What to do when a sub's COI has expired

A subcontractor's certificate has lapsed and they are on your job this week. Here is what it actually means and what to do about it, in order.

First: what is actually at risk

An expired certificate does not necessarily mean an uninsured subcontractor. Renewals routinely take a week or two to work through an agency, and the policy may well be in force with the paperwork lagging behind. That is the common case.

But if the policy really has lapsed, the exposure is concrete:

Their claim becomes your claim. If an uninsured sub causes damage or injures somebody, the claim looks for the next available policy — yours.
Your premium is recalculated. At audit, many general liability policies treat payments to subcontractors without acceptable coverage as if those people were your own employees, and charge accordingly. This bill can be large and it arrives long after the job is finished.
Workers' comp follows the same logic. In most states an injured employee of an uninsured sub can claim against the general contractor's policy.
You may be in breach of your own contract. Prime contracts and lender agreements commonly require every sub to carry named limits. An owner asking for certificates you cannot produce is a bad conversation.

The steps

1. Confirm it is really expired

Look at the certificate again. Each line of coverage has its own expiration date, and it is easy to read the umbrella's date and miss that general liability lapsed two months ago. The date that matters is the earliest one across the coverages your contract requires.

2. Decide whether work stops

This is a judgement call about the specific job, not something a website can decide for you. The questions worth asking: how hazardous is the work, how long has it been expired, is there a signed contract requiring the coverage, and would you be comfortable explaining the decision to your insurer afterwards. Roofing tear-off on day forty of an expired policy is a different situation from interior punch list on day two.

3. Ask the sub and their agent at the same time

This one change speeds things up more than anything else. The subcontractor is on a roof and will not deal with paperwork until evening; their agent can send a certificate in about two minutes. Email both, with the sub copied so nobody has to be chased twice.

Email template

Subject: Insurance certificate expired — [Job name]

Hi [Name],

Our records show the certificate of insurance we have for [Company] expired on [date]. If the policy has renewed, we just need the updated certificate for our files.

The quickest route is usually to ask your insurance agent to email a current COI directly to [your email], with [Your Company] as the certificate holder.

I have copied [agent name] here if that helps.

Let me know if the policy status has changed — I would rather hear it from you than find out later.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your company] · [phone]

4. Check the certificate when it arrives

Do not just file it. Confirm the insured name matches the company on your contract, the new expiration date is genuinely in the future, the limits still meet your requirements, and your company is named as certificate holder. A renewal certificate showing reduced limits is a thing that happens.

5. Close the gap in your records

Keep the expired certificate. Do not overwrite it. If a claim ever arrives relating to work done during that period, the question will be what coverage existed then, and a file containing only the current certificate cannot answer it. SubCover marks the old certificate superseded rather than deleting it, for exactly this reason.

Stopping it happening again

The gap is almost never a lack of concern. It is that renewal dates arrive silently, one at a time, spread across a dozen subcontractors, while you are running jobs. Nothing prompts you on the day it matters.

Whatever you use — a spreadsheet, a calendar reminder, or a tool — the thing to fix is that something must reach out before the date, and it should reach the subcontractor rather than adding another task to your list. That is precisely what SubCover automates: at 30, 14 and 7 days out it emails the sub a link to upload the new certificate, with no account for them to create.

This is general information about a common situation, not legal or insurance advice. Whether to continue work with a lapsed certificate is a decision for you, your agent and your attorney.