Automating Additional Insured Certificate Requests: Reducing Manual Work with AI for Certificate Coordinators

Every Certificate Coordinator in General Liability & Construction and Commercial Auto knows the crunch: dozens to hundreds of daily emails asking for ACORD 25 certificates, each with nuanced requirements pulled from contracts and risk transfer provisions. You’re expected to validate Additional Insured language across CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 endorsements, confirm Primary & Noncontributory and Waiver of Subrogation, check per-project aggregates, and ensure Commercial Auto provisions are properly backed by CA endorsements—then return a compliant Certificate of Insurance (COI) under tight deadlines. The challenge is that the real rules live in dense endorsement language, contract attachments, and internal playbooks—not on the certificate form itself.

Nomad Data’s Doc Chat for Insurance eliminates the manual grind by reading every page of your policies, endorsements, broker memos, vendor agreements, and COI requests. It extracts the exact requirement set (e.g., “Additional Insured for ongoing and completed operations, P&N, WOS, 30-day NOC, per project aggregate”), cross-checks it against your issued forms (e.g., CG 20 10, CG 20 37, CG 20 01, CG 24 04, CG 25 03; CA 20 48, CA 20 01, CA 04 44), and produces an audit-ready summary with precise fields for the ACORD 25. In seconds, Certificate Coordinators can see what’s satisfied, what’s not, and what wording belongs in the Description of Operations—complete with page-level citations back to the source documents.

The Certificate Coordinator’s Reality in GL & Construction and Commercial Auto

In General Liability & Construction, upstream parties (owners, GCs) rely on Additional Insured status and carefully crafted contract language to transfer risk downstream to subcontractors. Requests are rarely standard: One project requires CG 20 10 ongoing operations plus CG 20 37 completed operations; another insists on per project aggregate (CG 25 03) and a specific state endorsement for notice of cancellation; yet another demands Primary and Noncontributory per CG 20 01 and a blanket Waiver of Subrogation (CG 24 04) triggered by a written contract. For Commercial Auto, coordinators often face proof of “Symbol 1” liability, AI on autos via CA 20 48 Designated Insured, lessor AI via CA 20 01, and a Waiver of Subrogation via CA 04 44—plus fleet schedules, driver lists, and MVR considerations that impact comfort with issuing COIs.

These requirements arrive in freeform emails, vendor portals, or contract excerpts attached to the COI request. The pressure to respond quickly is real: vendor onboarding stalls, jobsite access is delayed, or a prime contractor withholds payment until a compliant COI is on file. Because COI language does not amend or expand coverage, the real work is verifying endorsements and their triggers—and making sure the Description of Operations accurately references what is actually in place. In short, Certificate Coordinators must locate and interpret coverage truth across dozens of documents, not just “fill out an ACORD 25.”

How the Manual Process Works Today

For a typical request, coordinators open one or more of the following: the email asking for the COI, the contract or master service agreement, the current GL and Auto policies, and the endorsement suite. They search for specific ISO forms and carrier-specific equivalents, check effective dates, confirm whether an endorsement is blanket or scheduled, and determine whether the blanket trigger (“required by written contract”) applies to this holder. Then they transcribe the validated elements into the ACORD 25 and tailor the Description of Operations for the holder’s exact requirements, which may include project details and scheduled locations. The steps are many and brittle, and a missed clause can result in rejections, E&O exposure, or compliance disputes.

On a busy day, this routine repeats across dozens of holders and projects. Even seasoned professionals are forced into time-consuming document hunts: Is the CG 20 10 on this policy the 04/13 edition? Do we also have CG 20 37 for completed ops? Is there a P&N endorsement (CG 20 01) or only an internal memo stating it’s “carrier practice”? Does the Commercial Auto policy have CA 20 48 for this holder or only a generic notice? Are Waiver of Subrogation endorsements blanket (CG 24 04 / CA 04 44) and contract-triggered or do we need a scheduled name? All the while, the clock ticks on a project that cannot mobilize without a compliant COI.

Where Manual Work Breaks Down—and Why It’s Risky

Manual COI workflows are error-prone because the crucial data is scattered. Contracts use non-ISO phrasing (“owner must be named as additional insured on a primary and noncontributory basis”), endorsements may be non-standard or carrier proprietary, and schedules are lengthy. If a coordinator misses that CG 20 37 is required for completed ops or overlooks a “per project aggregate” demand in a contract appendix, the certificate can be rejected—or worse, be accepted while creating a coverage expectation that the policy does not actually satisfy. For Commercial Auto, mixing up Designated Insured on a specific vehicle versus a blanket AI for liability can lead to disputes in the event of a loss.

Beyond rework and rejections, the hidden costs are real: lost days on site due to certification delays, strained broker-client relationships, overtime, and burnout. The risk of inconsistent practices across different desks compounds the problem, especially in large construction or fleet-heavy accounts where multiple coordinators touch the same book. When turnover happens, unwritten rules and shortcuts vanish, leaving behind a patchwork of spreadsheets and notes.

AI for Additional Insured Certificate Generation: Turning Documents into Defensible, COI-Ready Output

This is the exact scenario Doc Chat by Nomad Data was built to solve. Doc Chat is a suite of AI-powered agents trained on your endorsements, policy language, certificate playbooks, and compliance standards. It ingests entire files—policies, endorsement schedules, ACORD 25 templates, holder requests, and contract exhibits—at once, then interprets them like a seasoned Certificate Coordinator would. It identifies endorsement edition dates and triggers, enumerates what a holder’s request truly requires, and maps those requirements to the coverage evidence in your documents. If anything is missing, it flags the gap and recommends the next step: request a scheduled endorsement, issue a revised wording, or escalate to underwriting for terms.

Doc Chat doesn’t stop at extraction. It interprets context and institutional knowledge—the difference between ongoing vs. completed operations, or when “primary and noncontributory” is satisfied by a specific other-insurance condition versus an endorsement. That’s why this isn’t just OCR. As we describe in our piece Beyond Extraction: Why Document Scraping Isn’t Just Web Scraping for PDFs, certificate processing often relies on rules that aren’t written down anywhere. Doc Chat captures those rules and applies them consistently.

How COI Requests Are Handled Manually Today—And How to Automate COI Requests Processing Insurance

Here’s what most Certificate Coordinators still do by hand, often across a sea of tabs and PDFs, and how Doc Chat automates each step end-to-end.

Manual today:

• Read the COI request, parse requirements hidden in freeform text or attached contracts.
• Search policy and endorsement PDFs for AI language: CG 20 10 (ongoing ops), CG 20 37 (completed ops), CG 20 01 (P&N), CG 24 04 (Waiver of Subrogation), CG 25 03 (Per Project Aggregate); for auto: CA 20 48 (Designated Insured), CA 20 01 (Lessor—Additional Insured), CA 04 44 (Waiver of Subrogation).
• Confirm whether AI is blanket or scheduled and whether the blanket trigger (“required by written contract”) applies to the holder and job.
• Check limits, effective dates, project-specific details, and state-specific notice requirements.
• Draft ACORD 25, enter limits, and craft Description of Operations that mirrors true coverage without overpromising.

With Doc Chat automation:

• Ingest the COI request, contract/PO/MSA, policy pack, and endorsement schedule in one drag-and-drop.
• Automatically extract required terms (AI, P&N, WOS, completed ops, per project aggregate, notice of cancellation) and map them to your endorsements with page-level citations.
• Validate triggers and scheduled names; flag any gap and recommend next best action (e.g., “holder not named on scheduled AI; request scheduling or confirm blanket trigger via contract clause 7.2”).
• Pre-populate ACORD 25 fields and generate a best-practice Description of Operations tailored to the holder and project.
• Store a defensible audit trail for compliance and E&O, including links to the exact policy pages that support the certificate text.

What Doc Chat Extracts and Understands in GL & Construction

Doc Chat is fluent in ISO and carrier-specific forms across General Liability & Construction. It identifies whether the policy includes AI for ongoing operations (CG 20 10), completed operations (CG 20 37), and if Primary & Noncontributory is present (CG 20 01 or equivalent). It checks for blanket Waiver of Subrogation (CG 24 04), verifies per project aggregate (CG 25 03), and reads manuscript forms with bespoke wording. If the policy uses CG 20 33/CG 20 38 blanket AI forms instead of scheduled versions, Doc Chat confirms the written contract requirement and matches it to the holder’s agreement, including jobsite and project name references.

The agent also understands nuanced requests such as “owner’s AI through 10-year completed ops tail,” unusual notice of cancellation wording, and jurisdiction-specific requirements. It will call out when a request conflicts with carrier rules or when a certificate holder is asking for amendments that a COI cannot grant. This prevents overbroad Description of Operations entries that inadvertently promise more than the policy provides.

What Doc Chat Extracts and Understands in Commercial Auto

For Commercial Auto, Doc Chat verifies coverage symbols (including Symbol 1 for any auto), checks AI endorsements such as CA 20 48 (Designated Insured) and CA 20 01 (Lessor—Additional Insured), and confirms Waiver of Subrogation via CA 04 44 or equivalent. It reads fleet schedules and, where necessary, links specific vehicles or lessees to applicable endorsements. If a request requires evidence of Hired/Non-Owned coverage, cargo requirements, or federal filings, Doc Chat surfaces exactly where those obligations are met—or where they are not—so you can respond accurately and quickly.

From Request to ACORD 25 in Minutes—Not Hours

Certificate Coordinators often spend 30–60 minutes per request, longer if contracts are involved. Doc Chat reduces that to minutes by creating a “COI Readiness Summary” for each request. It compiles the holder’s demand set, matches it to your policy, and provides a fill-ready ACORD 25 package: limits, checkboxes, and Description of Operations text. Because every assertion links back to the specific policy or endorsement page, you can satisfy even the toughest certificate administrators and portal audits without a second pass.

When a gap exists—no completed ops AI, no per-project aggregate, or no P&N endorsement—Doc Chat explicitly highlights it, proposes alternate compliant language if permitted, or generates a pre-drafted escalation to underwriting. Instead of discovering a problem after a rejection, you surface it proactively and resolve it in a single loop.

Real-World Scenarios for Certificate Coordinators

Scenario 1: Ground-up construction with strict risk transfer
Holder requests AI for ongoing and completed ops, P&N, WOS, and per project aggregate with a 30-day NOC requirement. Doc Chat parses the MSA and schedule of insurance, finds CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 present, confirms CG 20 01 and CG 24 04 blanket forms with contract trigger satisfied, verifies CG 25 03 for per project aggregate, and notes the carrier’s state-specific notice endorsement is 10 days for nonpayment/30 for others. It generates ACORD 25 details and a Description of Operations that reflects the true notice wording without overcommitting. Turnaround: under five minutes, with citations to each endorsement page and the contract clause that triggers blanket AI and WOS.

Scenario 2: Equipment rental company requests Auto AI and WOS
Holder requires Designated Insured status on Auto plus Waiver of Subrogation. Doc Chat verifies CA 20 48 applicability (holder named or blanket AI), checks CA 04 44, and ensures Symbol 8/9 (Hired/Non-Owned) are present if requested. For a scheduled-only form, Doc Chat flags the absence of the holder’s legal name and drafts a one-click escalation to schedule it. The ACORD 25 is then produced with precise wording, avoiding any implication of cargo or physical damage coverage that may not exist.

Scenario 3: Prime contractor portal uploads
Instead of working linearly, Doc Chat ingests the portal’s requirement list, maps each item to policy evidence, and produces both a human-readable summary and a structured export for direct entry. It not only reduces portal entry time but also prevents the back-and-forth that plagues coordinator teams when portals auto-reject vague or inconsistent descriptions.

Why This Works: Volume, Complexity, and Real-Time Q&A

Doc Chat reads what humans read, only faster and more consistently. It ingests thousands of pages at a time and understands dense, inconsistent policies where key obligations hide in endorsements and manuscript forms. You can ask questions like “List all Additional Insured endorsements applicable to [Holder] and whether they are blanket or scheduled,” or “Does our GL policy satisfy Primary & Noncontributory for this contract?” and receive instant answers with citations. This aligns directly with Doc Chat’s strengths detailed in our webinar recap, Reimagining Insurance Claims Management: GAIG Accelerates Complex Claims with AI, where page-level transparency and speed build trust and accelerate adoption.

Business Impact: Time Savings, Lower Costs, Fewer Rejections, Better Compliance

For Certificate Coordinators supporting GL & Construction and Commercial Auto, the gains are immediate. Turnaround time drops from 30–60 minutes per COI to a few minutes. Backlogs clear, vendor onboarding accelerates, and project mobilization proceeds without COI-induced delays. Rejections shrink because wording matches actual evidence, not assumptions. And because Doc Chat keeps a verifiable audit trail, E&O risk declines while internal QA becomes simpler and faster. These are the same kinds of operational improvements we discuss in AI’s Untapped Goldmine: Automating Data Entry, where repetitive extraction tasks drive outsized ROI when automated.

Doc Chat also standardizes how your team handles nuanced requirements. The result is not just speed, but consistency—new hires can perform at a high level faster because Doc Chat encodes the best practices your top coordinators use every day. That institutionalization of expertise prevents knowledge loss and reduces variance across desks, making audits and client renewals far less stressful.

Key Results Certificate Coordinators Can Expect

Organizations deploying Doc Chat for COI workflows typically report quantifiable benefits within weeks:

Efficiency and speed: Reduce per-certificate effort by 70–90% and cut average turnaround from hours to minutes, even when contracts and exhibits are included.

Accuracy and defensibility: Page-level citations back every ACORD 25 field and Description of Operations entry. Fewer rejections, fewer disputes, stronger posture with portal audits.

Scalability: Handle seasonal or project-driven spikes without adding headcount. Surge volumes for large builds or fleet expansions become manageable.

Compliance and E&O risk reduction: Standardized outputs, consistent interpretation of AI/WOS/PNC requirements, and evergreen audit trails protect the organization and simplify oversight.

Why Nomad Data’s Doc Chat Is the Best Fit for COI Automation

Doc Chat was built for insurance documents and designed around how real teams work. Where generic AI stumbles on nuanced endorsements or ambiguous contract language, Doc Chat uses your playbooks and your policy library to resolve ambiguity the way your experts do. This “teach the machine to think like your best coordinator” philosophy is the heart of our approach, and it’s the reason we can deliver outcomes—not just tools.

Nomad’s white-glove process makes the difference. We sit with your Certificate Coordinators, document their unwritten rules, and encode them into Doc Chat. In 1–2 weeks, the system reflects your standards, your tolerance for holder-specific wording, and your escalation paths. The outcome is a customized COI agent that produces consistent, regulator-ready work product and adapts as your guidelines evolve. As we argue in Beyond Extraction, this is a new discipline—translating institutional knowledge into AI behavior—where Nomad has unique, proven expertise.

Feature Highlights That Matter to Certificate Coordinators

Doc Chat’s capabilities align directly with certificate workflows and risk transfer validation:

Cross-document reasoning: Reads contracts, policies, and endorsements together, recognizing when blanket AI/WOS triggers are met by “required by written contract” language and matching to the holder and project.

ACORD 25 pre-fill + Description generation: Produces a ready-to-issue draft certificate with recommended Description of Operations text tied to actual endorsements and limits—no guesswork.

Gap analysis and recommendations: Detects missing completed ops AI, per project aggregate, or P&N, and drafts exact next steps or alternative language to avoid overpromising.

Portal-ready outputs: Structures findings for fast copy/paste or direct API posting to certificate portals and vendor systems, cutting down on tedious data entry.

Real-time Q&A and audit trail: Ask natural-language questions across thousands of pages and get verified answers with citations. Perfect for spot checks, disputes, and renewals.

End-to-End Workflow Options

Doc Chat can be used standalone via drag-and-drop, or it can integrate with your agency management or policy systems to streamline intake and recordkeeping. Many Certificate Coordinator teams start with a lightweight deployment—simply uploading request emails, contracts, and policy packs—and immediately realize time savings. As adoption grows, integrations can push Doc Chat’s outputs into ACORD form-fill tools, CRM or AMS platforms, and certificate portals to remove even more manual steps.

Security, Governance, and Trust

Insurance documentation contains sensitive information and requires verifiable reasoning. Doc Chat was engineered with that in mind. Each answer includes page-level citations so reviewers and auditors can see the exact page where coverage is substantiated. Nomad supports enterprise-grade security controls and a defensible audit trail, the combination of which helped claims teams—and now servicing teams—trust outputs quickly. For an example of how transparency accelerates adoption, see our write-up on GAIG’s experience: Reimagining Insurance Claims Management.

Implementation in 1–2 Weeks: What It Looks Like

Nomad’s white-glove onboarding is fast and pragmatic. We start by collecting representative COI requests, typical contracts/MSAs, and your policy and endorsement sets for GL & Construction and Commercial Auto. Then we codify your COI playbook—how you phrase Description of Operations, how you handle notice wording, how you escalate for schedules or endorsements—and configure Doc Chat’s presets to mirror those standards. Most Certificate Coordinator teams are live in one to two weeks and see measurable cycle-time reductions immediately.

How This Differs from Generic Summarization Tools

COI work is not generic text summarization. It’s a compliance exercise grounded in endorsements, coverage triggers, and carrier rules. Tools that “summarize PDFs” but can’t interpret the difference between CG 20 10 and CG 20 37, or can’t recognize contract-driven blanket triggers, will produce output that sounds confident but fails portals and audits. Doc Chat’s advantage is insurance-native reasoning: it ties every description and checkbox back to policy truth. The result is a COI that passes scrutiny the first time.

Expanding Beyond the COI: Downstream Benefits

Once Doc Chat understands your GL & Auto programs and your certificate playbook, it becomes trivial to expand into adjacent servicing tasks: reviewing holder addendum changes at renewal, reconciling endorsement updates midterm, or auditing vendor compliance across an entire portfolio. The same document intelligence that accelerates ACORD 25 generation also accelerates policy audits and exposure reviews—capabilities we explore more broadly in Reimagining Claims Processing Through AI Transformation. Even though that article focuses on claims, the same principles apply: read everything, extract consistently, reason across documents, answer precisely.

Search the Way You Work: AI-Powered, Plain-Language Questions

Certificate Coordinators often need fast answers without reopening a dozen PDFs. With Doc Chat you can ask: “Does our 2024 GL policy give [Holder Legal Name] AI for completed ops at Project [Name]?” or “Is the Waiver of Subrogation on Auto blanket and contract-triggered?” or “What wording should I use in Description of Operations to reflect true notice of cancellation terms?” This is AI for additional insured certificate generation in practice—an answer engine that speaks insurance, not just English.

SEO Note: How Teams Frame Their Need

If you found this page by searching “AI for additional insured certificate generation” or “automate COI requests processing insurance,” you’re not alone. Most teams begin by trying to shave minutes off ACORD 25 completion. They stay because Doc Chat standardizes compliance, lowers E&O risk, and scales with growth—turning certificate processing from a daily bottleneck into a predictable and controllable workflow.

From Bottleneck to Advantage

COI requests are not going away. In fact, they’re getting more complex as contractual risk transfer expands. The winners will be Certificate Coordinator teams that treat COIs as a document intelligence problem rather than a form-filling task. With Doc Chat, you can ingest every relevant page, reason across endorsements and contracts, and produce defensible, portal-ready output in minutes. Backlogs disappear. Projects start on time. And your team’s expertise is applied to higher-value work instead of PDF spelunking.

Get Started

See how fast your team can move when endorsement interpretation, contract validation, and ACORD 25 drafting happen automatically. Visit Doc Chat for Insurance to schedule a walkthrough. Bring your toughest certificate requests—we’ll show you where each requirement is (or isn’t) satisfied, generate compliant Description of Operations wording, and provide an audit trail your QA and legal teams will love.