How to Read an ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance

An ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance summarizes a vendor's active liability policies on a single standardized page.

To read an ACORD 25 accurately, verify the Named Insured and Insurer letters at the top, check policy dates and dollar limits in the central table, and confirm Additional Insured and Waiver of Subrogation wording before you check an ACORD 25 certificate for free.

Anatomy of the ACORD 25 Form

Published by ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development), the ACORD 25 (2016/03 edition) is the standard layout used by insurance brokers across the United States to evidence Commercial General Liability, Automobile Liability, Umbrella/Excess Liability, and Workers' Compensation policies.

ACORD 25 Section	Location on Form	What to Check Against Your Contract
Header & Date	Top right (DATE (MM/DD/YYYY))	Date the certificate was issued by the producer. Does not equal policy effective dates.
Producer	Top left box	Agency name, contact person, phone, and email of the insurance broker who issued the form.
Insured	Upper left box below Producer	Legal business name and address of the vendor or subcontractor (Apex Plumbing LLC).
Insurers Affording Coverage	Upper right (INSURER A–F)	Full carrier names and 5-digit NAIC company codes for each policy row below.
Coverages Table	Center grid	Policy types, ADDL INSD, SUBR WVD, policy numbers, effective/expiration dates, and dollar limits.
Description of Operations	Lower full-width box	Property locations, project numbers, Additional Insured entities, and attached endorsement numbers.
Certificate Holder	Bottom left box	Name and address of the organization receiving the certificate (123 Main Street Holdings LLC).
Authorized Representative	Bottom right box	Signature of the licensed producer or agency representative.

Box-by-Box Walkthrough With Specimen Entities

Suppose Harborview Property Management Inc. hires Apex Plumbing LLC to replace main water risers at a property owned by 123 Main Street Holdings LLC. The contract requires the Standard Commercial General Contractor (gc_standard) benchmark ($2,000,000 Each Occurrence / $4,000,000 General Aggregate, $1,000,000 Auto Combined Single Limit, Statutory Workers' Compensation, plus CG 20 10 04 13 and CG 20 37 04 13 endorsements).

1. Producer, Insured, and Insurer Letters

Start by confirming that the Insured box matches the legal entity on your vendor contract and W-9 (Apex Plumbing LLC, not an unrelated DBA). On the right side, Insurers Affording Coverage assigns letters A through F to specific insurance companies. The INSR LTR column in the coverage grid links each policy row back to one of those carriers.

2. Commercial General Liability Row

Verify that the Commercial General Liability checkbox and the Occurrence checkbox (rather than Claims-Made) are marked. Check the policy effective (POLICY EFF) and expiration (POLICY EXP) dates to ensure the policy covers current work. Then read the right-hand limits column:

• EACH OCCURRENCE: $2,000,000
• DAMAGE TO RENTED PREMISES (Ea occurrence): $100,000
• MED EXP (Any one person): $5,000
• PERSONAL & ADV INJURY: $2,000,000
• GENERAL AGGREGATE: $4,000,000
• PRODUCTS - COMP/OP AGG: $4,000,000

3. Automobile Liability and Umbrella Rows

In the Automobile Liability row, check which auto symbols are marked (ANY AUTO, or a combination of HIRED AUTOS and NON-OWNED AUTOS if the vendor owns no fleet vehicles) and confirm the COMBINED SINGLE LIMIT (Ea accident) meets $1,000,000. If the vendor's primary General Liability limit is $1,000,000 instead of $2,000,000, look at the Umbrella Liab / Excess Liab row to see whether an active Occur policy adds at least $1,000,000 on top.

4. Workers' Compensation and Employers' Liability

In the Workers Compensation and Employers' Liability row, look for an X in the WC STATUTORY LIMITS box and check the three Employers' Liability sub-limits (E.L. EACH ACCIDENT, E.L. DISEASE - EA EMPLOYEE, and E.L. DISEASE - POLICY LIMIT). Also pay attention to the ANY PROPRIETOR/PARTNER/EXECUTIVE OFFICER/MEMBER EXCLUDED? box—if Y is marked, an owner performing hands-on work on your jobsite may be excluded from Workers' Compensation benefits.

5. ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD Columns

Two narrow columns sit just to the left of the policy numbers:

• ADDL INSD (Additional Insured): A Y or X indicates the policy includes an endorsement extending liability status to the certificate holder or scheduled entities.
• SUBR WVD (Subrogation Waived): A Y or X indicates the insurer waives its right to seek reimbursement from you after paying a covered claim.

Because the ACORD 25 top banner explicitly states that the certificate does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage afforded by the policies, a Y in either column should be backed by the actual policy endorsement pages (such as CG 20 10 04 13, CG 20 37 04 13, or CG 24 04).

6. Description of Operations and Certificate Holder

The Description of Operations / Locations / Vehicles box should state the required additional insured wording—for example: "123 Main Street Holdings LLC and Harborview Property Management Inc. are included as Additional Insureds on a Primary and Non-Contributory basis with respect to General Liability per attached forms CG 20 10 04 13 and CG 20 37 04 13." Finally, confirm the Certificate Holder box lists the exact legal entity name and address.

Streamline Your ACORD 25 Reviews

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