Automating Additional Insured Certificate Requests: Reducing Manual Work with AI for Policy Servicing Specialists

Policy servicing teams in General Liability & Construction and Commercial Auto live in the crosshairs of urgent compliance deadlines and contract-driven insurance requirements. Every day, Policy Servicing Specialists wade through additional insured endorsements, Certificate of Insurance (COI) requests, ACORD 25 forms, and contract clauses that demand precise wording, all while fielding status emails from brokers, insureds, project managers, and compliance portals. The challenge is acute: cycle times are shrinking, volumes are rising, and the risk of error on seemingly routine certificates is real.

Nomad Data’s Doc Chat for Insurance was purpose-built to eliminate this backlog. Doc Chat automates the extraction and interpretation of policy language, endorsements, and certificate requirements; pre-fills ACORD 25; drafts description-of-operations wording; and flags missing endorsements or gaps against the requestor’s contract. In minutes, the AI produces issuance-ready COIs and a documented audit trail that cites the exact page and paragraph it relied on—turning a process that used to take hours into a streamlined, defensible workflow for Policy Servicing Specialists and their compliance partners.

Why Additional Insured Certificates Are So Hard in Construction and Commercial Auto

In General Liability & Construction, contractual requirements typically specify additional insured coverage for both ongoing and completed operations. That means the Policy Servicing Specialist must verify the presence and applicability of endorsements such as CG 20 10 (Additional Insured — Owners, Lessees or Contractors — Scheduled Person or Organization) and CG 20 37 (Additional Insured — Owners, Lessees or Contractors — Completed Operations), as well as related conditions like Primary & Noncontributory and Waiver of Subrogation. On the Commercial Auto side, certificate requests often hinge on symbol usage (e.g., 1, 7, 8, 9), additional insured endorsements like Designated Insured forms, hired/non-owned coverage confirmations, and evidence that the certificate holder is properly named when the insured uses rented or leased vehicles on jobsites.

Compounding the complexity are compliance portals (e.g., owner or GC platforms) and prime contractor contracts with strict insurance requirements: per-project or per-location aggregates, specific COI wording in the description of operations, 30-day cancellation notice expectations, and attachments of actual endorsement forms—never just a checkbox. These details live across policy jackets, form schedules, renewal binders, endorsement packets, and contract exhibits. Even for seasoned Policy Servicing Specialists, every request becomes a bespoke investigation that spans multiple document types and systems.

How It’s Handled Manually Today

Today’s manual approach demands slow, attentive reading and re-reading—something that inevitably leads to backlogs and fatigue. A typical additional insured COI request in Construction or Commercial Auto looks like this:

• Open the request email or portal ticket and extract the certificate holder details and any required wording.
• Pull the insured’s active policy and endorsements; locate CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 (or relevant blanket AI endorsements); verify effective dates, operations, locations, and whether AI applies “when required by written contract.”
• Confirm related conditions: Primary & Noncontributory, Waiver of Subrogation, per-project aggregate, completed operations status, and whether the work is ongoing or complete.
• If the request also covers Commercial Auto: confirm the applicable symbols, liability limits, and any AI endorsements for designated or permissive users; check hired and non-owned auto coverage and any lessor/owner evidence requirements.
• Cross-check the contract’s insurance requirements; reconcile conflicts between what the contract asks for and what the policy actually provides.
• Fill ACORD 25: key the insured, policy number, effective/expiration dates, limits; tick ADDL INSR and SUBR WVD boxes as appropriate; compose precise description-of-operations wording; insert the certificate holder and cancellation language.
• Attach endorsement copies when requested; if missing, coordinate with underwriting for additional endorsements or with the insured’s broker for alternatives.
• Route for internal review (if required), issue COI, and upload proof to the portal. Track expiration and renewal cycles.

The result is a high-friction process that can take 30–90 minutes per request even for straightforward files, and much longer when policies span many endorsements or contracts contain aggressive insurance provisions. Every handoff (underwriting, compliance, broker) introduces delay and inconsistency. And when volumes spike—new projects starting, contracts renewing—teams get swamped.

AI for Additional Insured Certificate Generation: How Doc Chat Automates End-to-End

Doc Chat collapses these steps into a single, auditable flow. Using purpose-built AI agents trained on insurance documents and your team’s playbooks, Doc Chat ingests the entire claim or policy file—policy jacket, endorsement schedules, individual forms (e.g., CG 20 10, CG 20 37), binders, blanket endorsements, and prior issued COIs—alongside the contract’s insurance clause and the request ticket. It then delivers precise, context-aware outputs that mirror how your best Policy Servicing Specialists already work, just faster and with page-level citations.

Specifically, Doc Chat:

• Reads and extracts policy and endorsement language at scale. It finds whether additional insured coverage is blanket or scheduled, confirms triggers (“when required by written contract”), and distinguishes ongoing vs. completed operations, all while surfacing the exact form and edition date (e.g., CG 20 10, CG 20 37) with links to the source pages.
• Compares policies to requests and contracts. The AI cross-walks the contract insurance requirements and the certificate request against the actual coverage limits, endorsements, symbols (for Auto), and conditions (Primary & Noncontributory, Waiver of Subrogation). It flags mismatches or missing endorsements instantly.
• Pre-fills ACORD 25. Insured details, policy numbers, effective/expiration dates, GL and Auto limits, ADDL INSR and SUBR WVD boxes, and the certificate holder fields are auto-populated. Doc Chat composes compliant Description of Operations wording tailored to the request and policy—avoiding prohibited language while still satisfying the holder’s needs.
• Drafts emails and portal responses. When something’s missing, Doc Chat creates a clear ask to underwriting or the broker—e.g., “Contract requires completed operations AI; current policy only includes ongoing ops under CG 20 10. Please add CG 20 37 or advise acceptable alternative.”
• Generates a defensible audit trail. Every prefill and recommendation includes a citation to the policy or endorsement source page, making it easy for supervisors, auditors, and regulators to verify decisions.

The outcome is fast, reliable AI for additional insured certificate generation that reflects your exact risk appetite and protocols. Doc Chat doesn’t deliver a generic template; it follows your compliance standards and evolves with each interaction—while keeping your teams firmly in the driver’s seat.

Line-of-Business Nuances: General Liability & Construction

For Policy Servicing Specialists supporting construction accounts, additional insured issuance lives at the intersection of contractual nuance and endorsement language. COI requests commonly demand:

Key GL Considerations Doc Chat Handles:

• Ongoing vs. completed operations: Doc Chat confirms the presence of CG 20 10 (ongoing ops) and CG 20 37 (completed ops), verifies that they apply to the correct parties (owners, lessees, or contractors), and ensures dates and work status align with contract triggers.
• Primary & Noncontributory (PNC) and Waiver of Subrogation: The AI locates PNC conditions (e.g., “other insurance” wording) and waiver of subrogation endorsements, determines if they are blanket or scheduled, and checks any prerequisites like having a written contract in place before work begins.
• Per-project/per-location aggregates: Doc Chat detects aggregate wording and confirms whether it is required by contract and present in the policy, flagging where endorsements or manuscript language are missing.
• Mandatory attachment of forms: When the certificate holder requests copies of the actual endorsement forms, the AI gathers them automatically, ensuring correct edition dates and avoiding outdated or inapplicable versions.
• Description of Operations clarity: Doc Chat writes precise DOO text that stays within ACORD guidelines while meeting holder needs—for example, referencing the project address, job number, and scope of work, and noting “additional insured as required by written contract” when blanket endorsements are in place.

These details reduce back-and-forth, prevent non-compliant wording, and eliminate the need for a specialist to manually sift through dozens of PDF attachments per request.

Line-of-Business Nuances: Commercial Auto

Commercial Auto certificate requests frequently require specific symbol verification, evidence of additional insured status for designated parties, and confirmation of hired and non-owned coverage. Doc Chat is trained to analyze Auto declarations and endorsements with the same rigor it applies to GL files.

Key Auto Considerations Doc Chat Handles:

• Liability symbols and limits: The AI confirms symbol usage (e.g., 1 – Any Auto; 7 – Specifically Described; 8 – Hired; 9 – Non-Owned) and matches these to contract requirements, ensuring the COI reflects correct limits and symbol applicability.
• Additional insured endorsements: Doc Chat identifies designated insured or blanket AI endorsements applicable to Commercial Auto, and checks whether coverage applies to certain relationships (e.g., lessors, owners of hired autos) and activities (on-site operations vs. in-transit exposure).
• Hired and Non-Owned Auto: The AI verifies HNOA endorsements and confirms whether the insured’s business operations require evidencing this on the ACORD 25, along with any requested description-of-operations language.
• Cancellation language: Doc Chat ensures the COI reflects policy-driven cancellation terms rather than the certificate holder’s requested boilerplate when they conflict with state law or company policy.

Because the Policy Servicing Specialist often handles mixed LOB demands in the same ticket, Doc Chat’s cross-line view prevents contradictions and ensures the final COI package is complete.

What “Automate COI Requests Processing Insurance” Looks Like in Practice

With Doc Chat in place, a request that previously took an hour becomes a matter of minutes. Here’s a typical flow for an additional insured request in Construction that also needs Auto evidence:

1. Ingest: Upload the contract insurance clause, certificate request, and policy PDFs (GL, Auto, umbrella, endorsements). Doc Chat classifies documents and creates a virtual index.
2. Interpret: The AI extracts requirements (e.g., “AI for ongoing and completed operations, PNC, waiver, per-project aggregate; Auto AI for designated insured”).
3. Compare: It checks policy language, endorsements (CG 20 10, CG 20 37), PNC and Waiver forms, Auto symbols, HNOA, umbrella limits, and compiles a pass/fail checklist with citations.
4. Complete: Doc Chat pre-fills ACORD 25, including checkboxes (ADDL INSR, SUBR WVD), limits, and the certificate holder. It drafts the DOO to mirror actual coverage while complying with ACORD guidelines.
5. Resolve: If something is missing, Doc Chat generates a targeted message to underwriting or the broker. If everything is present, it produces an issuance-ready COI and a zipped packet of relevant endorsements.
6. Record: It saves an audit trail with page links for compliance review and future renewals.

The Business Impact: Speed, Cost, and Accuracy

Carriers, MGAs, and brokers that handle high volumes of COIs and endorsement validations see outsized gains from automation. Based on Nomad implementations and client-reported metrics, Doc Chat delivers:

• 70–90% faster cycle times on standard additional insured COIs—minutes instead of an hour, hours instead of days at peak volumes.
• 30–50% less manual touch time across policy servicing desks as the AI performs extraction, matching, and drafting.
• Fewer reissuances and escalations thanks to precise DOO language and form attachment verification, which lowers E&O exposure.
• Higher compliance and consistency across desks and locations—everyone follows the same institutional playbook, every time.
• Immediate scalability to manage seasonal surges or large project starts without overtime or temporary staffing.

These gains align with broader findings we’ve published on automating document-heavy workflows. See our perspective on the enterprise ROI in AI’s Untapped Goldmine: Automating Data Entry and the technical underpinnings in Beyond Extraction: Why Document Scraping Isn’t Just Web Scraping for PDFs.

From Manual to AI: What Changes for the Policy Servicing Specialist

Doc Chat doesn’t replace the Policy Servicing Specialist; it removes the drudge work so specialists can practice higher-value judgment. With real-time Q&A, specialists can ask, “Does this policy provide a blanket additional insured endorsement that satisfies the contract for completed operations?” and receive an instant, page-cited answer. They can follow with, “Draft compliant description-of-operations text including project address, job number, and reference to written contract,” and Doc Chat will generate exactly that, matching your servicing style guide.

Instead of spending time hunting for CG 20 10 or checking whether a PNC condition is satisfied, specialists now spend time confirming correctness, handling exceptions, and educating stakeholders. That shift reduces burnout and raises service quality.

Why Nomad Data Is the Best Solution

Nomad Data delivers far more than a point tool. Doc Chat is an expert-led solution shaped around your documents and your process. Here’s what sets us apart:

• Purpose-built for insurance documents: Our AI reads entire policy files—thousands of pages at a time—and cross-references them against contracts, certificate requests, and your internal rules, surfacing every relevant clause.
• Real-time Q&A and page-level citations: Ask questions in plain language (“Show where the waiver of subrogation applies to the GC”) and get instant answers with links to the exact pages.
• The Nomad process: We codify your unwritten rules, playbooks, and exceptions into Doc Chat so outputs look and feel like work from your best specialists—consistent, compliant, and fast.
• Implementation in 1–2 weeks with white glove service: We start with drag-and-drop workflows and quickly integrate into your AMS/PAS and ticketing systems without disruption.
• Security and governance: Nomad is SOC 2 Type II, with clear traceability for every result and controls your IT and compliance teams expect.

If you are evaluating AI solutions for insurance operations, we recommend our overview piece, AI for Insurance: Real-World AI Use Cases Driving Transformation, which includes additional detail on claims, underwriting, and policy servicing applications.

What Doc Chat Extracts and Produces for Additional Insured COIs

For COI requests in General Liability & Construction and Commercial Auto, Doc Chat’s outputs map directly to the work product your stakeholders expect:

• ACORD 25 Prefill: Insured, insurer(s), NAIC numbers, policy numbers, effective/expiration dates, limits (GL, Auto, Umbrella), ADDL INSR and SUBR WVD indicators, certificate holder, and cancellation text that aligns with policy language and jurisdictional rules.
• Endorsement Package: CG 20 10 and CG 20 37, any PNC condition and Waiver of Subrogation forms, per-project/per-location aggregate endorsements, Commercial Auto AI endorsements, Hired/Non-Owned evidence—pulled and bundled with edition dates.
• Description of Operations Draft: Compliant verbiage referencing the contract and project details, with precise inclusion of additional insured scope (ongoing/completed ops) and Auto evidence where required.
• Gap Analysis & Exception Routing: Side-by-side contract vs. policy comparison; flags for missing completed ops endorsement, symbol misalignment, inadequate limits, or unauthorized wording requests; templated messages to underwriting or brokers with recommended remedies.

Compliance You Can Defend

COIs don’t change coverage; they evidence coverage. Doc Chat enforces that principle by citing the underlying policy and endorsement texts and by preventing disallowed language from slipping into the description of operations. Where certificate holders request non-compliant wording (e.g., absolute 30-day cancellation notice when policy/state rules differ), Doc Chat proposes alternate, allowed language and explains the rationale, cutting down the time specialists spend educating requestors.

Because every field and phrase is backed by a page-level citation, your compliance, audit, and legal teams can review and defend certificate issuance decisions. This standardization also accelerates training and onboarding for new Policy Servicing Specialists who can now follow consistent, AI-supported checklists.

Examples: From Contract to COI in Two Common Scenarios

1) GC Requires Additional Insured (GL), PNC, Waiver, and Completed Ops

Documents: Contract insurance clause; GL policy with CG 20 10 and CG 20 37; umbrella/de-excess; prior COIs; request email specifying attachments and DOO wording.

Doc Chat Flow: The AI extracts the contract requirements, verifies ongoing and completed ops endorsements (CG 20 10, CG 20 37) apply to the GC, confirms PNC and waiver endorsements, and checks aggregates. It then pre-fills ACORD 25 with GL limits, checks ADDL INSR and SUBR WVD, drafts the DOO with project details, and bundles requested endorsement copies. If completed ops are missing, Doc Chat creates a targeted underwriting request including the exact rationale and contract quotation.

2) Jobsite Requires Commercial Auto Evidence with Additional Insured and HNOA

Documents: Auto policy declarations and endorsements; request specifying designated insured on Auto, Hired and Non-Owned coverage, and specific limits.

Doc Chat Flow: The AI confirms symbol usage and Auto liability limits, identifies AI status (e.g., designated/blanket form) and conditions, verifies HNOA, and pre-fills ACORD 25 with Auto limits. It drafts DOO language that evidences Auto AI and HNOA while avoiding language that implies broader coverage than the policy provides. Where the request conflicts with policy terms (e.g., holder wants “Any Auto” but the policy uses Symbol 7), Doc Chat recommends exact next steps or acceptable alternatives and generates the stakeholder message automatically.

Integration and Implementation: Fast Time to Value

Doc Chat starts delivering value on day one via drag-and-drop uploads. Most clients expand to fully integrated workflows within one to two weeks—connecting to policy admin systems, document repositories, and ticketing or compliance portals. Our white glove team codifies your playbooks, DOO templates, escalation rules, and edition-date preferences so that Doc Chat mirrors your best-practice servicing desk, not a generic model.

We frequently see teams move from a small group pilot to enterprise roll-out in a matter of weeks because adoption is intuitive: specialists ask natural-language questions, validate the citation-backed output, and ship the COI. Oversight teams appreciate the defensibility; managers love the throughput gains.

Answering Common Questions About AI for COIs

Does AI really understand nuanced endorsement language?

Yes—when it’s trained on your forms and processes. Doc Chat recognizes edition differences and conditional triggers like “when required by written contract,” and it flags when a request asks for coverage beyond the policy’s actual terms. Our approach is built for complexity, not just simple field extraction. For more context on why this matters, explore Beyond Extraction.

How does Doc Chat prevent bad description-of-operations wording?

We configure your approved wording library and constraints, and Doc Chat cites the underlying coverage. If a requested phrase implies non-existent terms (e.g., blanket 30-day cancellation regardless of state/policy), Doc Chat substitutes compliant text and explains why.

Can Doc Chat handle surge volumes during project mobilizations?

Yes. Doc Chat ingests entire policy files and large request queues in parallel. Our clients routinely handle surge volumes without hiring or overtime, which aligns with the real-world outcomes we describe in AI’s Untapped Goldmine.

What about data security and auditability?

Nomad maintains SOC 2 Type II controls. Every recommendation and field value is backed by page-level citations from your documents. Compliance and audit teams get the transparency they need for regulatory and client reviews.

KPIs to Track Post-Implementation

Policy Servicing leaders and operations managers typically track:

• Average COI cycle time (from request to issuance)
• Manual touch time per COI and percentage of fully automated issuances
• Rework rate (number of reissued COIs) and exception rate
• Audit-ready rate (COIs with full citation trail and endorsement attachments)
• Queue backlog during peak starts and per-specialist throughput

Teams generally see rapid improvements within the first month: cycle time down 70%+, rework down double digits, and backlogs collapsing during seasonal spikes.

A Day in the Life: Policy Servicing Specialist with Doc Chat

8:30 AM: A dozen new requests arrive—six GL AI COIs for a construction mobilization, four Auto evidence requests for hired vehicles, and two combined GL/Auto COIs requiring strict DOO language. Instead of opening and scanning dozens of PDFs, the specialist drags the request bundle into Doc Chat and asks:

“Summarize requirements across all requests. Identify which policies meet additional insured ongoing and completed ops, PNC, waiver, and per-project aggregate; flag anything missing; prefill ACORD 25 for issuance and draft DOO text.”

By 8:35 AM, Doc Chat has produced prefilled ACORD 25s, gathered CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 with edition dates, and drafted DOO language referencing project details. It flags two items: missing completed ops on one project (recommends adding CG 20 37) and an Auto symbol discrepancy on another (contract requests Symbol 1, policy is Symbol 7). Doc Chat drafts emails to underwriting for the endorsement and to the broker for acceptable alternatives on Auto. The specialist reviews, tweaks a line of DOO text to match house style, and issues eight COIs instantly.

By 9:00 AM, the queue is cleared with a complete audit trail, and underwriting has exactly the two items they need to address, with contract quotes and policy citations provided by the AI.

Beyond COIs: Building a Modern, AI-Enabled Servicing Organization

Once you’ve automated AI COI generation and review, the same foundation accelerates related tasks: policy change endorsements, renewals with bulk COI reissuance, proactive expiration sweeps for certificate holders, and even intake of complex third-party compliance requests. Because Doc Chat scales to entire policy or claim files and supports real-time Q&A, your servicing team becomes an insight-driven operation, not a document-chasing desk.

For a broader view of how AI transforms document-heavy insurance work, and how to onboard teams quickly without disrupting core systems, see our perspective in Reimagining Claims Processing Through AI Transformation. Although focused on claims, many lessons about speed, transparency, and change management apply directly to policy servicing.

Getting Started with Doc Chat

Nomad’s approach is to meet you where you are. We begin with your real requests and real policies, not demos. Most Policy Servicing teams are live in days and fully integrated in 1–2 weeks. The first step is simple: give us a sample set—GL and Auto policies with endorsement packets, a handful of certificate requests, and representative contracts. We’ll configure Doc Chat to your playbook, proof the prefilled ACORD 25s, and iterate on DOO templates until they match your preferred language exactly.

From there, our team partners with your operations, compliance, and IT stakeholders to scale the workflow and integrate with your systems. The result is a stable, compliant, and fast pathway to automate COI requests processing insurance across General Liability & Construction and Commercial Auto—without changing the systems your specialists rely on today.

Ready to see it on your documents? Visit Doc Chat for Insurance and request a hands-on session.

Summary: The New Standard for Additional Insured Certificates

Additional insured certificates are a classic “small task” that hides massive operational cost and compliance risk—especially in construction and auto-heavy portfolios. Policy Servicing Specialists are expected to read like attorneys, act like analysts, and respond like a concierge service. With Doc Chat, they can. Our AI agents read every page, extract every clause, compare contracts to coverage, and produce issuance-ready ACORD 25s with the right attachments and wording—all with citations.

The result is a servicing organization that is faster, more accurate, and far more scalable. You eliminate backlogs, reduce rework, and raise the bar on compliance and audit defensibility. In short, AI for additional insured certificate generation isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the new standard for high-performing General Liability & Construction and Commercial Auto servicing operations.