Certificates of Insurance: Why Your COI Isn’t Proof You’re Covered
When you think of trucking insurance, the first two things that come to mind are price and fast certificates. Certificate processing on your agent’s side can determine how well your year goes. Accurate information and quick turnaround are some of the most important jobs a trucking insurance agency handles.
If certs are delayed, you lose time. And in trucking, lost time often means lost loads. A broker will not hold freight while they wait hours for paperwork to show up. Slow certificates can cost you revenue, strain broker relationships, and even block you from certain lanes.
On the flip side, fast and accurate certificate processing keeps freight moving. It proves you are reliable and makes it easier to secure work. That is why COIs matter far beyond paperwork, they directly impact your ability to run profitably.
But to really understand why COIs work the way they do today, it helps to look back at where they came from.
A Brief History of Proof of Insurance
1700s: Marine and Trade Insurance
Merchants and shipowners needed proof of coverage for cargo moving across oceans. Policies were handwritten, and underwriters at Lloyd’s of London issued signed slips or short certificates showing the vessel, voyage, and limits. These documents acted as proof at ports or for lenders financing the shipment.
1800s: Fire and Property Insurance
As cities grew and fires devastated businesses, insurers started issuing printed fire insurance certificates. Many were sealed, embossed, or watermarked to prove authenticity. Owners often displayed them at a property to show they carried coverage.
Early 1900s: Liability and Auto Insurance
As railroads, factories, and later automobiles created new risks, insurers began producing typed or printed memoranda of insurance. These were early versions of COIs, confirming liability or auto coverage for contracts and regulators. Trucking companies used them to satisfy contracts and state requirements.
The problem was that every insurer had its own style. Some issued one-page letters. Others used multi-page forms packed with legal language. There was no consistency in what details were shown. One form might list liability limits but leave out expiration dates. Another might show the type of vehicle but not the commodities covered.
For trucking companies, it was a mess. A broker might reject proof of insurance simply because it didn’t look “official.” Regulators in different states had to sort through mismatched forms, trying to figure out if coverage actually met the rules. It worked, but barely.
1970s: Standardization Arrives
By the 1960s, the industry needed a fix. In 1970, the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) was formed to bring consistency to insurance paperwork. By 1976, ACORD introduced standardized COI forms that made proof of coverage faster and easier to verify.
In trucking, those forms quickly became the go-to proof of compliance. Brokers, shippers, and contract partners leaned on them to confirm liability, cargo, and auto insurance was active. But even with standardization, COIs remain only summaries. They never replaced the full policy, and courts have always reinforced that the contract itself, not the certificate, decides coverage.
Why Brokers and Shippers Lean on COIs
Over time, COIs became the default way to show proof of coverage. When ACORD standardized the forms in the 1970s, they were fast, familiar, and easy to file. That simplicity made them popular with brokers and shippers who needed quick verification before releasing freight.
As contracts evolved, many simply required a certificate on file rather than copies of the full policy. A one-page form was easier to review than dozens of pages of policy language. The format looked official, so it became routine to treat the COI as if it were complete proof of coverage.
But certificates were never designed to carry that weight. They are summaries only. The actual policy is what controls coverage, and that is where exclusions, endorsements, and details always live.
What a COI Doesn’t Include (Honestly, Because There Just Isn’t Enough Room)
A COI confirms that a policy exists and shows limits, but that is where it stops. Here’s what doesn’t make it onto that one-pager:
Radius Restrictions: Many policies only cover you within a certain number of miles from your base. Go beyond it, and you may not be covered. The COI won’t say a word about that.
Policy Lapses: A COI only shows coverage was active the day it was issued. If the policy cancels the next week for non-payment, that old certificate is still floating around.
Driver Lists: A COI does not list every driver
Commodity Exclusions: High-theft or high-risk freight like alcohol, tobacco, electronics, or hazmat might be excluded. A COI will show you have cargo coverage, but not what’s left out.
That is why relying on a COI alone is risky. The real coverage details always live inside the policy.
What We See From the Agent Side
We process hundreds of COIs every week. Some are simple, and we can turn them around in minutes. Others show up with a long list of requirements: additional insured wording, waiver of subrogation, special limits, or endorsements that are not currently on the policy.
When that happens, certificate processing can take longer. Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory wording have to be added via endorsement. Sometimes we need underwriter approval for verbiage required to be listed in the description of operations.
If the broker is asking for something outside your coverage, your policy might need an update to match the freight you are hauling. In some cases, you might even need an additional policy to meet the contract.
Check our our post on additional insureds, primary and non-contributory wording and waivers of subrogation here:
https://www.trucku.biz/2025/08/the-truth-about-ai-pnc-and-wos.html
Why It Matters in a Claim
If a serious accident happens, the COI does not carry weight in court or with an insurance carrier. The actual policy is what determines coverage. Courts have consistently reinforced that principle. In legal disputes, COIs are treated as informational only, not binding contracts.
Cases across different lines of insurance, like Carter v. Boehm and Lambert v. Co-operative Insurance Society, established that disclosure and actual policy terms decide outcomes, not certificates. In trucking, the same rule applies. If something is excluded or not listed in your policy, the COI will not change the outcome.
Best Practices for Carriers
COIs are part of doing business, but do not stop there. Protect your operation by:
Reviewing your full policy, not just the COI.
Keeping your driver and equipment lists current.
Asking your agent for updated copies when policies renew or change.
Making sure the coverage matches what brokers and shippers require.
The Takeaway
A COI is proof that a policy exists, but it is not proof that every risk is covered. The only way to be certain is to know your policy inside and out and keep it updated as your operation changes.
Questions about your certificates? Email us at info@trucku.biz. We process hundreds every week and can walk you through how to avoid delays, denials, and lost loads.
Disclosure:
This post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. We are good, but we are not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Do not make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet, unless it is from us, in writing, with your name on it.
All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.
