How to track tenant certificates of insurance
What a commercial lease usually requires, how to read an ACORD 25, why certificate holder isn't additional insured, and a routine that catches lapses.
Almost every commercial lease requires the tenant to carry liability insurance and prove it with a certificate. Almost every small owner has at least one tenant whose certificate expired months ago without anyone noticing. The gap usually only surfaces after a slip-and-fall in front of a storefront, when the owner learns the tenant's policy lapsed, or that it never named the landlord at all. This guide covers what to require, how to read the certificate you get back, and a simple tracking routine for a portfolio of five to fifty tenants. It is general information, not legal or insurance advice; your lease and your insurance agent control the details.
THE TENANT FILE
Keep insurance next to the rest of the tenant record.
The tenant information checklist covers the certificate, its expiration and limits, and the additional-insured check, alongside contacts and lease facts.
01 / 08
Why the certificate is the part you can actually check
You will rarely see a tenant's actual policy. What you get is a certificate of insurance (COI): a one- or two-page summary, issued by the tenant's agent or insurer, that lists the policies in force, their dates, and their limits. In the US the most common form for liability coverage is the ACORD 25.
A certificate is evidence, not coverage. The ACORD 25 itself says it is issued as a matter of information only and confers no rights on the certificate holder. That is exactly why the review matters: the certificate tells you what to ask about, and a mismatch between the certificate and the lease is your early warning that the policy behind it may not protect you either.
02 / 08
Start from the lease, not from the certificate
Before you can judge a certificate, you need each lease's insurance clause written down as a short list of requirements. Leases drafted years apart often ask for different things, so do this per tenant, not per property. A typical small-retail or office lease asks for some version of the following.
Key points
- Commercial general liability, often $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate
- Landlord (and often its lender and manager) named as additional insured, by exact legal name
- Property coverage for the tenant's improvements, fixtures, and inventory
- Workers' compensation at statutory limits, if the tenant has employees
- Umbrella or excess liability for higher-risk uses such as restaurants or fitness
- Waiver of subrogation and a renewal or notice requirement
03 / 08
How to read an ACORD 25 in five minutes
Read the certificate in the same order every time, against the requirement list for that tenant. Most problems show up in the same handful of boxes.
Key points
- Insured: the named insured should match the tenant entity on the lease, not just the trade name
- Policy dates: the effective and expiration dates; write the expiration on your tracker today
- Limits: each occurrence and general aggregate for general liability, compared to the lease
- ADDL INSD column: a “Y” on the general liability line, plus wording in the description box naming you
- Description of operations: additional insured and waiver language usually lives here
- Certificate holder: your correct legal name and notice address
04 / 08
Certificate holder is not additional insured
This is the single most common gap. Being listed as the certificate holder only means the certificate was sent to you. It does not extend the tenant's policy to cover you. Being an additional insured does: it means the tenant's insurer is expected to defend and cover you for claims arising from the tenant's premises or operations, within the policy's terms.
On the certificate, look for a “Y” in the ADDL INSD column on the general liability line and description wording that names your entity as additional insured. Many owners also ask for a copy of the additional insured endorsement itself (for premises leases, insurers often use a managers-or-lessors-of-premises endorsement), because the endorsement is what actually changes the policy. If the name on it is your old LLC, or your property manager's name instead of the owning entity, send it back.
05 / 08
A tracking routine that catches lapses
The goal is simple: no tenant goes a day without a current certificate that meets its lease, and you find out about a problem from your tracker, not from a claim. A routine that works for a small portfolio:
Key points
- Keep one row per tenant: requirements confirmed, certificate on file, expiration date, status
- Request the renewal certificate 30 days before expiration, and copy the tenant's agent
- Follow up at 7 days, on the expiration date, and weekly after a lapse
- Review each new certificate against that tenant's requirements before filing it
- File accepted certificates with the tenant, and keep the earlier ones
- Re-check every tenant at year-end and at every lease amendment or assignment
06 / 08
Worked example: an eight-tenant center in October
Take a fictional eight-tenant strip center reviewed on October 3. Five certificates are current and meet their leases. One, for the dry cleaner in Suite 104, expires November 15, so its renewal request goes out October 16 (30 days ahead) and the follow-up November 8 (7 days ahead). One, for the café in Suite 110, arrived last week showing $1,000,000 per occurrence but only $1,000,000 aggregate against a lease that requires $2,000,000; it goes back to the tenant and the agent with a one-line note. The eighth, the nail salon in Suite 112, shows the landlord as certificate holder with the ADDL INSD box blank.
So on a single morning, the owner has three actions: one scheduled renewal request, one coverage shortfall, and one additional-insured fix. None of them is urgent today. Every one of them would have been invisible in a folder of PDFs until something went wrong.
07 / 08
When a tenant is short, late, or lapsed
Start with a friendly, specific request: what is missing, the exact wording you need, and the date you need it by. Most shortfalls are the agent's paperwork, not the tenant's policy, and are fixed in days. Sending the request to the agent directly is usually faster than routing it through the tenant.
If a tenant will not or cannot produce compliant coverage, read the lease before you act. Many leases treat a failure to maintain insurance as a default after notice, and some allow the landlord to buy the coverage and bill the tenant for it. The exact remedy, notice period, and cure period come from your lease, and it is worth a call to your attorney and your own insurance agent before relying on any of them.
08 / 08
Where TenantPoint fits
TenantPoint keeps this routine on the tenant record. You confirm each lease's insurance requirements once (the lease reader can suggest them from the insurance clause, but nothing is checked until you confirm). Request certificate sends the tenant, and optionally their agent, a secure one-time upload link with no account needed, and you can request from every tenant at once. When a certificate comes back, you review the values against the lease and see a result such as Meets lease, Coverage short, Landlord not additional insured, or Expired; accepted certificates are filed in the tenant's documents with earlier ones kept. Tenants you've invited to the tenant portal can also upload a certificate there and see its status, such as Received, On file, Expiring soon, or Expired.
After acceptance, the tenant (and agent) get a fresh upload link 30 and 7 days before expiration, on the day it expires, and up to twice after a lapse; you see certificates to review or expiring in your owner alert email and on Home. Vendor certificates work the same way from the Vendors screen: request one by link, review what was read, optionally set a minimum general liability per occurrence, and the vendor gets the same renewal reminders. Assigning a work order to a vendor with no current certificate shows a warning, without blocking it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How often should a tenant send a new certificate of insurance?
At least at every policy renewal, which is usually yearly, and whenever coverage, the insurer, or the named insured changes. Ask again after a lease assignment or amendment, too.
Is being the certificate holder enough?
No. The certificate holder is just the party the certificate was sent to. To be covered under the tenant's policy, the landlord generally needs to be an additional insured by endorsement, which the certificate should show in the ADDL INSD column and description.
What limits should I require from a small retail tenant?
Many small commercial leases ask for $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate in general liability, with more for higher-risk uses. The right figure depends on the property and the use; ask your own insurance agent and follow what the lease says.
Should I collect certificates from vendors too?
Yes. Contractors working on your property should carry their own liability and workers' compensation coverage and name you as additional insured. Track their certificates the same way as tenants' — TenantPoint does this from the Vendors screen, with the same secure upload link, review and expiry reminders.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information. Your lease language, your insurance agent, and your attorney control what is required and what you can do if a tenant falls short.
Free template
Get the tenant COI tracker
Required limits next to certificate limits, additional insured and waiver checks, and expirations flagged 30 days out. Comes with the tenant information checklist.
- Tenant insurance certificate (COI) trackerSpreadsheet template
- Commercial Tenant Information ChecklistPrintable checklist
Put it into practice
TenantPoint handles this workflow in Commercial property record management and Commercial tenant portal software. See all TenantPoint solutions or how it compares with other software.
This educational material is not legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice. Review controlling lease language and consult qualified professionals when appropriate.
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