Waiver of Subrogation on a COI: What It Means, When to Require It
The CertifiKit team
Certificate-of-insurance desk
A waiver of subrogation is an endorsement in which a vendor's insurer gives up its right to come after you to recover money it paid on a claim — even if you partly caused the loss. It's a quiet but important line item in vendor insurance requirements, and it works hand in hand with additional insured status.
What is subrogation in the first place?
Subrogation is an insurer's right to step into its policyholder's shoes and recover its payout from whoever caused the loss. If your vendor's insurer pays a claim, then discovers your negligence contributed, it can turn around and sue you to get its money back. That's subrogation.
A waiver of subrogation is the vendor's insurer agreeing, in advance, not to do that to you.
Why would you require one?
Two reasons, both about keeping a settled claim settled:
- It stops the boomerang. Without a waiver, a claim you thought was resolved on the vendor's policy can come back as a lawsuit against you months later.
- It protects your loss history. Subrogation actions and the settlements behind them can ripple into your own premiums. A waiver keeps the loss firmly on the vendor's side of the ledger.
It is especially common in construction contracts, leases, and any agreement where both parties' insurers might otherwise spend years fighting over who pays.
How does it show up on a certificate?
On the ACORD 25 form, a waiver is usually signaled two ways:
| Signal | Where to look |
|---|---|
| The phrase "Waiver of Subrogation" | Description of Operations box |
| An endorsement form number | e.g., CG 24 04 for general liability; WC 00 03 13 for workers' comp |
| A "Y" in the SUBR WVD column | The subrogation-waived column on the coverage line |
As always, the certificate is a summary. For high-value contracts, request the endorsement page so you can see the waiver is actually attached to the policy, not just claimed on the COI.
Waiver of subrogation vs. additional insured
They're easy to conflate but do different jobs:
- Additional insured brings you into the vendor's policy so it defends and pays for you.
- Waiver of subrogation keeps the vendor's insurer from coming after you after it pays.
Strong vendor requirements ask for both, alongside primary and non-contributory wording. Together they make sure a claim starts on the vendor's policy and stays there.
Verifying it without the headache
Checking three columns, a form number, and a block of description text on every renewing certificate is exactly the kind of detail that gets missed at volume. Upload a certificate to the free CertifiKit checker and it reads the subrogation-waived signals along with limits, dates, and endorsements, then tells you whether the waiver you require is actually there — with a fix list you can forward to the vendor's agent if it isn't.