What is a certificate of liability insurance?
A certificate of liability insurance is a document that shows that you have active liability insurance for your business.
What’s included on a certificate of liability insurance
A certificate of liability insurance, also known as a certificate of insurance, an ACORD certificate of liability insurance or simply proof of insurance, shows what business insurance you are carrying.
This may include general liability, workers’ compensation, commercial auto insurance or other types of coverage.
A certificate of liability insurance also shows the limits of each policy. This allows you to easily prove that you have the coverage to meet the requirements of clients, partners or regulatory agencies.
In addition to types of coverage, a certificate of insurance usually includes:
- Policy holder’s name and company name
- Policy number
- Coverage start date, also referred to as the effective date
- Additional insureds
- Coverage end date, also referred to as the expiration date
There might be more or less information on your certificate of liability insurance depending on the type of insurance you purchased.
Why you need a certificate of liability insurance
As a small business owner, there are many times when you’ll be asked to prove you have insurance.
Having proof of insurance lets people know that you have taken steps to have financial help if something goes wrong.
There are three main kinds of people who will require you have proof of insurance:
Regulators
Insurance is often needed to get licensed or registered before you can open or legally run your business.
Potential clients
A client may ask to see your certificate of liability insurance to be sure you have adequate coverage before they begin working with you.
Property managers
Landlords or mortgage lenders may want to ensure you have adequate coverage before they finalize a contract with you.
How to get a certificate of liability insurance
The traditional way to get a certificate of liability insurance is to contact your agent or insurance company and let them know you need one. Then you’ll have to wait for them to send you a copy, which could take days.
Some insurance providers might also charge you a fee for every certificate you request.
After paying the fee and waiting, you’ll receive a version of an ACORD certificate of liability insurance. Here’s one example of what you might receive. (FYI – ACORD is a global nonprofit standardization organization for insurance and financial industries.)
Businesses often need to add new clients as an additional insured before they can begin working with them. That could mean more requests for new certificates.
NEXT offers 24/7 access to certificates of liability insurance
At NEXT, we think this traditional system is slow, costly, and a lot of unnecessary work. That’s why we make getting and updating your certificate of liability insurance much easier.
We offer a live certificate of insurance that is accessible 24/7.
This means that any time you need to make adjustments to your policies, all you have to do is log in and make the changes your business needs.
Once you make those changes, your certificate is automatically updated, and you can share your new certificate of liability insurance immediately.
And with our mobile app, you have all that right at your fingertips.
We don’t charge for new certificates, so update as often as you need, add as many third parties as you want and share as many certificates as you wish without worrying about additional fees.
How NEXT protects small businesses
Get the coverage you need and the documentation to prove it, anywhere at any time.
Our DIY system makes it easy for you to review your coverage, make changes to your existing policies and get as many copies of your certificate of liability insurance as you need.
Start a quote, customize your options and access your certificate of liability insurance online immediately — in about 10 minutes.
