---
id: KB-CF-018
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-capability/keeping-track-of-everyone-s-insurance
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-funcionalidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CF-002, KB-CF-009]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-028]
---

# Keeping track of everyone's insurance

_Yours, your suppliers' and those of anyone coming to work. Plus a detail almost nobody checks._

**Responde a:** tracking suppliers insurance · certificate of current insurance · how to know the policy is still paid · third party liability insurance

Almost every company ends up tracking policies that are not its own: the supplier coming on site, the haulier, the technician going up on the roof. You ask for a certificate, file it, and it feels solved. That feeling is slightly misleading.

## What each document proves

| Document | What it proves | What it does not prove |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The policy | What it covers and up to what limits | That it is still alive today |
| The insurance certificate | That it existed and what it covered when issued | That the current period has been paid |
| The premium receipt | That this period is paid | What exactly is covered |
| The particular conditions | The exclusions, where the detail lives | Nothing about validity |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> There is the detail almost nobody checks: **an insurance certificate states what was true the day it was issued**. A policy can be cancelled for non-payment the following month and the certificate you filed still looks just as impeccable. That is why, in the cases that really matter, what you ask for is not only the certificate: it is proof for the current period. It is the difference between holding a paper and being covered.

## What is worth looking at, and it is not the date

**En corto**

- Which activity it covers: a policy may not cover the exact work they do for you.
- The per-claim limits, not just the annual aggregate.
- The exclusions, which are usually where the problem comes from.
- And if you must appear as an additional insured, that it actually says so.

1. **One file per company or person, not per site** — The policy is one; the places it is needed are many.
2. **With the renewal date warning early** — Policies all renew in the same month and swamp the review.
3. **Request the renewal before expiry, not after** — A day without documented cover is a day someone will look at.
4. **And keep which version was in force when** — If something happens, the question will be about that day's.

> [!WARNING]
> A case that always turns up and throws people: **the policy is in force but does not cover what matters to you**. It covers the supplier's main activity and not the specific work done at your premises, or it carries a limit well below what your contract requires. The document is fine, the dates are fine, and you are still exposed — which is why the paper gets read, not just filed.

> [!NOTE]
> Which covers and limits are worth requiring from each type of supplier, and what obligations you carry, depend on your activity and your contracts. **Your broker or adviser decides that**; the point here is that the control does not stop at checking a date.

**Should I ask every supplier for the receipt?**

Those posing a real risk. For the rest the certificate is enough.

**How often should it be reviewed?**

At renewal, and always before important work.

**What if the supplier refuses to hand over the policy?**

The certificate usually suffices; the full policy is their information.

## Ejemplos

**A company files its suppliers' insurance certificates and considers the control done.**

- Asks the higher-risk ones for current-period proof and reads the exclusions

→ It finds one policy cancelled for non-payment and another not covering the contracted work.

**A company with forty partners discovers that two worked six months with a lapsed policy.**

- Records each policy's validity on receipt
- Warns far enough ahead to renew
- Checks the status before assigning work

→ Nobody works uncovered and the gap closes before anyone asks about it.

**The policy is sent without checking what it covers.**

- Checks it covers that work before accepting it

→ The gap does not surface on the day of a claim.

**The client asks for a limit above what is contracted.**

- Discusses it with the broker before signing the contract

→ The commitment matches the real cover.

**The policy expires midway through a long job.**

- Records the expiry when filing it

→ Renewal happens before it bites.

**Last year's is sent out of habit.**

- Checks validity before sending

→ The client receives the current one.