Additional insured endorsements explained, including CG 20 10 and CG 20 37

What additional insured status does

When a client, landlord or general contractor asks to be an additional insured, they are asking for the right to make a claim under your liability policy if they are sued because of something connected to your work. It is one of the most common insurance requirements in business contracts.

Additional insured status is created by an endorsement attached to your policy. It is not created by a certificate of insurance, an email or a line in the contract. If the endorsement is missing, the other party may have no rights under your policy even if a certificate says otherwise.

The scope of protection depends entirely on the wording of the endorsement. Some endorsements cover only claims arising while your work is under way. Others cover claims that arise after the work is finished. Some apply only to claims caused in whole or in part by your acts or omissions.

Ongoing operations and CG 20 10

Insurance Services Office, known as ISO, publishes standard policy forms that many insurers use or adapt. The CG 20 10 form is titled Additional Insured Owners, Lessees or Contractors Scheduled Person or Organization. In its current editions it applies to injury or damage caused in whole or in part by your acts or omissions, or those of people acting on your behalf, in the performance of your ongoing operations for the additional insured.

The key phrase is ongoing operations. Once your work is completed, current editions of CG 20 10 generally stop responding for that work. That is why contracts that care about claims after completion ask for a second endorsement.

Completed operations and CG 20 37

The CG 20 37 form is titled Additional Insured Owners, Lessees or Contractors Completed Operations. It extends additional insured status to injury or damage caused in whole or in part by your work after it has been completed or put to its intended use, at the location named in the schedule.

Construction contracts commonly require both CG 20 10 and CG 20 37, or equivalent forms, so that the client is protected during the job and afterward. Some contracts also require that completed operations coverage be maintained for a stated number of years after the project ends.

Edition dates and why contracts name them

ISO forms carry edition dates, and the wording has changed over time. Older editions such as the CG 20 10 from November 1985 used broader language and included completed operations within one form. Later editions narrowed coverage, split ongoing and completed operations, and added the in whole or in part causation wording.

Editions from 2013 onward added language limiting additional insured coverage to what the law allows and to what the written contract requires. In practice that means the additional insured will not receive broader coverage, or higher limits, than the contract asked for.

Some contracts still require a specific older edition. Many insurers no longer offer those editions, which is a frequent cause of rejected certificates. When a contract names an edition, check what your insurer actually issues before signing.

Blanket versus scheduled endorsements

A scheduled endorsement names each additional insured individually. Every new client or project needs its own endorsement issued by the insurer, which takes time and sometimes costs extra.

A blanket endorsement grants additional insured status automatically to any party you have agreed in a written contract to add. ISO offers blanket versions, such as CG 20 33 and CG 20 38 for construction related agreements, and many insurers use their own blanket wording or include it in contractor or business owner policy packages.

Blanket endorsements are efficient, but their conditions matter. Most require a written contract signed before the injury or damage occurs. Some extend coverage only to the party you contracted with directly, while others can extend to additional parties named in that contract, such as a project owner above a general contractor. Read the conditions before assuming a blanket form satisfies every contract.

What contracts typically require

Insurance requirements in service agreements, leases and construction subcontracts often ask for some combination of the following. The specific list varies widely by industry and by the client’s risk management practices.

• Additional insured status for the client and sometimes its affiliates, officers and employees
• Coverage for both ongoing and completed operations
• Named ISO forms or forms providing equivalent coverage
• Primary and noncontributory wording
• Additional insured status on the umbrella or excess policy
• Completed operations coverage maintained for a set period after the work
• A copy of the actual endorsement, not just a certificate

Common rejections and how to fix them

Clients and certificate tracking services reject certificates for a handful of recurring reasons. Most can be avoided by comparing the contract with the policy before work starts.

• The contract names an edition the insurer does not issue. Ask the client to accept a current edition or equivalent wording.
• Completed operations coverage is missing. Request a CG 20 37 or equivalent, or confirm the blanket form includes it.
• The blanket endorsement does not extend to the owner or other parties named in the contract. Ask the insurer for a scheduled endorsement for those parties.
• The umbrella does not follow the underlying additional insured terms. Confirm the umbrella form and request a change if needed.
• The certificate describes coverage that the policy does not contain. Correct the policy first, then reissue the certificate.
• The named additional insured does not match the legal entity in the contract. Fix the entity name before reissuing.

Additional insured status on other policies

Additional insured requests most often concern general liability, but contracts frequently extend them to other policies. Commercial auto policies can add additional insureds through their own endorsements, usually limited to liability arising from the use of covered vehicles. Umbrella and excess policies may extend additional insured status automatically when the underlying policy does, or may require separate wording.

Workers compensation is different. It pays benefits to your own employees, so contracts typically ask for a waiver of subrogation on that policy rather than additional insured status. Professional liability policies also rarely offer additional insured status, because they respond to errors in professional services rather than to bodily injury or property damage.

When a contract lists additional insured requirements for several policies, check each one separately. A general liability endorsement does not change the auto or umbrella policy.

Additional insured checklist

Treat every additional insured request as a small coverage review. List each requirement from the contract, compare it with the policy and its endorsements, request anything missing from the insurer and wait for written confirmation. Only then issue a certificate that reflects the actual policy.

Keep the contract, endorsement and certificate together in one file. At renewal, confirm that the new policy carries the same endorsements so that ongoing contracts remain satisfied. If a requirement cannot be met, tell the client early and propose an alternative rather than letting the issue surface after a claim.