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What does it mean to name someone as additional insured?
"Name us as additional insured on your policy" is one of the most common demands in commercial leases and contracts, and one of the most misunderstood. It means the other party wants your liability policy to protect them, not just you, when a claim arises out of your operations.
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Additional Insured Requirements
What it means when a landlord, client, or general contractor asks to be named additional insured, and how to handle the request correctly.
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What "name us as additional insured" actually means
"Name us as additional insured on your policy" is one of the most common demands in commercial leases and contracts, and one of the most misunderstood. It means the other party wants your liability policy to protect them, not just you, when a claim arises out of your operations. Done correctly, it is a routine endorsement your agent arranges with the carrier, often at little or no cost. Done incorrectly, businesses hand over certificates that promise protection the policy does not actually contain, which surfaces at the worst possible moment: during a claim. This page explains what the status does, how it differs from a certificate holder, and how to respond without slowing the deal. It is general information, not legal advice.
Who typically asks, and why
The request always comes from a party your operations could pull into a claim.
Landlords, in nearly every commercial lease
If a customer is injured in your space and sues the building owner too, the landlord wants your policy defending it for claims arising from your occupancy.
General contractors and project owners
Construction contracts routinely require subs to add the GC and owner, often with primary and non-contributory and completed-operations wording on top.
Clients in service agreements
If your work at a client site injures someone, the client expects your GL to respond for both of you rather than tapping its own program.
Venues and franchisors
Venues want the status for event dates; franchisors enforce it system-wide through the franchise agreement.
How the endorsement actually works
The mechanics matter, because this is where certificates go wrong.
Blanket versus scheduled endorsements
Many contractor and small-business policies carry blanket additional insured wording that responds automatically whenever a written contract requires the status. Otherwise, the carrier schedules the specific party by endorsement, which can carry a charge and a day or two of processing.
Scope is limited to your operations
The status generally covers the other party for liability arising out of your work or premises, not their own independent negligence in many forms. It is protection from you, not a general gift of your policy.
It shares your limits
An additional insured draws from the same limit pool you do. A serious claim defended for two parties depletes it faster, which is one reason counterparties also demand minimum limits, and one reason to revisit yours as the list grows.
Line by line, not policy-wide
Naming someone on your GL does nothing to your E&O or workers' comp. If the contract wants the status on multiple lines, each needs its own endorsement mechanics.
Handling the request without slowing the deal
The fast path, in practice.
Forward the exact contract language
Requirements like specific endorsement form numbers, primary and non-contributory wording, or completed operations change what the carrier must issue. The exact words save a round trip.
Same day with blanket wording, days without
Blanket endorsements let the certificate issue immediately. Scheduled endorsements typically take one to three business days. If a signing date is at risk, say so; agents can flag carrier requests rush.
Never solve it on the certificate alone
Wording that exists only on the COI and not in the policy protects no one and is generally treated as misrepresentation. If the policy cannot support the ask, the fix is an endorsement or a different policy. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Checklist
Additional Insured Requirements checklist
Tell us about your operation
Share what your business does, your revenue band, and the contracts or clients driving the need. This sets the exposures an underwriter will price.
We market your risk to carriers
Our agents take your profile to the carrier panel that writes this line, then compare terms, limits, and exclusions side by side.
Review quotes and choose limits
You see the options in plain language: what each policy covers, where the gaps are, and how the limit and deductible change the premium.
Bind coverage and get your documents
Once you pick a quote, we bind the policy and send your certificate and policy documents, usually within one business day.
Manage renewals and changes
As your business changes, we adjust limits, add endorsements, and handle the renewal so coverage keeps pace with your exposure.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
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What We Do
Why Covered by Cornerstone for additional insured requirements
- States covered
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All 50
States covered
Filings, agents, and renewals everywhere you do business.
- Specialist assigned
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1:1
Specialist assigned
A real person who knows your filing inside out, start to finish.
- Surprise fees
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0
Surprise fees
Transparent scope and quote up front. No add-ons mid-stream.
What We Do
What it means when a landlord, client, or general contractor asks to be named additional insured, and how to handle the request correctly.
Covered by Cornerstone
How we use AI
AI helps our insurance team work faster. Our specialists still own every call.
For Additional Insured Requirements filings, AI helps our team find the right starting point quickly and reuse data you have already given us, so the work moves without extra effort from you. A licensed Cornerstone specialist reviews everything before it leaves our hands. Your information stays on our infrastructure, not in a public LLM.
On Our Infrastructure
Our models run on Cornerstone servers, not public chatbots. Your business information is not sent to a third-party LLM or used to train anyone else's product.
An Assistant, Not an Operator
AI helps our insurance team start their research in the right place and surface the resources to look at. Specialists vet what comes back and make the call.
Less Duplicate Work for You
Atlas figures out what data each form needs, then reuses what you have already given us so the same question does not come around twice. That is how approvals come faster.
Explore More From Our Team
Tools and references our customers use most.
What We Do
Additional insured request holding things up?
Send the contract language and the deadline. With blanket wording the certificate typically issues same day; scheduled endorsements move in a day or two. We make sure the policy actually says what the certificate promises.