Reviewed and approved by Samuel Corso, licensed Texas insurance agent.

What is a certificate of insurance in Texas — and what does it actually prove?

It's a one-page summary of somebody else's insurance policy, issued by their agent, handed to you because you asked for proof before letting them near your house, your job site, or your loading dock.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) puts it in one sentence: certificates "are used to show proof that an organization or person has insurance coverage."

What surprises people is the limit that comes with it. TDI is direct about what a certificate may contain: it "cannot say anything that is not the same as what is stated in the insurance policy." That single rule explains almost every frustrating conversation anyone has ever had about one — why the roofer's agent won't add the sentence your contract demands, why the box you wanted ticked wasn't ticked, and why the document in your hand is a description of coverage rather than the coverage itself.

Here's what we'll cover: the two different documents that share this name, what's actually printed on a commercial certificate, the rule that caps what it can say, what it therefore doesn't prove, the additional-insured and cancellation-notice questions that cause the most arguments, how long one is good for, what TDI tells homeowners to check before hiring a contractor, the one coverage you can verify yourself without asking anybody, and how to get a certificate for your own business.

Two different documents share the name

Before anything else, disambiguate — because "certificate of insurance" means two unrelated things in Texas and people talk past each other constantly.

The commercial certificate. The one-page form a business's agent issues to show the business carries coverage: general liability, commercial auto, workers' compensation, umbrella. It usually arrives on an ACORD form — ACORD 25 for liability, ACORD 23 for vehicles or equipment — or on an agency or state form such as Form 1560. This is the document a general contractor asks a subcontractor for, a landlord asks a tenant for, and a homeowner should ask a roofer for. It's what this page is about.

The financial-responsibility certificate. In the auto world, "certificate of insurance" is also the formal name for the filing an insurer makes with the state to show a driver is covered — the thing almost everyone calls an SR-22. That's a filing between an insurer and a state agency, not a document you hand to a customer. If that's the version you're looking for, our guide on SR-22 insurance in Texas covers it.

And neither of those is the card in your glovebox. Proof of insurance for a traffic stop is its own thing — our guide on what counts as proof of insurance in Texas covers that.

What's on a commercial certificate

The form is compact and standardised, which is its whole virtue: anyone in the industry can read one in ten seconds.

Expect to see the insured business's name and address, the agency that issued it, each insurance company providing coverage, the policy numbers, the effective and expiry dates for each policy, and the limits carried on each line of coverage. There's a "Certificate Holder" box carrying the name of whoever asked for it, and there are tick-boxes for a handful of endorsement questions.

Two of those boxes cause most of the confusion, and TDI answers both plainly.

On additional insured status: "You should check the 'Additional Insured' box if the policy includes an endorsement that names the certificate holder as an additional insured."

On waiver of subrogation: "You should check the 'Waiver of Subrogation' box if the policy includes a Waiver of Subrogation endorsement that names the certificate holder."

Read the condition in both. The box reports something the policy already does. It isn't a lever that makes it happen.

The rule that caps what a certificate can say

This is the part worth understanding properly, because it is the reason certificates disappoint people.

TDI's position, from its certificates FAQ: "A certificate cannot say anything that is not the same as what is stated in the insurance policy."

And again, on whether certificates are filed with the department: "Yes, certificates of insurance are required to be filed with TDI... They cannot say anything on them that is not the same as what is stated in the insurance policy."

Three consequences follow, and each one shows up in real contracting life.

A blanket endorsement can be reported, but not converted. TDI's FAQ takes the case where a certificate holder wants to be named as an additional insured, but the policy carries only a blanket additional-insured endorsement. The answer: "No, though the certificate can state that the policy contains a Blanket Additional Insured endorsement." The same answer applies to a blanket waiver of subrogation.

The certificate can't reference your contract. Asked whether a certificate may point at the insurance requirements of another contract, such as a construction contract, TDI's answer is no. A job number for identification is fine — TDI allows it "if you are listing the job number or contract number for identification purposes only" — but not language such as "the insurer provides coverage in accordance with the terms of contract number ______."

Sweeping assurances can't be added. Asked whether a certificate may include a broad statement that there are no limitations or exclusions for residential construction exposure, TDI's answer is no: such a statement "would have to be stated exactly like that in the policy in order to be added to certificate."

None of that is an agent being obstructive. It's the shape of the document.

So what doesn't a certificate prove?

The useful, slightly uncomfortable answer: it doesn't prove what's excluded.

A certificate tells you a policy exists, who wrote it, what it's called, what the limits are, and when it runs out. It does not walk you through the exclusions, the endorsements that narrow them, or the conditions that have to be met before a claim is paid. A business can hold a perfectly genuine general liability policy with an exclusion sitting precisely over the work you're hiring them to do, and the certificate will look completely normal.

TDI names the remedy in the same breath as the limit. A certificate holder "may ask the agent whether the policy contains specific language or a specific exclusion, or may request a copy of the policy."

That's the move most people never make. If a specific risk is the reason you asked for the certificate in the first place — work at height, work on a roof, damage to the thing being worked on, an employee getting hurt in your house — the question to put in writing is whether the policy excludes it. And you can ask for the policy.

Two related answers in TDI's FAQ point the same way. On being asked to complete a supplemental questionnaire alongside the certificate, and on being asked to sign an affidavit about contract insurance requirements, TDI's answer in both cases ends with the same sentence: "You may show the relevant policy language to the certificate holder." The policy language is the thing. The certificate is the summary of it.

The cancellation-notice question

Almost every set of contract insurance requirements demands 30 days' notice of cancellation to the certificate holder. It's worth knowing what a certificate can do about that.

TDI's answer is a qualified yes: such a provision is permitted "as long as the provision mirrors the requirements in the insurance policy. The certificate cannot go beyond the policy's requirements."

There's a companion point in the same answer, about the "Certificate Holder" box being used to sweep in officers, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates and assigns: "A certificate holder may not use the 'Certificate Holder' box to imply or confer any new or additional rights beyond what the policy or any executed endorsement of insurance provides."

The practical translation for anyone relying on a contractor's coverage: don't assume a phone call will arrive if their policy goes away mid-job. Build your own check into the schedule instead — see the next section.

How long is a certificate good for?

This is the most-asked version of the question and the honest answer isn't a number.

A certificate isn't a policy with its own term. It's a snapshot, accurate on the day the agent produced it, describing policies with their own effective and expiry dates printed on the form. The dates that matter are those policy dates — and nothing on the certificate reports what happened after it was issued. A policy can lapse, be cancelled, or be changed the week after a perfectly valid certificate was handed over, and the paper in your file won't know.

Which gives you a simple working rule:

• Get one dated close to the work, not one that's been sitting in a folder since last year.
• Check the policy expiry dates on the form against the dates you'll actually have someone on site. A job that runs past the expiry needs a fresh certificate.
• Ask for a new one at renewal if the relationship is ongoing — a tenant, a regular subcontractor, a service provider with keys.

What TDI tells homeowners to check before hiring

For most people this topic arrives in exactly one situation: a contractor is about to work on their house, usually after a storm, and someone said to ask for a certificate.

TDI's own checklist for choosing a contractor is short and worth following in order:

• "Verify contractor's name, address, telephone number, and references."
• "Check that the contractor has insurance or a bond."
• "Get at least three written bids to compare."
• "Get a copy of all written, signed agreements, and warranty terms."

TDI also publishes a list of contractor behaviours to treat as warning signs. Among them: contractors who "Only accept cash," who "Only have out-of-state references or don't have a physical address in your area," who "Require money before materials are on site," who "Are not established," who "Don't have insurance or a bond," and who "Offer 'specials' or 'extra-cheap work.'"

The certificate does one specific job on that list — it's how you check the insurance item — and it does it better if you look at two lines in particular: the general liability limits, and whether there's a workers' compensation policy shown at all.

If the repair work in question is storm damage, our guides on how to file a hail or storm damage claim in Texas and how much insurance pays for roof damage cover the claim side of the same job.

The one coverage you can verify yourself

Here's the part that makes this page worth bookmarking, because it turns a document someone else controls into a fact you can check independently.

Workers' compensation coverage in Texas can be looked up. TDI's Division of Workers' Compensation runs a verification route for exactly this: coverage for employers insured with a licensed carrier can be checked through TXCOMP, and there are separate lookups for certified self-insurers and for self-insured government employers.

Texas is also a state where many employers carry no workers' compensation at all, and those are listed too — TDI points to a list of registered non-subscribers on the Texas Open Data Portal.

If the lookup doesn't settle it, TDI gives a direct route: email Coverage.Verification@tdi.texas.gov with the employer's name, physical address and date of injury, or call 800-252-7031.

Why this matters more than the rest of the certificate: if someone is hurt working on your property and there's no workers' compensation behind them, the question of who pays does not stay tidy. This is the one line on the form that you can confirm against the state's own records rather than taking on trust — so confirm it.

If the worker is doing something for a business you run out of the house rather than a repair to it, the exposure is a different shape again, and our guide on home-based business insurance in Texas covers it.

Getting a certificate for your own business

If you're on the other side of this — a customer, a landlord or a general contractor is asking you for a certificate — the route is your agent.

TDI's FAQ sets out who can issue one: "A property and casualty agent or a surplus lines agent must hold an appointment with the MGA or insurance company that issues the policy to deliver a certificate of insurance to a customer." So it comes from the agent who placed the policy, not from you, and not from a template you fill in.

The form itself has to be one TDI has approved. TDI: "Regardless of where the certificate holder is located, you must use a certificate of insurance approved by TDI for a risk located in Texas."

Two practical notes for business owners:

• Send your agent the requirement, not just the request. If a contract specifies limits, an additional insured, or a waiver of subrogation, give the agent that wording. Whether the policy can support it is a policy question, and it's much better answered before you sign than after.
• If the policy can't support what's being asked, that's a coverage conversation. The gap doesn't get closed by wording on a certificate — TDI's rule prevents it. It gets closed, if it can be, by an endorsement on the policy.

Our guides on what insurance a small business needs in Texas and commercial auto insurance in Texas cover what sits behind those lines on the form.

Key facts

• A certificate shows coverage exists. TDI: certificates "are used to show proof that an organization or person has insurance coverage."
• It can't say more than the policy. TDI: "A certificate cannot say anything that is not the same as what is stated in the insurance policy."
• Certificates are filed with TDI, and, per TDI, "They cannot say anything on them that is not the same as what is stated in the insurance policy."
• A blanket endorsement can be reported, not converted. TDI: a certificate "can state that the policy contains a Blanket Additional Insured endorsement" — but can't name the holder as an additional insured on that basis alone.
• It can't reference your contract. TDI's FAQ answers "no" to whether a certificate may refer to the insurance requirements of another contract, such as a construction contract.
• Job numbers are fine for identification only, per TDI — not as a way to certify compliance with that contract.
• The tick-boxes report the policy. TDI: check the additional-insured box "if the policy includes an endorsement that names the certificate holder as an additional insured"; same test for waiver of subrogation.
• Cancellation-notice wording must mirror the policy. TDI: "The certificate cannot go beyond the policy's requirements."
• The certificate-holder box confers nothing. TDI: a holder "may not use the 'Certificate Holder' box to imply or confer any new or additional rights beyond what the policy or any executed endorsement of insurance provides."
• You can ask for more. TDI: a certificate holder "may ask the agent whether the policy contains specific language or a specific exclusion, or may request a copy of the policy."
• Only an appointed agent issues one. TDI: the agent "must hold an appointment with the MGA or insurance company that issues the policy."
• Texas risks need a TDI-approved form. TDI: "Regardless of where the certificate holder is located, you must use a certificate of insurance approved by TDI for a risk located in Texas."
• Contractor checklist. TDI: verify name, address, telephone and references; "Check that the contractor has insurance or a bond"; "Get at least three written bids to compare"; "Get a copy of all written, signed agreements, and warranty terms."
• Workers' comp can be verified independently through TDI's Division of Workers' Compensation — TXCOMP for insured employers, separate lookups for self-insurers, and a registered non-subscriber list on the Texas Open Data Portal.
• Coverage verification contacts: Coverage.Verification@tdi.texas.gov and 800-252-7031. TDI's general Help Line is 800-252-3439, and certificate questions go to PropertyCasualty@tdi.texas.gov.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance — Property and Casualty Certificates of Insurance, Certificates of Insurance Frequently Asked Questions, Making repairs after a storm, Workers' compensation insurance coverage verification. TDI's Help Line is 800-252-3439. Certificate forms, coverages, limits, endorsements and exclusions vary by company and by policy; what any particular policy covers depends on its own terms. This page is general information, not legal advice. For a question about your own policy or a certificate you have been given, read the policy, ask your agent, or contact the Texas Department of Insurance.

Take the next step

The mistake this topic invites is treating the certificate as the finish line. Someone emails a PDF, it looks official, it goes in the folder, and everyone proceeds as though the risk has been handled.

What it really is: a receipt for a conversation you haven't had yet. It tells you a policy exists and roughly what shape it is. The two things you actually care about — whether the specific work is excluded, and whether the coverage is still in force on the day of the job — are both things you have to ask for, and TDI says plainly that you can.

So the short version, whichever side of the form you're on. If you're receiving one: check the policy dates against your dates, look at the workers' compensation line, verify it against the state's own records, and ask the agent in writing about the exclusion that worries you. If you're producing one: send your agent the contract wording early, and treat any gap as a policy question rather than a paperwork one.

If that second situation is yours and you're not sure the policy behind your certificate still matches the work you're doing, what insurance a small business needs in Texas is the place to start.

Credify is a licensed insurance agency in Texas. If you need coverage that stands behind the certificate you're being asked for, we compare quotes from multiple licensed Texas carriers in one short form, with no obligation. Each insurer is solely responsible for its own products. 📞 Talk to Credify 24/7.