Certificate of Insurance Review Checklist

A certificate of insurance review checks that a vendor's certificate actually meets the requirements you set: the right coverages at the right limits, for the right entity, currently in force, with the endorsements your contract requires. Filing a certificate without reviewing it defeats the purpose; the review is where a shortfall gets caught. Here's the checklist.

The COI review checklist

1. Coverage types and limits. Confirm each required line (general liability, auto, workers' comp, umbrella) is present and its limits meet or exceed your minimums.
2. Named insured. The named insured should be the exact legal entity you contracted with, not a related company or a personal name.
3. Effective and expiration dates. The policies must be in force for the period of your engagement, with expiration dates you'll then track.
4. Required endorsements. Check for the specific endorsements your contract calls for: additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary and noncontributory.
5. Additional insured status. Where your contract requires it, confirm you're actually listed as an additional insured, and that the endorsement form backing it is referenced.

What to do with a shortfall

If a certificate misses a requirement, whether a limit too low, a missing endorsement, or the wrong named insured, treat it as a gap to resolve before the vendor proceeds. Go back to the vendor and their broker for a corrected certificate. The point of the review is to catch these before they matter, not after a loss.

Where software helps, and where judgment stays yours

Atlasafe records each certificate's coverages, dates, and endorsements, from what you enter or what its OCR reads for you to review, and flags when a certificate falls short of the requirements you defined. That surfaces likely shortfalls automatically, so your review starts from the exceptions instead of a blank page. The judgment of whether the coverage truly satisfies your contract stays with you and your broker; Atlasafe organizes the review, it doesn't render a compliance verdict.