When your insurer pays a claim, it normally takes over your right to go after whoever caused the loss. That is subrogation. A waiver of subrogation is the carrier agreeing, in writing and before anything happens, not to use that right against the party named in the endorsement. It shows up on general liability, workers’ comp and commercial auto because the people hiring you want the claim to end with your policy. You can buy it one party at a time or as a blanket endorsement that follows every written contract requiring it. What it costs you is a recovery right, and on workers’ comp a rated charge. A few states limit or void waivers in contracts, so where the job is matters.
What subrogation is, and what the waiver does
Subrogation is the insurer’s right, after it pays a loss, to step into your shoes and recover from whoever is legally responsible. Your policies protect that right. The ISO general liability form carries it as a condition titled “Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us,” and the workers’ comp policy’s “Recovery From Others” condition gives the carrier “your rights … to recover our payments from anyone liable for the injury.”
A waiver of subrogation is the insurer’s acknowledgment that it will not use that right against a particular party. Timing matters. Policies generally do not bar coverage when you give up recovery rights before a loss, which is what signing the contract does. Many exclude coverage when the waiver comes after the loss. Contract first; the endorsement proves your carrier agreed.
Why GCs, landlords and shippers demand it
Picture your employee hurt on a general contractor’s site. Your comp carrier pays the claim, then sues the GC over the unsafe condition. The GC’s contract was written to stop that; with a waiver naming the GC, your carrier has agreed not to bring that suit. The same logic runs through a landlord’s lease, where the tenant’s insurer waives against the building owner, and through shipper and broker agreements that want the waiver on auto, general liability and comp so a claim paid under your policies does not circle back to them.
The waiver binds your insurer. It does not stop the injured worker or a third party from suing the other side directly, which is one reason those parties also ask for additional insured status. The two endorsements do different jobs, and contracts often ask for both.
The endorsements on each policy
- General liability: ISO form CG 24 04, “Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us.” It waives recovery against the scheduled person or organization for payments arising out of your ongoing operations or your completed work under a contract with that party, and only for the party shown.
- Workers’ comp: NCCI form WC 00 03 13, “Waiver of Our Right to Recover From Others.” The carrier “will not enforce our right against the person or organization named in the Schedule,” only to the extent you work under a written contract that requires it, and nobody not named benefits. Some states have their own: Texas uses WC 42 03 04 and California WC 04 03 06, which also requires segregated payroll for the scheduled work.
- Commercial auto: shipper and broker requirement lists often ask for it on auto too, and your auto carrier adds it with its own endorsement. See commercial auto and trucking insurance.
Blanket vs. scheduled
A scheduled waiver names one party, so every new contract means another endorsement request. A blanket waiver puts contract language in the schedule instead. The Texas comp form shows both as checkboxes: “Specific Waiver” with a name, or “Blanket Waiver” for “any person or organization for whom the Named Insured has agreed by written contract to furnish this waiver.” GL carriers do the same on the CG 24 04 schedule or with their own blanket form.
Blanket is the practical choice when you sign contracts all year, but it rides on the written contract, and a contract signed after a loss is a waiver after the loss, the kind many policies exclude. Certificate holders often want the endorsement itself, not a checked box on the certificate. What a certificate does and does not prove.
What it costs you: a right, and on comp a charge
The price is not mainly dollars. You are giving up your carrier’s ability to recover, and recoveries flow back into the loss figures behind your experience rating. North Carolina’s comp statistical plan reports a claim with a subrogation recovery as the net incurred loss, gross loss minus the recovery, and Missouri’s statute credits recoveries against paid losses in computing the experience mod. A claim the carrier cannot pursue sits on your record at full value.
On workers’ comp the endorsement is a rated item. NCCI’s Basic Manual covers the charge in Rule 3-A-22; Tennessee’s insurance department, citing that rule, allows a voluntary-market charge “determined by the carrier from its evaluation of the exposure” and a set formula for assigned-risk policies. The Texas and California forms carry their own premium line, a percentage of the premium on payroll for the scheduled work. I will tell you the charge once I see the policy.
Where states limit it
- Kentucky. KRS 342.700(3) makes it unlawful for an owner or employer to require another employer to waive the recovery remedies that section grants as a condition of a contract or purchase order, and a bidder’s willingness to waive cannot count in awarding the work.
- New Hampshire. RSA 281-A:13, VI prohibits any provision in any agreement that requires an employer or its insurer to waive subrogation rights under the comp law.
- Missouri. Under RSMo 287.150.6, a contract or subcontract provision that waives comp subrogation in anticipation of a future injury or death is void when one party is an employer in the construction group of code classifications.
- Kansas. K.S.A. 16-1803(b)(3) voids private construction contract terms that waive subrogation for losses covered by liability or workers’ comp insurance, with exceptions for wrap-up programs, owners and contractors protective liability and project management protective liability.
When a form contract from another state demands a comp waiver on a job in one of these states, the answer is the statute, not a different carrier. Insurance by state and contractor insurance.
Common questions
Does a waiver of subrogation protect the other party from being sued?
Only from your insurer. It stops your carrier from recovering what it paid; the injured worker or the claimant can still sue the other party directly. That is why contracts pair it with additional insured status.
Can I agree to a waiver after a claim happens?
Not without putting the claim at risk. Policies generally allow waiving recovery rights before a loss, and many exclude coverage when the waiver comes after one. Get the contract signed and the endorsement on the policy before the work starts.
Blanket or scheduled, which one do I need?
Read the contract’s insurance exhibit. A blanket waiver follows every written contract that requires it; a scheduled one names a single party. Certificate holders often ask for a copy of the endorsement either way.
Does a waiver of subrogation cost money?
On workers’ comp it is a rated endorsement, and the basis for the charge varies by state. On general liability and auto, each carrier sets its own terms. Ask for the number on your policy rather than a rule of thumb.
Is a waiver of subrogation the same as additional insured status?
No. Additional insured status adds the other party as an insured on your policy, while a waiver of subrogation only limits your insurer’s right to recover from them. Contracts often ask for both.
Sources
- IRMI insurance definitions: waiver of subrogation (waiving before vs. after a loss)
- City of Sierra Madre, CA: acceptable waiver of subrogation endorsements, reproducing CG 24 04 05 09, WC 00 03 13 and California WC 04 03 06
- Tennessee Dept. of Commerce and Insurance bulletin, May 2015: Waiver of Subrogation Endorsement WC 00 03 13 and NCCI Basic Manual Rule 3-A-22
- Texas Dept. of Insurance: Texas Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability Manual, Endorsements & Forms (policy form WC 00 00 00 B, condition G; endorsement WC 42 03 04 A)
- North Carolina Rate Bureau: Workers Compensation Statistical Plan Manual, Part 4, Section G, subrogation and third-party cases (net incurred loss)
- KRS 342.700: remedies when third party is legally liable; requiring a waiver of remedies as a condition of a contract unlawful
- New Hampshire RSA 281-A:13: liability of third person; subrogation (paragraph VI)
- Missouri Revised Statutes 287.150: subrogation; construction waivers void; recoveries credited in the experience mod
- K.S.A. 16-1803: Kansas Fairness in Private Construction Contract Act; void provisions, including waivers of subrogation
General information about waiver of subrogation endorsements as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice; your policy forms, the signed contract and the law of the state where the work is done control. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.