A checkbox is not an endorsement
DueFiles
Last reviewed 2026-09-23
The additional insured box on an ACORD 25 is a statement by the producer who issued the certificate. It is not CG 20 10, and it is not CG 20 37. Those are endorsements. They are how another organization becomes an additional insured for ongoing operations, or for completed operations. If the contract requires both, the packet has to contain both. A checked box with neither form is a gap.
Coordinators lose days here because the certificate looks finished. The holder name is right. The dates are current. The limit meets the number in the contract. The missing item is a form the certificate only alludes to. The broker cannot fix a request that says "additional insured is wrong." The broker can fix a request that says "CG 20 37 is not in the packet."
What the box is claiming
The box sits on the ACORD 25 coverage row. When it is checked, the producer is telling the certificate holder that additional insured status applies to that line. That statement can be useful. It tells you what the agency thought it was sending. It does not put your organization on the policy. The policy changes when an endorsement does.
Read the box next to the description of operations and any ACORD 101. Those lines often repeat the same claim in words: additional insured status is provided as required by written contract. Words on the certificate are still the certificate. Attach them to the vendor file so the reviewer can see the claim, and keep the form requirement open until the endorsement is in the packet.
Ongoing operations and completed operations
CG 20 10 is the additional insured endorsement for ongoing operations, the work while it is underway. CG 20 37 is the additional insured endorsement for completed operations, the claims that arrive after the contractor is gone. A roof can need both. A weekly landscaper often needs the ongoing form and not the completed-operations form. The contract says which. The checkbox does not say which, because it is one box for the line.
If you require both, the upload request lists both. A packet with only CG 20 10 is still open on CG 20 37. Mark them as separate results on the vendor file. The comparison of the two forms uses a roofing example. Property teams can run that pattern from the property management workflow.
A waiver checkbox has the same problem
The subrogation-waived box is the same kind of statement. It is not CG 24 04, and it is not a workers' compensation waiver. Waiver of subrogation splits those lines. A certificate can check the box on the general liability row while the endorsement page is absent, and while workers' compensation has no waiver at all.
Ask for the form by number and by line. CG 24 04 answers general liability. The workers' compensation waiver is a different document. Do not clear both requirements because one box is checked.
How to write the request the broker can answer
Name the vendor, the property or event, the certificate holder, and the missing form. If a limit is short, name the line and the number in the contract. Leave out threat language. Do not send a note that only says please see attached or that additional insured is wrong.
A usable request looks like this: Northline Janitorial is on the Parkside Commons file. The certificate holder must be Parkside Owner LLC. CG 20 37 is not in the packet. The general liability occurrence limit shows $500,000 and the requirement is $1,000,000. Please send the endorsement and a certificate that shows the limit. The broker request note is the longer version of that message.
What the reviewer still confirms
The reviewer looks at the form, the entity, and the dates. A form number in the description is not the form. An uncertain reading of a tilted page stays visible. An unreadable upload is an error, not a guessed certificate. The reviewer approves the file, rejects the extraction, or records an exception.
DueFiles does not sell insurance and does not replace that reviewer. The checkbox can stay on the screen as what the producer claimed. The decision sits next to it, with a name.
DueFiles lists the missing form on the vendor upload page so the broker sees the request that matches the requirement.
This is an operations summary for people collecting vendor files. The policy, the endorsement schedule, and your contract control. It is not legal advice.