Ask an Insurance Expert: How Do I Verify Insurance and ACORD 25.

What Is ACORD 25?

An ACORD 25 is the industry-standard Certificate of Insurance (COI) used to summarize a company’s liability coverage, policy limits, and effective dates without requiring access to the full insurance policy. It’s the most common document commercial brokers rely on to verify that vendors, contractors, and partners carry the insurance required by contract.

Insurance verification matters because it’s a frontline defense against financial exposure, regulatory noncompliance, and fraud. Missed expirations, incorrect limits, or unverifiable endorsements can quietly introduce risk until an incident occurs and the consequences become very real for your organization.

For risk managers, procurement teams, and public sector organizations alike, the ACORD 25 helps confirm that risk has been properly transferred before work begins and protects your organization from financial exposure, regulatory issues, and fraudulent or outdated coverage.

That’s where Evident comes in. Evident is not an insurance provider or broker. We help risk teams validate coverage, surface gaps, and automate compliance checks at scale. By removing manual bottlenecks from COI review and verification, Evident helps organizations confidently transfer risk, stay compliant, and prevent issues before they escalate.

How to Verify an ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance

Verifying an ACORD 25 means reviewing the document against your contractual insurance requirements. Below is a practical, step-by-step framework risk teams use to validate coverage with confidence.

1. Verify Insurance Requirements

First, you need to verify the insurance requirements. Insurance requirements are the coverages that other businesses are required to carry based on some type of contractual agreement between your company and theirs. The specifics will vary by company, but it’s pretty common for the ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance to include General Liability, Automobile Liability, or Worker’s Compensation.

These coverages are designed as a first line of defense for your company in case the other company causes a loss. Once you have all of those contractual requirements in place, you’re going to actually need to ask that other company for a Certificate of Insurance, like the ACORD 25.

We’ve already covered what a proof of insurance is in our “What is a COI”, so be sure to check that out if you missed it.

The ACORD 25 form is the most common Certificate of Insurance, so understanding it should help you verify a plurality of your vendors.

For General Liability, it’s required that the policy is active, which means that for the duration of the contract with the third party, that policy must be in effect. There must be at least a million dollars to the current limit and at least $2 million of the aggregate limit to verify the insurance. Plus, there needs to be at least $1 million of products-completed operations limit, and we need an additional insured endorsement to that insurance. A policy saying that a company and its subsidiaries are named Additional Insured was required by a written contract.

For auto, we need an active policy, at least $1 million of combined single limit, and coverage for any automobiles or owned automobiles.

2. Confirm Issue Date Is Relevant

It’s important to verify that the ACORD 25 wasn’t issued in the future or the past. You want something that’s relevant when you ask for the certificate to be produced. Most of the time, the ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance will be produced by a producer, an agent, or a broker, or directly by a carrier, so their address will be included.

3. Match Insurance Name With the Company You Want to Do Business With

The insured name must exactly match the legal entity you’re doing business with. If the name doesn’t align, the certificate may not apply to your vendor at all.

This section also lists the insurance carriers that issued each policy, along with their National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) identification numbers.

4. Review Different Coverages

The ACORD 25 is a standardized template, so it often includes more coverage categories than you actually require.

Focus only on the policies outlined in your contract:

• General Liability
• Auto Liability

If you didn’t require Umbrella, Excess Liability, or Workers’ Compensation, you can safely skip those sections.

5. Check Policy Number

It’s important to make sure that there’s a policy number on your Certificate of Insurance.

The policy’s effective date and policy expiration date verify that the policy is in effect.

We need a policy number to verify that it’s a real ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance. If a policy is no longer active, it would fail our check for an active insurance policy. We’d have to go back and ask the insured for updated auto information.

The next step is to check the Description of Operations (DLL). This is a free-form text box that companies might use to provide information about things relevant to the contract, like locations or vehicles.

It can also be used to include the language that was used in something like an Additional Insured endorsement in the Certificate of Insurance to make it a little easier to verify that it checks out.

It’s really important to know that this whole form is not something that modifies a policy, so if the limits are wrong here, it doesn’t give more coverage to the insured.

If the Additional Insured endorsement hasn’t been actually processed, it’s not part of the policy, so it doesn’t exist. This is just for your reference to give you peace of mind that this company does have insurance.

6. Make sure the COI Holder Is Accurate

The certificate holder should list your company’s information. This confirms the COI was issued specifically for you, not reused elsewhere.

7. Check for Signature

At the bottom right of the ACORD 25, there’s a signature block. Sometimes it’s text, sometimes it’s a signature, but it’s whoever was working for this producer.

This is the person who actually created that Certificate of Insurance.

Now, if you’re thinking, “This is a ton of work to do hundreds of thousands of times a year.” You’re absolutely right – it is, and that’s why companies like ours are automating every step of the process we’ve talked about today, so you can focus on running your business.

Winning With COI Software

Are you tired of complex COI tracking spreadsheets and manual tasks? Managing and verifying coverage across clients and vendors is critical, and utilizing a tool like Evident can streamline the process and help you make informed business decisions.

Evident offers a cloud-based solution with leading COI software, backed by a dedicated team of insurance professionals with expert knowledge in legal frameworks and contract language. They can even automate ACORD 25 checks into the software, ensuring your team can provide input at key decision points.

Insurance language can be puzzling, which is why Evident’s experts are here to guide you every step of the way. We provide end-to-end compliance with intelligent technology that’s user-friendly and always available, making us the top COI tracking software on the market. To get started with Evident, schedule a demo today.

FAQs

How do I verify insurance?

To verify insurance, you typically request an ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance from the insured party. This standardized form provides confirmation of active insurance coverage and key policy details. Many businesses also use an ACORD 25 form template PDF to ensure the certificate includes the required information for proper verification.

What is ACORD 25 insurance?

ACORD 25 insurance refers to the ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance, a standard document used to show proof of liability coverage. It summarizes the insured’s policy types, limits, and effective dates, allowing third parties to verify insurance without needing to access the full policy.

How do I get an ACORD 25 form?

To get an ACORD 25 form, contact your insurance provider, who can issue it using an official ACORD 25 form template PDF. This form serves as a formal Certificate of Insurance, helping others verify insurance coverage for contracts, jobs, or partnerships.

What is the latest version of ACORD 25?

The latest version of ACORD 25 is periodically updated by ACORD to reflect changes in industry standards. To ensure you’re using the most current ACORD 25 form template PDF, check with your insurance carrier or visit the ACORD website. Using the correct version helps you accurately verify insurance and maintain compliance.