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Certificate of Insurance Request

A parks department that wants a certificate naming the city, with the event date on it, asked on a Wednesday for a Saturday booking, is a booking you lose if your broker takes four days. Enter what the venue asked for and this writes the request in one pass, plus the check to run on the certificate before you forward it.

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  • Runs in your browser, nothing is sent

We are not an insurer or a broker and this creates no coverage. It composes a request to your own broker from requirements you enter. We never tell you what limits to carry: read those off the venue contract, because only your insurer knows what your policy can issue.

Your legal entity name, not your trading name.
Read these off the venue contract. Prefilled with the figures guide 2 reports as commonly demanded.
Paste it rather than retyping it. This is the line certificates get rejected over.

Request to your broker

Subject: COI request, [VENUE], [EVENT DATE]

Hello,

Please issue a certificate of insurance for the booking below. The venue will not let us set up
without it, so I need it before the event date rather than on it.

  Certificate holder: [VENUE NAME]
  Additional insured: yes, the certificate holder above must be named
  General liability limits: $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate
  Event date: [EVENT DATE]
  Location: [VENUE ADDRESS]
  Named insured: [YOUR BUSINESS LEGAL NAME]
  Policy number: [POLICY NUMBER]

Please send the certificate as a PDF to me directly, and copy the venue if that is your normal
practice. If anything above does not match what the policy can issue, tell me which line is the
problem rather than issuing a certificate that the venue will reject.

Thank you,
[YOUR BUSINESS LEGAL NAME]

Check before you forward it

CERTIFICATE CHECK, BEFORE YOU FORWARD IT

Venue: [VENUE]
Event date: [EVENT DATE]

  [ ] The certificate holder is spelled exactly as the venue asked for it.
  [ ] The named insured is your legal entity name, not your trading name.
  [ ] The policy period covers the event date, including the setup and pickup days.
  [ ] The general liability limits are at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate.
  [ ] The additional insured endorsement is attached, not just ticked on the form.
  [ ] The description of operations mentions the event or location if the venue asked for it.
  [ ] You have saved a copy against the booking, not only in your email.

This is a certificate of insurance, which is evidence of a policy. It is not the policy, and it
does not itself create or extend coverage. Only your insurer can tell you what you are covered
for.

Why the wording matters more than the limits

Certificates get rejected over the holder name, not the coverage. A city that asked to be named as “City of Springfield, its officers, agents and employees” will bounce a certificate that says “Springfield Parks Dept”, and you find out on the Friday. Paste the venue's exact wording rather than retyping it, and keep a note of what each venue demands, because the same handful of parks repeat every season.

What coverage you actually needPark and municipal permits

Put it on your website

Free to use on your own site, so customers get a straight answer before they call. Paste this where you want the tool to appear. It sizes itself to fit, and works in Wix, Squarespace, WordPress and plain HTML.

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<script>addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e.origin==="https://rentopus.com"&&e.data&&e.data.type==="rentopus:embed-height"&&e.data.slug==="certificate-of-insurance-request"){document.getElementById("rentopus-certificate-of-insurance-request").style.height=e.data.height+"px"}})</script>
<p style="font:14px sans-serif"><a href="https://rentopus.com/tools/certificate-of-insurance-request">Certificate of Insurance Request</a> is a free tool from Rentopus.</p>

Frequently asked questions

What is a certificate of insurance and who asks for one?
A COI is a one page document proving your policy exists, what it covers and for how much. Parks, schools, churches, municipalities and event venues ask for one, frequently with themselves added as an additional insured and with the event date on it. Expect to send several every month in season.
What is additional insured and why do venues want it?
An additional insured endorsement extends your policy's protection to the venue. Cities and schools require it so that an accident on your inflatable does not become their liability. Your broker issues it, usually per venue and sometimes per event, and it must be attached to the certificate rather than only ticked on the form.
How long does it take to get a certificate of insurance?
Same day from a broker who knows the request, several days from one who has to come back with questions. That gap is why the request should carry the holder wording, the limits, the event date and the endorsements in one message. Ask your broker on day one how they handle COI requests and how fast.
Does a certificate of insurance prove I am covered?
It is evidence that a policy exists, not the policy itself, and it does not create or extend coverage. If the certificate says something your policy does not actually do, the policy wins. That is why the check above asks you to confirm the endorsement is attached rather than just indicated.
What limits do venues usually require?
One million dollars per occurrence and two million aggregate is the figure most commonly demanded, though it varies and some venues ask for more. Do not take that as advice about what you should carry: read the requirement off the contract you are signing, and ask your broker what your policy can issue.

Rentopus is booking, delivery and payment software for party rental companies. Store the certificate against the booking so the next time that venue asks, you send it from your phone at the curb.

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