A COI on file isn't proof of coverage

Every general contractor has a folder of contractor COIs. Most of them have been looked at once, by someone in a hurry, at the moment the contractor was onboarded. The certificate was there, the boxes were checked, and the work started.

That folder feels like protection. It usually isn't, at least not the way people assume.

What a certificate of insurance actually is

IRMI defines a certificate of insurance as a document providing evidence that certain general types of insurance have been bought, along with the types of coverage and limits. That is the whole job of the document: evidence, on the day it was issued.

The standard ACORD 25 certificate says so on its face. It is "issued as a matter of information only and confers no rights upon the certificate holder," and it does not amend, extend or alter the coverage of the policies listed. If the certificate and the policy disagree, the policy wins.

Where the gap hides

The endorsements. Additional insured status, waivers of subrogation and primary and noncontributory wording are created by endorsements on the contractor's policy. A checked "ADDL INSD" box on a certificate is not the endorsement. And endorsement forms keep changing, a point Cullen and Dykman's Christopher Ruggiero made in his session on decoding additional insured endorsements at IRMI's 2026 Construction Risk Conference: the coverage you negotiate in the contract only holds if the endorsement on the policy matches it.

The dates. Policies lapse, get cancelled for nonpayment and renew with new terms. A contractor COI that cleared prequalification in March can be out of compliance by July, and nobody finds out until there's a claim.

The limits. Project requirements often call for higher umbrella limits than a contractor carries on its standard program. With umbrella and excess rates still climbing (WTW expects another 5% to 15% in 2027), that is exactly the line where contractors trim.

The fine print in the requirements themselves. Owners and lenders write requirements that differ project to project. A certificate that satisfies one job can fail the next one across the street.

What to check instead

1. Start from the project's requirements, not a generic checklist. Each project has its own limits, endorsements and wording.
2. Compare every contractor COI against those requirements line by line: coverage types, limits, policy dates, and the named insured matching the contracting entity.
3. Ask for the endorsements that the requirements depend on, and read the form numbers and wording, not just the box on the certificate.
4. Track expirations and renewals so a policy that changes mid-project gets reviewed again.
5. When something's missing, bring the contractor's broker into the fix early, while it's a paperwork problem and not a claim.

Why it matters more now

Carriers notice. WTW's 2027 construction outlook says underwriters give favorable consideration to contractors with strong management of the trade partners they hire. A file full of unchecked certificates says the opposite.

That's the work Forsured does: check each contractor COI against your project requirements, flag the gaps, and keep checking for the life of the job.