ACORD Forms
ACORD 25: Certificate of Liability Insurance
The ACORD 25 is the standard certificate of liability insurance. It is the form third parties mean when they ask for a COI. It summarizes the liability coverage a business carries: general liability, auto liability, umbrella or excess, workers comp. Each line shows the carrier, policy number, dates, and limits. Third parties ask for it before they let the insured start a job, sign a lease, or keep a contract.
What it is
The ACORD 25 is the standard certificate of liability insurance. It is the form third parties mean when they ask for a COI. It summarizes the liability coverage a business carries: general liability, auto liability, umbrella or excess, workers comp. Each line shows the carrier, policy number, dates, and limits. Third parties ask for it before they let the insured start a job, sign a lease, or keep a contract.
A certificate is information, not insurance. It does not amend the policy, extend coverage, or give the certificate holder any rights the policy does not already grant. Most certificate problems trace back to someone forgetting that.
When it's used
- A client's customer, landlord, or general contractor requires proof of liability coverage before work starts or a lease signs.
- Contract compliance: the insured has to show specific limits or additional insured status to win or keep a job.
- Renewal season: when the underlying policies renew, every certificate holder on the account needs a fresh cert.
Section-by-section walkthrough
Producer
Your agency's name, address, and a contact person with phone and email. The certificate holder calls this contact when something looks off.
Watch for: A generic agency inbox nobody watches. Holder questions sit unanswered, and the insured hears about it from their customer.
Insured
The named insured and mailing address, exactly as they read on the policy declarations.
Watch for: DBA on the cert, legal entity on the policy. The holder's compliance system flags the mismatch and the cert bounces.
Insurers affording coverage
Each carrier on the account, assigned a letter. The letter ties each coverage row below to the carrier that writes it.
Watch for: Letters that no longer match after a carrier swap at renewal. The row still points at last year's carrier and the cert misstates who writes the GL.
Coverages
The liability lines in force: general liability, auto, umbrella or excess, workers comp, with policy numbers, effective and expiration dates, and limits.
Watch for: Typing the limits the contract requires instead of the limits the policy carries. If they differ, the certificate is wrong and the agency owns the gap.
Description of operations / locations / vehicles
The job or contract reference, plus any additional insured or waiver of subrogation language, worded to match the endorsements actually on the policy.
Watch for: Granting additional insured status in this box with no endorsement behind it. This is the classic certificate E&O claim.
Certificate holder
The third party that asked for the certificate, with their mailing address.
Watch for: The wrong entity. Large holders operate several legal entities, and the contract names a specific one.
Cancellation
The form's standard notice language. Any notice obligation comes from the policy and its endorsements, not from this box.
Watch for: Typing in notice-day promises the carrier never agreed to. If the policy does not owe 30 days notice, the certificate cannot create it.
Authorized representative
Signature of a person authorized by the producer to issue the certificate.
In Relay
ACORD Generation is live in Relay. It drafts the ACORD 25 from the client record and the documents you already have, and a person reviews every field before anything goes out. See how →
Common errors
- Additional insured or waiver of subrogation wording on the cert with no matching endorsement on the policy.
- Named insured on the certificate does not match the policy declarations.
- Limits copied from the contract requirement instead of from the policy.
- Reissuing from last year's cert and leaving expired policy dates in place.
- Custom cancellation notice promises the policy does not back up.
Common questions
Does listing someone on an ACORD 25 make them an additional insured?
No. The certificate reports what the policy already provides. Additional insured status comes from an endorsement on the policy. If the endorsement is not there, wording on the certificate does not create it, and issuing a cert that says otherwise is an E&O problem.
Who issues the ACORD 25, the agency or the carrier?
Usually the agency, on the carrier's behalf and within whatever authority the carrier agreement grants. Some carriers require certificates to route through them, so check the agreement before promising same-day certs on a new market.
Can Relay draft an ACORD 25?
Yes. ACORD Generation is live in Relay. It drafts ACORD forms from the client record and documents you already have, and a person reviews every form before it goes out.
Related forms
Part of the Relay ACORD form library. Updated 2026-07-11. See how we source content.
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