Certificates of insurance
COI tracking for event vendors
A certificate that covered your last event may not cover the next one. Here’s how event teams check every vendor’s COI against the event date, before the night before.
What to ask for
Five things to check on every certificate.
Send vendors the venue’s requirements when you book them, then check each certificate against this list when it arrives.
The right certificate holder
Your company, named exactly the way the venue or client asks. A typo means a new certificate.
Additional insured, when required
If the venue or client must be covered, they are named as additional insured by endorsement, not only listed as holder.
Dates that cover the event
The policy has to be in force on the event date, load-in and load-out days included.
The limits the venue asks for
Many venues ask for general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate. Check each venue’s own number.
The extra cover the job needs
Liquor liability for anyone serving alcohol, auto for vendors driving on site, workers’ comp for crews.
Why COIs slip
“We’re a day before the event, and someone’s like, ‘I’ve missed one vendor.’”
What event teams tell us
Track a status per event, not a file per vendor.
COIs go missing when they live in someone’s inbox and get checked once per vendor. Give each vendor one of four statuses for each event, and the gaps are easy to see.
- No COI
- Nothing on file yet for this event.
- Requested
- You asked. The vendor hasn’t sent it.
- Needs fix
- It arrived with a wrong name, date or limit.
- Event COI
- On file, and it covers this event.
Start with a spreadsheet
A free COI tracker.
The COI tracker tab in our free event vendor list template has one row per vendor per event. It flags any policy that ends before the event and colors rows that still need you.
Free, no email needed. Also as a .csv of the Vendors tab.
Or let Fora keep track
Catch the missing COI weeks out.
In Fora, every vendor on an event shows its COI status against that event’s date. Whatever needs you sits at the top, with the files on the vendor’s row.
Questions
COI tracking questions
What is a COI for an event?
A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page summary from a vendor’s insurer listing their policies, limits and policy dates. Venues and clients ask for one from vendors working an event as proof they are insured if something goes wrong on site.
Which vendors need to provide a COI?
Usually every vendor working on site: caterers, AV, rentals, florists, entertainers and staffing. The venue sets the rule. Many ask for every vendor; some only for vendors who bring in equipment or serve alcohol.
What does additional insured mean?
Being named additional insured extends the vendor’s liability policy to cover you, the venue or the client for claims from the vendor’s work. It is added by an endorsement. Being listed only as the certificate holder does not do this.
How far ahead should I ask for COIs?
Ask when you book the vendor, then check again two to three weeks before the event. That leaves time to fix a wrong name or date without a scramble the night before.
Does Fora read the certificates for me?
Fora tracks each vendor’s COI status against the event date and keeps the files on the vendor’s row, with anything that needs you at the top. You still read the certificate itself.
Start free
Every COI, checked against the event date.
Your vendors, venues, quotes and COIs in one shared system.
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