Certificate holder
Definition
A certificate holder is the person or company that receives a certificate of insurance as proof of your coverage, without gaining any coverage under your policy.
How it works
When a landlord, client or general contractor asks for proof of insurance, you send them a certificate of insurance (COI) with their name and address in the certificate holder box. The certificate shows them which policies you carry, your limits and your policy dates.
That’s all it does. ACORD, which publishes the standard certificate forms, says a certificate is not a policy and does not provide, amend, extend or alter the terms of one. Being a certificate holder gives someone information about your coverage, not rights under it.
It also may not get them news about it. ACORD notes that a typical liability policy obliges the insurer to notify only the first named insured if the policy is canceled, unless the policy is endorsed to notify someone else. A certificate holder who needs that notice has to ask for it in the contract, and you’d need an endorsement to provide it.
Certificate holder vs. additional insured
An additional insured is added to your policy by endorsement and can be defended under it for claims arising from your work, subject to the endorsement’s terms. A certificate holder isn’t added to anything. Contracts often require both: an additional insured endorsement on the policy, and a certificate showing it, sent to the same party.
With Corgi, a certificate is available the day you buy, and you can download it or send it to a certificate holder from your account.