Guides to subcontractor insurance
Written for the person in a general contractor’s office who collects the certificates. Each guide answers one question, and starts with the short answer.
Reading certificates
What a certificate of insurance says, what it cannot say, and how to check one.
8 min read
How to verify a certificate of insurance
The steps that verify a certificate of insurance, the signs of an altered one, four state workers’ compensation lookups, and what verifying cannot show.
Endorsements
Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory: where the protection is.
7 min read
Waiver of subrogation: what it means and how to confirm it
What a waiver of subrogation is, why the SUBR WVD box is not proof, which endorsement form goes with each policy, and the note to send to get it.
5 min read
Certificate holder vs additional insured
A certificate holder only receives the certificate. An additional insured has rights under the policy, by endorsement. How to tell which one you are.
9 min read
CG 20 10 vs CG 20 37: ongoing and completed operations
CG 20 10 covers you while a subcontractor is working. CG 20 37 covers you after the work is finished. Both side by side, edition dates and what to ask for.
7 min read
Primary and non-contributory: what the wording means
What primary and non-contributory means, what ISO form CG 20 01 does, why a sentence on a certificate is not proof, and what to ask the agent for.
8 min read
Per project aggregate (CG 25 03): what it is and how to confirm it
What a per project aggregate is, what ISO form CG 25 03 changes and leaves alone, how it shows on a certificate, and how to confirm it.
Requirements and contracts
What to require from each trade, and how to write it into the subcontract.
6 min read
What insurance should subcontractors carry? A starting table
The coverages to require of subcontractors and what each is for, an example matrix in three risk tiers, and the endorsements to ask for.
Workers' compensation and the audit
Uninsured subcontractors, exemptions, and the bill that arrives at audit.
8 min read
Workers' comp limits explained: statutory and employers' liability
What PER STATUTE means on a certificate, how to read the three employers' liability figures and 100/500/100, stop gap in state fund states, and what to check.
8 min read
Uninsured subcontractors and the workers' comp premium audit
How a workers' comp premium audit charges for subcontractors without proof of coverage: the NCCI rule, its percentages, a worked example and a checklist.
9 min read
What happens if a subcontractor has no insurance
What an uninsured subcontractor can cost a general contractor: the injured worker, the audit charge and the liability claim. With steps for this week.
7 min read
Ghost policies: what a general contractor should ask
What a ghost or “if any” workers' comp policy covers and leaves out, what to ask a one-person subcontractor, and where to check a state exemption.
Running the process
Collecting, checking, chasing and proving it, with the team you have.
8 min read
How to track subcontractor insurance: four ways compared
Four ways to track subcontractor certificates of insurance, what each handles, where each breaks, and when a spreadsheet is enough. With a free tracker.
Choosing software
What COI tracking tools do, what they cost, and what to ask before buying.
8 min read
COI tracking software pricing: what each vendor publishes
What BCS, TrustLayer, Certificial, Jones, illumend and WatchMyCover show for price, each figure linked to its page and dated 9 October 2026.
From the help center
Two longer guides, kept with the product's help pages.
What is an ACORD 25?
How to read a certificate of liability insurance, and what a certificate cannot prove.
Additional insured endorsements
CG 20 10, CG 20 37 and blanket forms, and why a checked box is not the endorsement.
Check every certificate against your own requirements, not a standard set.
WatchMyCover holds what your subcontracts require and measures each certificate against it, with the reason for every verdict. Or check one certificate now, free and with no account.