According to the Insurance and Risk Management Institute (IRMI), an Additional Insured is, ‘A person or organization not automatically included as an insured under an insurance policy who is included or added as an insured under the policy at the request of the named insured‘. Now let me try to help you understand what that means in layman’s terms. This refers to any person who is not the policyholder, but is covered by an insurance policy. This coverage may be limited to a single event like a wedding, or it could last the lifetime of the policy like when a contractor who will be working for the business throughout the entire year. Thie first and most important thing for anyone to understand are the three different entities involved in a certificate of insurance. Those three entities are the additional insured, the certificate holder, and the policy holder. Here is a brief description of each entity and when it is best to add an Additional Insured or use a Waiver of Subrogation.
Entities to an Insurance Agreement
Policy Holder:
The policy holder of an insurance policy is the person or business whose name is on the policy. It is important to distinguish this person from the name insured. The named insured is the person or business the policy is purchased to cover.
Additional Insured:
A person or organization that is added to an insurance policy and that person or organization enjoys the benefits of being insured under the policy. This coverage is in addition to the person or organization who originally purchased the insurance policy. The additional insured is named on a certificate of insurance. They only have a certificate if you send them a copy.
Certificate Holder:
The certificate holder is the entity that is provided a certificate of insurance as evidence of the insurance maintained by another entity. In its most simple form, a certificate of insurance is proof of insurance. The certificate holder is holding the certificate of insurance proves a business made sure to check the insurance coverages of contractors they partner with.
When Should Someone Add An Additional Insured?
One of the most common examples of when is a landlord of a commercial building. Landlords commonly require tennants to add the landlord under their insurance policies in order to lease the facility. Another good reason to be add is your business rents a piece of equipment from another business. You may want to add the other business as an additional under your insurance policies involving the equipment.