What is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?
A Certificate of Insurance is the one-page proof that your tenant actually carries the insurance their lease requires. This guide explains what a COI is, how to read the ACORD 25 form box by box, which limits property managers typically require, and how to handle a certificate that falls short.
The short definition
A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a standardized summary document issued by an insurance broker or agent that lists the policies a business has in force: the carriers, the policy numbers, the coverage types, the dollar limits, and the effective and expiration dates. In commercial real estate it is the document a landlord or property manager collects to confirm a tenant is insured.
Two things a COI is not: it is not the insurance policy, and it does not change coverage. It is a snapshot of what was true on the day it was issued. That is why expiration dates and renewal tracking matter as much as the certificate itself.
Why property managers collect them
- Lease compliance. Nearly every commercial lease obligates the tenant to carry insurance at stated limits and to name ownership as an additional insured. The COI is the evidence.
- Risk transfer. If a customer slips inside a tenant's suite, the tenant's policy should respond first. Without an additional insured endorsement, that claim can land on the owner's policy instead.
- Lender and carrier requirements. Ownership groups, lenders and insurers routinely ask for certificate coverage rates across the portfolio at renewal or refinance.
- Litigation defense. A dated, complete certificate file is what shows you enforced the lease when a claim is contested years later.
How to read an ACORD 25 form
Most certificates you receive are the ACORD 25 "Certificate of Liability Insurance". Here is what each region of the form tells you.
Producer
The insurance agency or broker that issued the certificate. This is who you contact when limits or endorsements are wrong — not the tenant.
Insured
The named entity carrying the policy. It must match the legal entity on your lease, not a d/b/a or a parent company.
Insurer(s) affording coverage
The carriers behind each policy, with their AM Best rating referenced by letter (A, B, C) in the coverage rows.
Coverage rows and limits
General liability, auto, umbrella/excess, and workers' compensation, each with policy numbers, effective and expiration dates, and dollar limits.
Additional insured / waiver of subrogation
Checkboxes indicating whether the landlord is added to the tenant's policy and whether the insurer waives its right to recover from you.
Certificate holder
The party the certificate is issued to — usually the ownership entity and property manager, at the property address.
Description of operations
Free text where brokers reference the lease, the suite, and any endorsement forms attached to the policy.
Coverages and limits commonly required in a commercial lease
Requirements vary by asset class, tenant use and lender. The figures below are the ranges most commonly written into commercial leases — always defer to your own lease language.
| Coverage | Typical limit | Why it's required |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial general liability | $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate | Covers third-party bodily injury and property damage arising out of the tenant's operations at the premises. |
| Umbrella / excess liability | $1M–$5M | Sits above the primary limits. Larger or higher-risk tenants are usually required to carry it. |
| Workers' compensation | Statutory limits, $500K–$1M employers' liability | Required in most states once the tenant has employees, and protects you from employee injury claims. |
| Business auto liability | $1M combined single limit | Relevant when the tenant operates vehicles on or around the property. |
| Property / business personal property | Replacement cost of tenant improvements | Confirms the tenant insures its own build-out and contents rather than relying on your policy. |
The five deficiencies that cause most rejections
- Wrong certificate holder. The ownership entity, management company or property address is missing or misspelled.
- Named insured doesn't match the lease. The certificate lists a trade name or an affiliate instead of the entity that signed.
- Additional insured box unchecked. Or checked with no supporting endorsement form referenced in the description of operations.
- Limits below the lease requirement. Most often a missing umbrella layer or an aggregate that applies per policy rather than per location.
- Already expired. The certificate arrives after the policy period ended, or renews mid-chase and is never re-sent.
A workable COI tracking process
- Record the required limits and endorsements from each lease in one place.
- Request the certificate from the tenant and copy their insurance broker.
- Review it against the lease standard — limits, additional insured, waiver of subrogation, named insured, certificate holder, dates.
- Send deficiencies back to the broker in writing, with a deadline.
- Diary the earliest expiration date and start the renewal request roughly 30 days out.
- Keep every notice, upload and status change timestamped on the tenant record.
That process is entirely doable in a spreadsheet for a handful of suites. It stops scaling somewhere around fifty tenants, which is where automated collection, extraction and reminders earn their keep.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Certificate of Insurance?
A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a one-page summary — almost always the ACORD 25 form — issued by an insurance broker that shows who is insured, which policies are in force, the coverage limits, and the policy expiration dates. It is evidence that a policy exists on the date it was issued; it is not the policy itself and it does not amend coverage.
Why do property managers collect COIs from tenants?
Commercial leases require tenants to carry insurance and to name the landlord as an additional insured. The COI is how a property manager verifies that requirement is being met. Without a current certificate on file, an uninsured tenant loss can fall back on the owner's policy and the owner's balance sheet.
What is the difference between a COI and an additional insured endorsement?
The COI is a summary document; the endorsement (commonly CG 20 11 or CG 20 26) is the contractual language inside the policy that actually extends coverage to the landlord. A checkbox on the certificate is not coverage on its own — for high-value leases, request the endorsement page as well.
How long is a Certificate of Insurance valid?
A certificate is valid until the earliest policy expiration date shown on it, typically twelve months from the effective date. Best practice is to request the renewal certificate 30 days before expiration so there is no gap in evidence of coverage.
What should I do when a tenant's COI is missing or non-compliant?
Document the deficiency in writing, send it to both the tenant and their insurance broker (the broker is who can actually fix it), set a deadline tied to the lease, and track the follow-up. Most deficiencies are clerical — a wrong certificate holder or a missing additional insured — and are corrected within a day once the broker sees them.
Keep reading: the per-tenant compliance checklist, lease insurance clauses and expiration tracking.
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