If you run a business in California, sooner or later someone will ask you for a "COI" — a certificate of insurance. A landlord before you sign a lease, a general contractor before you step on a job site, a client before they sign your contract. The good news: if your coverage is in place, a certificate is quick to produce.
What a certificate of insurance actually is
A COI is a one-page summary of your insurance: who is insured, what coverages are in force, the limits, and the policy dates. It is proof of coverage — it does not change your policy or add coverage by itself.
What "additional insured" means
Many contracts go a step further and require that the landlord or general contractor be named as an additional insured on your policy. That is done with an endorsement — an actual change to the policy — not just words on the certificate. If your contract requires wording like "primary and non-contributory" or a "waiver of subrogation," send us the insurance section of the contract and we will match the endorsements to it.
How to get one fast
For our clients, most certificates are issued the same business day. The fastest path is to use the Policy Service page on this site: tell us the certificate holder’s name and address, what the contract requires, and where to send it. If a special endorsement is needed, we handle that with the carrier.
Not a client yet? When we place your coverage, we set it up with the endorsements your contracts actually require — so certificates are a five-minute request instead of a fire drill.