What Is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a standardized one-page document that proves a business carries specific insurance coverage on the date it was issued. Prepared by the insured's agent or broker, it summarizes one or more active policies so another party can confirm that the coverage a contract requires is actually in place.

It summarizes the key facts of those policies: the named insured, the carrier, the coverage types and limits, the effective and expiration dates, and any parties listed as certificate holders or additional insureds. It is the everyday proof of insurance one company asks another to provide before they do business together.

The most important thing to understand about a COI is what it is not: it is not the insurance policy, and it does not grant or change coverage. It is a summary, a snapshot of what was true when it was issued. The policy itself, with its full terms, conditions, and exclusions, is the governing document. A certificate is evidence that the policy exists.

What information is on a certificate of insurance?

Most COIs use the standard ACORD 25 form, so they look broadly the same from one carrier to the next. A typical certificate shows:

• The named insured: the business that holds the policy.
• The producer: the agent or broker who issued the certificate.
• The insurers: the carriers providing each line of coverage.
• The coverages and limits: for example general liability, commercial auto, workers' compensation, and umbrella, each with its dollar limits.
• Policy numbers and dates: the effective and expiration date for each policy.
• The certificate holder: the party the certificate is issued to.
• The description of operations: a free-text box often used to note additional insured status, waivers of subrogation, or the specific job or contract the certificate relates to.

Who needs a certificate of insurance, and why?

Two roles are always involved. The provider is the insured business asked to prove it carries coverage: a contractor bidding a job, a vendor onboarding with a new client, a tenant signing a commercial lease. The requestor is the party that wants that proof: a general contractor collecting COIs from subcontractors, a property manager collecting them from vendors, a company confirming a supplier meets its contractual insurance requirements.

The requestor asks for a COI to manage its own risk: if a vendor's uninsured mistake causes a loss, the requestor could be left holding the bill. A current certificate showing the required coverages and limits is the standard, low-friction way to confirm the other party is carrying what the contract demands.

Is a certificate of insurance the same as proof of insurance?

In everyday use the terms overlap, but they are not identical. "Proof of insurance" is a broad phrase for any evidence that coverage exists. It might be a certificate, an insurance binder, or a declarations page. A certificate of insurance is one specific, standardized form of that proof. When a contract asks for "proof of insurance," a COI is almost always what satisfies it.

Why a certificate is only as good as its expiration date

Because a COI is a point-in-time snapshot, it goes stale. A policy can be cancelled, non-renewed, or amended after the certificate was issued, and the certificate will not update itself. That is why the party relying on a COI has to do two things continuously: watch each certificate's expiration date, and collect a fresh certificate every policy term. Doing that across dozens of vendors in a spreadsheet is where certificates quietly lapse.

Atlasafe is built for the requestor side of that job: it keeps every certificate you collect in one place, records the coverages and dates you enter or that its OCR reads from the uploaded document for you to review, and reminds you by email and in-app before a certificate expires, so a lapse surfaces before it becomes a gap. Atlasafe helps you track certificates and coverage; it does not determine, validate, or guarantee that a vendor's coverage is adequate or compliant, and those judgments rest with you, your carriers, and your brokers. And before a policy is issued, what you hold may be a binder rather than the policy itself, which is a different document with a different shelf life (insurance binder vs policy).