through a change order or an addendum. They do not know whether your lease will be amended at the next renewal. A statement tying the policy to the contract is extremely broad, and the agent has no way to know what it will mean six months from now.
Confirming an exclusion isn’t there is not the same as coverage
Another common request is for the agent to state that a particular exclusion is not on the policy, such as “no residential exclusion” or “no height exclusion.”
An agent can look at the policy and see whether a form with a given title is attached. What they cannot determine is whether the incident that eventually leads to a claim will fall within the terms of some other exclusion on the policy.
Here is a real-world example. A contractor’s policy may have no exclusion titled “residential work.” But it may contain an exclusion for condominiums, cooperatives, apartments or multi-family developments. Some of those endorsements carry their own definitions that decide when the exclusion applies. Some reach any building that is converted in the future. Some apply regardless of whether the work is in a common area, which might otherwise be treated as commercial, or inside a residential unit. No agent can predict how your site will develop or exactly where the work will be performed when the claim occurs.
It isn’t just about the agent’s risk
Agents who place coverage affirmations on certificates expose their agency to errors and omissions claims. That matters, but it is not the only issue.
ACORD publishes form instructions for every certificate template, and those instructions state that a certificate should not be used to waive rights, to quote wording from a contract, or to quote wording that amends a policy unless the policy itself has actually been amended. Many states go further and regulate certificates directly through their insurance laws. In some states, there are penalties for requiring an agent to issue a certificate that alters or misrepresents coverage.
So when an agent says no, they are often following both industry standards and state regulation. And more importantly, if they said yes, the statement would not change the policy. You would have a certificate that looks reassuring and a policy that may not respond.
What to ask for instead
The good news is that you can get the information you actually need. It simply comes from a different document.
- Ask for the endorsements. If your contract or lease requires additional insured status, a waiver of subrogation, or primary and non-contributory wording, ask for copies of the endorsements that provide those coverages. The agent will need the insured’s permission to release policy documents, so build that request into your onboarding.
- Ask for relevant exclusions. If a particular exclusion would be a deal breaker for your project, ask to see the policy’s exclusion endorsements and have someone qualified review them.
- Match the endorsement to the contract. Read the endorsement wording against your contract or lease. Does it cover you by name, by description, or on a blanket basis? Does it extend to the other parties your contract requires to be covered?
- Escalate when needed. On larger projects, a call between the owner or GC, the insured, the agent and sometimes the carrier or counsel can resolve a roadblock without anyone putting language on a certificate that the policy does not support.
The bottom line for owners and GCs
A certificate can only report what is on the policy. It cannot make promises about how coverage will respond to your contract, your scope, or your site. When you receive a refusal to add contract language, treat it as a signal to request the documents that actually control coverage.