How to track subcontractor COIs

Tracking subcontractor Certificates of Insurance isn’t complicated — it’s just relentless. The certificates go stale, subs renew on different dates, and the whole thing falls apart the week you’re too busy to chase. Here’s a workflow that holds up, whether you run it by hand or hand it to software.

Step 1 — Set your requirements before you hire

Decide what coverage a sub must carry before they’re on your job, and write it into the subcontract. At minimum that usually means General Liability of $1M/$2M, $1M Auto, and statutory Workers’ Compensation, plus an additional insured endorsement and a waiver of subrogation in your favor. If you don’t define the bar, you can’t enforce it — and you’ll accept whatever certificate shows up.

Step 2 — Collect the certificate

Ask the sub to have their insurance agent issue an ACORD 25 that names your company as both certificate holder and additional insured. The friction here is real: subs forget, agents are slow, and PDFs get buried in email threads. The cleanest approach is a single upload link the sub (or their agent) can use without creating an account — collect the certificate in one step instead of a five-email chain.

Collect the endorsement, not just the certificate. The COI says you’re additional insured, but the actual proof is the endorsement form (CG 20 10 for ongoing operations, CG 20 37 for completed operations). For higher-risk subs, request it.

Step 3 — Verify coverage and limits

This is the step everyone skips. Don’t just confirm a certificate exists — read it against your requirements:

• Limits meet your minimums. Check GL per-occurrence and aggregate, Auto, and any umbrella. A sub whose GL renewed at $500K when you require $1M is under-covered even though they “have a COI.”
• You’re named additional insured — via endorsement, not just listed as certificate holder. These are not the same thing, and only the endorsement gives you coverage.
• Workers’ comp is in force for any sub with employees, in every state they’ll work.
• Waiver of subrogation is present on GL and WC if your contract requires it.
• The certificate holder is your correct legal entity and, where relevant, references the right project.

Step 4 — Track every expiration date

Each policy line on the certificate has its own expiration date. Record the earliest one per sub, because that’s when coverage first has a gap. Whatever system you use — a spreadsheet, a calendar, or software — the point is that expirations are monitored continuously, not reviewed once a year. A certificate that was perfect in January is worthless in December.

Step 5 — Chase renewals before they lapse

Start the renewal request at 30 days out, and follow up at 15 and 5 days. Renewals from a busy agent routinely take a week, so beginning a month ahead keeps you from having a coverage gap between the expiring policy and the new one. Each follow-up should go to the sub and, ideally, cc their agent — the agent is usually the one who actually issues the new certificate.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Filing without reading. Saving the PDF and checking a box is not verification. Under-covered subs pass this way every day.
• Confusing certificate holder with additional insured. The single most common and most expensive mistake in the whole process.
• Letting the sheet go stale. Mid-term cancellations and limit reductions never make it back into a manual tracker.
• Chasing too late. Starting the renewal request the day a cert expires guarantees a gap.
• No consequence for non-compliance. If a lapsed certificate doesn’t hold up work or payment, subs learn it’s optional.

Automate the loop

Every step above is exactly what COI tracking software automates. CoverGuard collects certificates through a no-login link, uses AI to read the ACORD 25 and check the limits and endorsements against your requirements, tracks each sub’s earliest expiration, and chases the renewal automatically before coverage lapses. For a deeper background on why each of these fields matters, read the complete COI tracking guide.

Frequently asked questions