How to request a certificate of insurance
Send Insurance City the insurance section of the contract, the legal name and mailing address of the certificate holder, and the business name on the policy. The form on this page takes that packet, including a copy of the contract if you have one. You can also call (209) 670-1556 and read the requirements to a licensed agent at our Stockton office, 956 W Robinhood Dr, or our San Jose office. We prepare the certificate from the policy already on file. California Insurance Code §384 requires a certificate used as evidence of insurance to say, in substance, that it is not an insurance policy and does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage. ACORD 25 (2025/12) says the same thing in its own disclaimer: the certificate is information only.
What to send from the contract
The useful page is the insurance exhibit, not the whole agreement. A drywall crew in Stockton whose general contractor on a Lathrop job emails a sample certificate, or a restaurant tenant on a San Jose lease whose landlord attached a one-page insurance rider, should send that page. We read the names, the lines of coverage they listed, and any request for additional insured status, a waiver of subrogation, or primary and noncontributory wording.
Send four things:
- The insurance section, or the holder written list, as a PDF or a photo.
- The holder legal name and mailing address, copied the way the contract prints them. A property manager and the building owner are often different names.
- The insured legal name as it appears on the policy, plus the policy number if you have it.
- Where the finished certificate should go, if the holder gave an email address.
Why a client asks for a certificate in the first place is covered in what a certificate of insurance is. How a commercial lease lines up those requests is on our California commercial lease insurance page. This page is the request itself.
What an ACORD 25 shows
ACORD 25 is the Certificate of Liability Insurance. The edition published as ACORD 25 (2025/12) on the New York Department of Financial Services approved-certificate page is a snapshot of liability policies, not a property form and not the policy. How that edition sits next to the application forms is on the ACORD 25 page in the forms library. Reading down the page, it shows:
- The producer, and the named insured.
- Each insurer affording coverage, with a letter that ties that insurer to a coverage row.
- Rows for commercial general liability, automobile liability, umbrella or excess liability, and workers compensation and employers liability, each with a policy number, effective date, expiration date, and the limits the certificate is reporting.
- Checkboxes for additional insured and for waiver of subrogation on the liability rows.
- A description of operations, locations, or vehicles, where a job address or a project name can be typed.
- The certificate holder name and address.
- A cancellation box, and a signature line for the authorized representative.
The form states that limits shown may already be reduced by paid claims and stay subject to the policy. A framing contractor in the Central Valley who needs general liability listed, and a licensed trade who needs contractors general liability listed for a general contractor, are both ACORD 25 requests. The amounts on the certificate are the amounts the policy provides. We do not type a limit the policy does not carry.
Certificate holder is not additional insured
The certificate holder is the person or organization the certificate is addressed to. Putting a San Jose landlord, or a Stockton general contractor, in that box tells them a certificate was issued. It does not put them on the policy.
Additional insured status is different. It exists when the policy, or an endorsement to the policy, gives that person or organization certain coverage for claims arising out of the named insured work. ACORD 25 (2025/12) says that if the certificate holder is an additional insured, the policy must have additional insured provisions or be endorsed, and that a statement on the certificate does not confer those rights in place of the endorsement. We check the policy before we mark the additional insured box. What that status does, and what it does not do, is explained in what an additional insured is.
Waiver of subrogation
A waiver of subrogation is the insurer giving up the right, after it pays a covered claim, to recover that payment from someone else, often the certificate holder or an additional insured. The ACORD 25 (2025/12) note says that if subrogation is waived, subject to the terms of the policy, certain policies may require an endorsement, and a statement on the certificate does not replace that endorsement.
A checked box is a report of what the policy already allows. If a Lathrop general contractor asks for the waiver and the policy does not provide it, we tell you that before anything is issued. We do not check the box to satisfy the email.
Primary and noncontributory
Contracts often ask that the named insured liability insurance be primary and noncontributory for the additional insured. In plain words, the named insured policy is supposed to respond first to a covered claim against that additional insured, and the additional insured own policy is not supposed to share that same loss. That wording has to be in the policy or in an endorsement.
ACORD 25 (2025/12) does not treat a typed remark as a change to the policy. Its disclaimer says the certificate does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage, and California Insurance Code §384 requires the same statement. Typing “primary and noncontributory” into the description of operations does not create the wording. We can show it on the certificate only when the policy already provides it.
When the request is about the building: ACORD 27 and 28
ACORD publishes separate forms when the other party cares about property insurance rather than liability. ACORD 27 is titled Evidence of Property Insurance. ACORD 28 is titled Evidence of Commercial Property Insurance. ACORD explains that both go to someone with a financial interest in the property on the policy, usually a lender, and that the lending business prefers the word “evidence” in the title. The FAQ also says that, title aside, both are certificates of insurance and are issued as information only.
A Central Valley lender who wants proof that a commercial building in Stockton is insured is asking for the commercial property evidence form, ACORD 28, which follows the commercial property policy. A mortgage holder on a dwelling is the kind of request ACORD 27 (2016/03) is titled for. Neither form is a substitute for the liability certificate a vendor contract wants. ACORD gives a reason the forms are split: a property policy typically obligates the insurer to notify the mortgage holder if the policy cancels, while a typical liability policy notifies the first named insured and no one else unless an endorsement adds that notice.
Landlord policies and the certificates a property owner may be asked to show a lender are a different request from a tenant certificate. See landlord insurance in California for the owner side.
Why the certificate cannot promise notice or coverage the policy does not give
Two writings say this, and they agree.
California Insurance Code §384 says a certificate or verification of insurance, when it is given as evidence of insurance instead of a copy of the policy, must contain this statement or words to the same effect: “This certificate or verification of insurance is not an insurance policy and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage afforded by the policies listed herein.” The same section adds that, no matter what a contract requires, the insurance described is subject to all the terms, exclusions, and conditions of the policies. Subsection (b) says §384 does not apply to a surplus line broker certificate as defined in Insurance Code §48.
The disclaimer on ACORD 25 (2025/12) says the certificate is issued as information only, confers no rights on the certificate holder, does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage, and is not a contract between the insurer, the producer, and the holder. The cancellation box says that if a described policy is cancelled before it expires, notice will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions. That sentence does not create a separate promise to warn the certificate holder. If the policy notifies only the first named insured, the certificate cannot add a notice to the landlord or the general contractor. Only the policy, or an endorsement, can do that. ACORD states the same limit in its certificates FAQ: a certificate does not provide, endorse, amend, extend, or alter the policy, and only an endorsement, rider, or amendment changes coverage. Mentioning the contract on the certificate does not provide coverage.
Request the certificate
Use this form for a policy placed through Insurance City. A licensed agent reads what you send and prepares the certificate from that policy. If the contract asks for wording the policy does not have, we will tell you what the policy can show.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (209) 670-1556. Offices: Stockton and San Jose. En español: cómo solicitar un certificado de seguro.
Frequently asked questions
Is the certificate the same as the policy?
No. California Insurance Code section 384 requires a certificate used as evidence of insurance to state that it is not an insurance policy and does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage. The policy and its endorsements control the claim.
Does naming someone as the certificate holder make that person an additional insured?
No. The certificate holder is who the certificate is addressed to. Additional insured status exists only when the policy or an endorsement provides it. ACORD 25 (2025/12) says a statement on the certificate does not confer additional insured rights in place of that policy wording.
Can the certificate promise the holder a cancellation notice the policy does not give?
The cancellation box on ACORD 25 (2025/12) says notice will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions. It does not add a notice right the policy does not already give. The ACORD certificates FAQ says a typical liability policy notifies the first named insured, and other parties only if the policy is endorsed to notify them.
When is the request an ACORD 27 or an ACORD 28 instead of an ACORD 25?
When the other party has a financial interest in property the policy covers, usually a lender. ACORD 27 is titled Evidence of Property Insurance. ACORD 28 is titled Evidence of Commercial Property Insurance. The ACORD FAQ says both are still certificates and are issued as information only.
What should I send with the request?
The insurance section of the contract or the written list from the holder, the legal name and mailing address of the holder, the insured name as it appears on the policy, and the policy number if you have it. Mark whether they asked for additional insured status, a waiver of subrogation, primary and noncontributory wording, or something else.
Can Insurance City issue a certificate for a job in San Jose or the Central Valley when the policy is serviced from Stockton?
Yes, when the policy was placed through Insurance City. The job can be in San Jose, Stockton, Lathrop, or another Central Valley city. Send the insurance section of the contract so the holder name matches the paperwork for that job.
Sources
- California Insurance Code §384 (certificate is not a policy and does not amend, extend, or alter coverage; surplus line broker certificates under §48 are excepted). leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, checked 2026-10-05.
- ACORD, Certificates of Insurance FAQ (a certificate is not a policy and does not amend it; ACORD 25, 27, and 28; why property and liability certificates are separate; evidence forms are still certificates and are informational). acord.org, checked 2026-10-05.
- New York Department of Financial Services, approved certificate ACORD 25 (2025/12), Certificate of Liability Insurance, including the information-only disclaimer, the additional insured and waiver note, the coverage rows, and the cancellation box. dfs.ny.gov, checked 2026-10-05. Cited for the form edition and the words printed on that edition, not as California law.