Also known as: Certificate of Liability Insurance · ACORD 25 form
The standard industry form used to prove liability insurance to a customer — the certificate itself, which evidences coverage but does not change the policy.
ACORD 25 is the standard "Certificate of Liability Insurance" form used across the U.S. insurance industry to evidence a policyholder's General Liability, Automobile, Umbrella/Excess, and Workers' Compensation coverage to a third party (the "certificate holder"). ACORD — the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, a non-profit that maintains standardized insurance forms — publishes the template that brokers complete when a vendor contract asks for proof of insurance. Critically, the form states on its face that it is issued as a matter of information only and confers no rights on the certificate holder, and that it does not affirmatively or negatively amend, extend, or alter the coverage in the underlying policies. In other words, the ACORD 25 proves what coverage exists; it does not create or guarantee coverage, and rights such as additional-insured status come from policy endorsements, not from the certificate.
Source: ACORD (standards body for the ACORD 25 form)
Vendor shall furnish a certificate of insurance (ACORD 25 or equivalent) evidencing the required coverages and limits prior to commencement of work.
No. The form states it is issued as a matter of information only and does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage in the underlying policies. It evidences that coverage exists — it does not create it.
No. A certificate may indicate additional-insured status, but that status is only granted by an actual policy endorsement. A prime that requires additional-insured coverage will often ask for the endorsement, not just the ACORD 25.
Definitions are educational and may be modified by your specific policy language, endorsements, and state rules. For regulatory guidance, refer to the California Department of Insurance or the NAIC.
Last updated: July 2026.