What to Actually Check on a Tenant's Certificate of Insurance

Most landlords collect certificates of insurance from tenants because the lease requires it. But "collecting" usually means glancing at the expiration date, confirming it hasn't lapsed, and dropping it into a folder. That's not compliance — that's documentation theater.

A certificate of insurance is only useful if you know what to look for. Here are the seven things that actually matter.

1. Additional insured status

Your lease almost certainly requires the tenant to name your entity as an additional insured on their general liability policy. This is the single most important thing on the certificate, and it's the one most frequently wrong.

Look for your exact entity name — not a close approximation, not a previous entity name, not just the property address. If the additional insured field lists "Building Owner" instead of your LLC's legal name, you may have no coverage when it matters.

2. Coverage types and limits

Your lease specifies minimum coverage requirements. Common ones include commercial general liability, often at $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. Workers' compensation if the tenant has employees. Commercial auto if their business involves vehicles. Umbrella or excess liability for higher-risk tenants. Residential leases may have different thresholds, but the principle is the same — verify each requirement individually.

Check each one individually. A tenant can have a $2 million general liability policy and still be non-compliant if the lease requires workers' comp and they don't carry it.

3. The expiration date — but not just whether it's current

Yes, check that the policy hasn't expired. But also check when it will expire relative to the lease term. A tenant with a lease running through 2028 and a policy expiring in 90 days is going to need a renewal. Set a reminder now rather than discovering the gap later.

4. Carrier ratings

Not all insurance carriers are equally reliable. The AM Best rating tells you the financial strength of the carrier. An "A" rated carrier is financially stable. A "B" or lower rated carrier might not have the reserves to pay a large claim.

Most institutional and commercial leases require carriers rated A- VII or better by AM Best. Even if your lease doesn't specify this, it's worth checking.

5. Waiver of subrogation

Many leases — particularly commercial ones — require the tenant's insurer to waive their right to subrogate claims against you. This means if the tenant's insurer pays a claim, they can't turn around and sue you to recover the money.

Look for this as an endorsement on the certificate. If it's required by your lease and missing from the COI, the tenant is non-compliant regardless of their coverage limits.

6. Certificate holder vs. additional insured

These are different things. Being listed as the certificate holder just means you receive a copy of the certificate. Being listed as an additional insured means you have coverage under the tenant's policy.

You need both, but additional insured is what actually protects you. Don't confuse the two.

7. Policy gaps and retroactive dates

Check for any gaps in coverage history if this is a renewal. A policy that expired three months ago and was just renewed means the tenant was uninsured for three months.

Also check retroactive dates on claims-made policies — this determines how far back the coverage extends.

The bottom line

Collecting a COI is necessary. Reading it is what protects you. If manually checking all seven of these fields across every tenant in your portfolio sounds tedious, that's because it is — and it's exactly why most landlords don't do it thoroughly enough.