How to read a vendor’s certificate of insurance in 90 seconds
A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary, not a policy. Here is how FBOs, operators and shops can read one box by box, spot the gaps that matter on an airport, and know what to ask for before a vendor touches an aircraft.
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It’s 7:40 on a Tuesday. A caterer you’ve never used is standing at the front desk with a van outside and a crew that needs to load a Challenger by 8:30. Someone emailed a certificate last week. It’s in somebody’s inbox, or a shared drive, or a folder called “Vendors 2025.”
Most of the time nothing goes wrong. The certificate gets filed, the van gets waved through, the trip leaves on time. The trouble starts on the day something does go wrong, because that’s when someone finally reads the certificate closely and finds out what it actually says.
This guide walks through a standard certificate the way a careful line service manager or safety lead would. It takes about 90 seconds once you know where to look.
Box by box: the anatomy of a certificate
Most US vendors send a certificate on the industry’s standard one-page form. The layout below is a generic version of it. Select any numbered marker to see what that box means and what to check.
The disclaimer at the top is the most important sentence on the page
Every standard certificate carries a statement near the top that it is issued as a matter of information only, confers no rights on the certificate holder, and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage of the policies listed.
Read that literally. A certificate is a snapshot. If the policy is cancelled the following week, the certificate in your file still looks perfect. If the certificate says you are an additional insured but the policy has no endorsement making you one, you are not covered as an additional insured. The certificate cannot create coverage the policy doesn’t contain.
That’s why experienced risk managers treat the certificate as a table of contents. It tells you where to look. The endorsements are where the answers live.
Five checks that catch most problems
1. Is the named insured the company you are actually dealing with?
The insured box should match the legal name of the business on your agreement, the name on the invoice, and ideally the name on the side of the van. A certificate for “Northline Holdings LLC” does not automatically cover “Northline Aircraft Care, Inc.” Sister companies, new LLCs and recently acquired businesses are the usual culprits.
2. Do the coverages fit the work being done on your field?
General liability alone rarely covers the real exposure on an airport. Match the coverage to the job:
| If the vendor… | Look for |
|---|---|
| Works on or around aircraft in your care | Hangarkeepers liability, not just general liability |
| Returns an aircraft to service after work | Products and completed operations |
| Drives on the ramp or movement area | Auto liability at the airside limit your airport requires |
| Fuels aircraft or handles chemicals | Pollution or environmental liability |
| Has employees on site | Workers compensation and employer’s liability |
3. Do the limits meet the highest rule that applies?
On most fields three sets of rules stack: the airport’s minimum standards, your lease or FBO agreement, and your own customers’ standards. The vendor has to meet the strictest number. At Lehigh Valley, for example, the published standards call for $5M in general liability. A $1M certificate that’s fine at one airport can fall well short at another. Our requirements library lists the published numbers airport by airport.
4. Are the dates current for the whole job?
Check the policy effective and expiration dates on every line, not just the first. Auto and workers compensation often renew on different dates from general liability. A certificate issued in March can describe a policy that expires in April.
5. Do the endorsements exist, or does the certificate only mention them?
Look in the description of operations box for language such as “certificate holder is additional insured” or “waiver of subrogation applies.” Then ask for the endorsement pages themselves. Our guide to additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording explains what each one does and why the wording matters.
Notice of cancellation: what changed on the form
Older certificates said the insurer would “endeavor to” mail notice if a policy was cancelled, but that failure to do so imposed no obligation. Current versions of the standard form say notice will be delivered in accordance with the policy provisions.
In practice, if your airport or your lease requires 30 days’ written notice of cancellation, that promise has to come from a policy endorsement. Bismarck and others reject “endeavor to” wording outright. If a certificate still carries it, the form is out of date, and that’s worth a question on its own.
What the certificate holder box tells you
The certificate holder is simply who the certificate was issued to. Being listed there does not make you an insured. Check two things:
- The exact legal name and address your agreement or the airport requires. Many sponsors specify the precise wording, down to the department and post office box.
- That it’s actually issued to you. A certificate made out to another FBO, or to “To whom it may concern,” tells you the coverage existed, but it’s not addressed to your interest.
Why this keeps going wrong
None of this is complicated. It goes wrong because of volume and timing. A busy FBO might work with forty vendors, each with four or five policies renewing on different dates. Nobody owns the job, so the certificates get filed and the expirations go unnoticed. The paperwork only gets read after an incident, when it’s too late to fix.
That’s the problem ClearedVendor is built around: the certificate is read once, checked against every rule that applies to your location, and watched for expirations from then on. Whether or not you ever use software for it, the five checks above are worth building into your vendor onboarding today.
Questions people ask
Does a certificate of insurance prove I'm covered?
No. A certificate summarizes the vendor’s policies on the date it was issued. It confers no rights on the certificate holder. Your protection comes from the policy and its endorsements, such as an additional insured endorsement naming you.
How often should we collect a new certificate?
At every policy renewal, and any time the vendor’s work or your requirements change. Track each policy’s expiration date separately, because general liability, auto and workers compensation often renew at different times.
What coverage should an aviation vendor carry?
It depends on the work and the airport. Most airports require general liability and auto liability for vehicles on the airfield. Vendors who work on aircraft usually need hangarkeepers coverage, and maintenance providers need products and completed operations coverage. Check the airport’s minimum standards and your own agreements for the exact limits.
This guide is general information for planning, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm specific requirements with the airport, your agreements and your insurance broker.