How to ask a sub for their certificate of insurance

Asking is easy. Getting a response is the hard part, and the difference usually comes down to three things: asking the agent rather than only the subcontractor, being specific about what you need, and asking before you need it rather than after.

The one change that works best

Send the request to the subcontractor's insurance agent, and copy the sub. Issuing certificates is routine work for an agency; they will often turn it round the same day. Your subcontractor, meanwhile, is on a job site and will get to their email in the evening at best. Asking only the sub adds a human relay step to a task the agent can complete immediately.

If you do not have the agent's details, the first ask is simply for those — the producer is named in the top-left box of any certificate you already hold.

Say exactly what you need

A request that can be actioned without a reply saves a round trip. Include:

• Your company's exact legal name and address as certificate holder.
• Which coverages you require and at what limits.
• Whether you need to be named additional insured, and whether you require a waiver of subrogation — both come from policy endorsements, not from the certificate itself.
• The job or project name, if the certificate should reference it.
• Where to send it, and by when.

Templates

Before a new sub starts work

The easiest time to ask, because nobody is under pressure yet.

Hi [Name],

Looking forward to having you on [Job name] starting [date]. Before you get going, I need a current certificate of insurance for our files.

Easiest route: forward this to your insurance agent and ask them to send a COI directly to [your email].

Please have the certificate show:
  - Certificate holder: [Your Company Legal Name], [address]
  - General liability: [$1,000,000] each occurrence / [$2,000,000] aggregate
  - Workers' compensation: statutory limits
  - [Your Company] named as additional insured
  - Project: [Job name]

If anything there does not match what you carry, tell me now rather than on the first day — it is much easier to sort out this week.

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

Renewal is coming up

Two to four weeks ahead. Early enough that a lapse never happens, late enough that the new certificate exists.

Hi [Name],

The certificate of insurance we have on file for [Company] expires on [date].

Could you ask your agent to send the renewal certificate to [your email] once it is issued? Same details as last time — [Your Company] as certificate holder.

No rush as long as it reaches us before [date]. I am only asking early so it does not become urgent.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your company]

Second ask, no response

Friendly, but clear that it now has a consequence. Vagueness here just produces another week of silence.

Hi [Name],

Following up on the certificate of insurance for [Company] — we still do not have a current one on file, and the previous certificate expired on [date].

I need this before [Company] can be back on site. That is our own insurance requirement rather than a preference, so I do not have much room on it.

The fastest fix is usually one email to your agent asking them to send a COI to [your email].

Give me a call if something has changed with the policy — happy to work out the timing, but I do need to know where things stand.

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

Straight to the agent

Hello,

We are the general contractor for [Sub company name], who I understand you insure.

Could you issue a certificate of insurance showing:
  - Certificate holder: [Your Company Legal Name], [address]
  - General liability: [$1,000,000] / [$2,000,000]
  - Workers' compensation: statutory
  - [Your Company] as additional insured
  - Project: [Job name]

Please email it to [your email]. [Sub name] is copied here.

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your company] · [phone]

What to check when it arrives

1. The insured name matches the entity on your contract exactly.
2. The expiration dates are in the future — every line, not just the first.
3. The limits meet what you asked for.
4. Your company is the certificate holder.
5. Additional insured and waiver of subrogation are noted, if you required them.

What a certificate actually proves covers the form itself in more detail, including what it does not guarantee.

Doing this fifteen times a year

One request is a two-minute job. The problem is that it is a two-minute job repeated every time a policy renews, for every subcontractor, forever — plus the follow-ups, plus remembering which ones you are still waiting on.

SubCover sends these on a schedule and gives the subcontractor a link that opens straight to an upload form, so no one has to find an attachment or reply to anything. When it arrives you get one notification and one button to approve it.