What an insurance clause asks for
Most construction subcontracts, commercial leases and vendor agreements have a section, often an exhibit near the end, that lists the insurance you must carry for the length of the job or lease. It usually sets a minimum limit for each coverage and then a list of conditions your certificate of insurance has to prove.
The limits are the easy part. The conditions are where certificates get rejected and payments get held: the owner or general contractor wants to be an additional insured on your liability policy, wants your insurer to give up its right to recover from them (waiver of subrogation), and wants your policy to pay first (primary and non-contributory). Each one is an endorsement your policy has to actually include; a checked box on a certificate isn’t enough.
The terms, decoded
Additional insured (AI). Extends your liability policy to protect the party that hired you for claims arising from your work. Contracts often name the endorsement form: CG 20 10 covers ongoing operations and CG 20 37 covers completed operations; many owners ask for both.
Waiver of subrogation. Your insurer agrees not to sue the other party to recover what it paid on your claim. Commonly required on general liability, auto and workers’ comp.
Primary and non-contributory. Your policy responds first and doesn’t ask the other party’s insurer to share the loss.
Per-project aggregate. Your general liability aggregate applies separately to each job (endorsement CG 25 03), so a claim on one project doesn’t use up the limit for this one.
Notice of cancellation. How many days’ notice the certificate holder wants before your policy is cancelled, typically 30 days (10 for non-payment).
A.M. Best rating. A minimum financial rating for your insurer, often “A- VII” or better. Some contracts also require admitted (state-licensed) insurers, which rules out surplus lines placements.
After you have the list
Compare it with your current policies. If a limit is short, an umbrella policy is often the cheapest way to raise every liability limit at once, if the contract accepts excess limits. If an endorsement is missing, your agent can usually add it; some policies include blanket additional insured and waiver wording that applies whenever a written contract requires it.
If you don’t have the coverage yet, send the form below. The requirements you just read are added to it, and I’ll quote policies that meet them across the carriers I work with.
Common questions
Can I just send my contract to you instead?
Yes. Email it to [email protected] or attach it to the quote form and I’ll read the insurance section myself.
Is this legal advice?
No. It’s a reading of the insurance section so you know what to ask your insurance agent for. For what the contract means or whether to sign it, ask an attorney.
What if the contract requires something my policy doesn’t have?
Ask your agent whether it can be endorsed onto your policy. If it can’t, a different policy may be needed; that’s what I quote.
Why does the owner want to be an additional insured?
So that a claim arising from your work is defended and paid by your policy rather than theirs. It’s standard in construction and commercial leases.
Does the reader keep my contract?
No. The file is sent to Anthropic’s Claude to be read and isn’t saved by this website.
This tool and page are general information from Saman Alishahi, an independent California insurance broker, License #4348151, not legal advice, a policy, a quote or an offer of coverage. Results are read by AI from the document you upload and can contain mistakes; check them against the document. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms of the policy actually issued.