7 Certificate of Insurance Red Flags and How to Catch Them

Most bad certificates of insurance aren't forged — they're just quietly wrong: expired by the time you read them, short on limits, or missing the endorsement your contract required. These are the seven red flags that account for nearly every COI problem, and how to catch each one before it becomes your problem.

1. The policy period has expired

The most common issue, and the easiest to miss. Check the effective and expiration dates on each coverage line, not just the certificate's issue date. A COI issued in January for a policy that lapsed in March is worthless in April.

2. Limits below what you require

The certificate shows limits, but are they your limits? Compare each line against your requirements. A $500K general liability limit looks fine until you remember your contract demands $1M per occurrence.

3. Missing additional insured status

The ADDL INSD box is blank, or there's no endorsement form number (CG 20 10 / CG 20 37) in the description. Being the certificate holder is not the same as being an additional insured — and only the latter actually covers you.

4. The named insured doesn't match the vendor

The business on the certificate should match the entity you contracted with — same legal name, not a sister company, a DBA, or the owner's personal name. A mismatch can mean the coverage doesn't apply to the work you hired for.

5. Missing endorsement wording

No waiver of subrogation, no primary and non-contributory language when your contract called for them. These live in free-text, have no checkbox, and are the easiest requirements to overlook.

6. Wrong or missing coverage types

You required workers' comp and auto liability; the certificate only shows general liability. A whole coverage line being absent is a bigger gap than a number being slightly low.

7. Signs the document was altered

Rare, but worth a glance: mismatched fonts, numbers that don't line up with the form grid, an agency name that doesn't match the contact details. A genuine ACORD 25 is tidy and consistent. When in doubt, call the agency listed on the certificate directly.

Quick reference

Red flag	Where to check
Expired	Policy effective/expiration dates
Low limits	Each coverage line vs. your requirements
No additional insured	ADDL INSD box + endorsement number
Name mismatch	Named insured vs. your contract
Missing endorsements	Description of operations text
Missing coverage	Coverage lines present vs. required
Altered document	Formatting; call the agency

Catch all seven in one pass

Running this checklist by hand on every renewing certificate is exactly where things slip at volume. Upload a certificate to the free CertifiKit checker and it screens for all seven of these red flags at once — dates, limits, additional insured, endorsements, and coverage lines — against your requirements, and hands back a plain-English list of anything that doesn't pass.