You want me to add you as an additional who on my what?
These days certificates of insurance have turned into quite a headache. Certificates by design are really just a snap shot of exactly what insurance you have at the time that the certificate was printed. Recently, many companies are trying to make it so much more 
than that. It is not a contract, in fact it does not even show you what that client will have for insurance coverages in two days time. It is very important that you review all your
contract requirements before you ask for a certificate from your Trusted Choice Agent. Any given contract will list the insurance requirements and what they want to see on the certificate. You must make sure that you have these coverages before you sign your contract. The most important thing to remember is that, by definition, a contract is an agreement between two parties. If your contract insurance requirements are outlandish you should try and negotiate these requirements to come to a reasonable agreement. All contracts, by definition, are negotiable. The other very important fact is that some contracts will be out of date with their requirements. For instance your insurance requirement may say the said company must be named as an additional insured on your insurance policy and they must get 10 days written notice if the policy cancels for any reason. In the past this is something that could have been done by endorsement to your policy and shown on your certificate, however, not any longer. In September 2009 ISO revamped the certificate of insurance (Acord 25) to get rid of some of the headaches that were happening across America. Effective September 1st, 2010 all insurance agents must use Acord 25 September 2009 edition. On the new form there are many changes, the form has gone from two pages to one page and there is no longer a section stating how many days notice of cancellation the certificate holder will get. Even more recently there has been another update to the form. Now all agents must use the Acord 25 May 2010 edition date. This edition is much like the September 2009 edition with even less information regarding the policy so that it will not be looked at as a contract or a copy of the policy. All in all the certificate has been made to be much simpler, because remember it is only a snap shot of the coverages in effect in that one moment in time. If you have questions about the contracts you are signing, contact your Trusted Choice Agent before you sign the contract, and we can help determine what you may need to fulfill these requirements.
