Contract insurance requirements checker
Paste the insurance section of a client contract, MSA, subcontract, or lease. See every coverage, limit, and endorsement it requires, in plain English. It runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent anywhere.
What the checker looks for
Coverage types and limits for general liability, professional liability (E&O), cyber, umbrella and excess, auto, workers comp and employers liability (stop-gap in Washington), crime, EPLI, media liability, and property. Plus the contract terms that need specific endorsements:
- Additional insured: The client (or landlord) must be added to your policy so it can claim under it.
- Waiver of subrogation: Your insurer gives up the right to recover a claim it paid from the client.
- Primary and noncontributory: Your policy must pay first, without asking the client's insurer to share.
- Notice of cancellation: The client wants to be told before your policy cancels.
- Insurer rating: Your insurance company must have a minimum A.M. Best financial strength rating.
- Claims-made terms: A claims-made policy only covers claims made while it is active, for work after its retroactive date.
- Certificate of insurance: You must send proof of coverage, usually before work starts and at every renewal.
- Indemnity or hold harmless: You agree to pay for losses the client suffers because of your work, sometimes including its legal defense.
- Completed operations: Coverage for injuries or damage after the job is finished.
- Per project aggregate: The general liability aggregate must apply separately to each project.
- Mentions artificial intelligence: The contract addresses your use of AI tools or AI in what you deliver.
Contract insurance terms explained
What is a waiver of subrogation?
A waiver of subrogation means your insurer gives up its right to recover money it paid on a claim from the other party to your contract. Contracts ask for it so a loss on the job does not turn into a lawsuit between your insurer and the client. It takes an endorsement on each policy the contract names, usually general liability, auto, and workers comp.
What does additional insured mean in a contract?
The client, general contractor, or landlord is added to your liability policy so it can make a claim under your coverage for losses arising from your work. It requires an endorsement on the policy. A certificate of insurance is only evidence of coverage; Washington and Idaho law say a certificate cannot alter, amend, or extend the policy, so the endorsement needs to be there.
What does primary and noncontributory mean?
Your policy must pay first for claims arising from your work, without asking the client's own insurance to contribute. Standard policies do not say this by themselves, so contracts that require it need endorsement wording that matches.
Does a certificate of insurance prove I have the coverage the contract requires?
Not by itself. A certificate only shows the policies in force and cannot change them. If the contract requires additional insured status, a waiver of subrogation, or primary and noncontributory wording, those endorsements have to be on the policy itself. We check the policy, not just the certificate.
What does a claims-made requirement in a contract mean?
Professional liability and cyber policies are usually claims-made: they cover claims made while the policy is active, for work done after the retroactive date. Contracts often require the coverage to stay in place, or an extended reporting period (tail) to be bought, for a number of years after the work ends.
Is the contract text I paste sent anywhere?
No. The checker runs in your browser. Nothing you paste leaves your computer unless you choose to send us the summary for a review.
Related: professional liability (E&O), when a contract requires cyber insurance, and contracts that require an umbrella.