How to Read an ACORD 25 Form, Field by Field
The CertifiKit team
Certificate-of-insurance desk
The ACORD 25 is the standard one-page certificate of liability insurance. Reading one means checking five zones: who issued it (producer), who holds the policies (insured), which carriers back them (insurers A–F), what each coverage line shows (limits and dates), and what the description of operations says about endorsements. Here's each zone, top to bottom, with the red flags worth knowing.
Top section: producer and insured
- Producer — the insurance agency that issued the certificate. This is who you (or your tool) email when something needs fixing; the carrier won't talk to you.
- Insured — the business holding the policies. The single most-missed check: this name must match the vendor you contracted, exactly. "Acme Electric LLC" on your subcontract and "Acme Electrical Services Inc." on the certificate are different companies, and in a claim that difference is everything.
- Insurer(s) A–F with NAIC # — the actual carriers. Each coverage line below carries a letter telling you which carrier backs it. The NAIC number lets you look the carrier up — useful for spotting weak or unrated paper.
The coverage grid
Each row is a policy. For every line, you're reading the same five things:
| What | Where | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage type | Row label (GL, auto, umbrella, WC) | A required line that's simply blank |
| Policy number | POLICY NUMBER column | Missing number on a "covered" line |
| Effective / expiration dates | POLICY EFF / POLICY EXP | Expired, or expires mid-project |
| Limits | Right-hand column | Below your requirements |
| ADDL INSD / SUBR WVD checkboxes | Left of the policy number | Unchecked when your contract requires them |
Line by line:
- Commercial general liability — confirm each occurrence (commonly $1M) and general aggregate (commonly $2M). Check whether the aggregate applies per project — a per-policy aggregate can be eaten by someone else's claim.
- Automobile liability — usually one combined single limit; "Any auto" is the broadest checkbox.
- Umbrella / excess — sits on top of GL and employers' liability. Verify it's actually marked occurrence-based.
- Workers' compensation — look for the statutory "PER STATUTE" check plus three employers' liability limits (each accident / disease–employee / disease–policy). This is the line that most often comes back blank — and the one that hurts most, as covered in our subcontractor requirements guide.
Description of operations
The free-text box at the bottom is where the real information hides: project names, certificate-holder-specific wording, and endorsement references like "Certificate holder is included as additional insured per CG 20 10 04 13; waiver of subrogation applies per CG 24 04."
Form numbers here are stronger evidence than the checkboxes above — but remember the certificate's own disclaimer: it confers no rights. For why the endorsement itself is what counts, see the additional insured explainer.
Certificate holder and cancellation
- Certificate holder — should be your exact legal entity, with the right address. Claims adjusters notice.
- Cancellation — modern ACORD 25s promise only that the carrier "will endeavor" to notify you per policy provisions. Translation: don't rely on being told. Track expirations yourself (here's the spreadsheet way, with its limits).
The 60-second alternative
That's ~25 fields per certificate, times every vendor, times every renewal. If you'd rather not do it by eye: the free CertifiKit COI checker reads all of these fields from a PDF or phone photo, compares them against your requirements, and explains every verdict in plain English — with the extracted value and your requirement shown side by side.