Commercial Lines Service · training guide · draft

How to issue a certificate of insurance (ACORD 25)

Send the holder and the client an accurate certificate that shows only the coverage and wording the client's policy actually provides.

Typical time: about 6 min · Use this when a client or a general contractor emails a certificate request, usually to the shared inbox and often before a job starts.

Steps

1. 1
   Read the request email and note the holder's name, address and any wording asked for. · Microsoft Outlook

   Use the project address where relevant. Holder details are retyped in about a third of cases, so copy and paste them instead.
2. 2
   Open the client's account and go to Proof of Insurance. · Applied Epic

   About 29% of cases add an extra Epic visit (about 1.8 min) to check the policy forms. Do this check first to avoid the detour.
3. 3
   Set Holder type to whoever is asking: general contractor, landlord, lender or vendor/customer. · Applied Epic

   Use the request email and, if you have it, the contract or lease that names the holder. Holder type is one of the most re-edited fields.
4. 4
   Decide Additional insured: Yes only if the contract requires it and the policy has the endorsement. · Applied Epic

   decide: General contractors almost always, landlords often, vendors only if their contract says so. Never for lenders; they get loss payee.
5. 5
   Decide Waiver of subrogation: Yes only if the contract asks and the forms schedule shows the endorsement. · Applied Epic

   decide: Mostly general contractor jobs, sometimes landlords. It is almost always No when Additional insured is No.
6. 6
   Fill in Description of operations using only wording the policy endorsements support. · Applied Epic

   Primary and non-contributory wording needs the endorsement on the policy, and sometimes a check with the carrier. For other special wording, ask a licensed colleague.
7. 7
   Return to the request email and write the reply with the certificate attached. · Microsoft Outlook
8. 8
   Send the certificate to both the holder and the client. · Microsoft Outlook
9. 9
   Log the request as an activity in Applied Epic and close it. · Applied Epic

Watch out for

• Changed wording or a new address from the contractor means a reissue: about 16% of cases re-edit the message body, description of operations or holder type. Confirm the details before building the certificate.
• Skipping the forms check can lead you to grant additional insured or waiver wording the policy doesn't have. Certificates must never show coverage the policy lacks.
• Retyping the holder name and address happens in about a third of cases, and about 1.2% of these transfers have a mismatch. Paste from the email and compare.
• About 7% of cases need a second pass through the whole certificate, which roughly doubles the time (11.3 min against 5.5 min).

Faster ways

• Paste the holder name and address from the Outlook request into Epic instead of retyping them.
• Check the forms schedule for the blanket additional insured and waiver endorsements before you set those fields, which avoids the extra visit to Epic and the later rework.
• Ask your lead about a Power Automate flow with Microsoft 365 Copilot that reads the request, checks Epic endorsements and drafts the certificate and reply for your approval. Unusual wording would still come to you.

Written by AI from how the team actually did this work (2026-10-19 to 2026-10-23): the most common path, the steps people add or redo, and where errors happen. Review and edit before sharing.