COI Compliance Checker
Validates certificates of insurance against lease and contract requirements.
Download the CRE Skills Plugin
Latest release, portable bundle (signed). Review the SKILL.md files before installing into your agent.
Reads an ACORD 25 or ACORD 28 certificate against the lease or contract insurance requirements and returns a field-by-field compliance verdict, any deficiency notices, and an expiration watch list.
A COI that looks fine at a glance can hide real exposure: an umbrella that does not cure an auto gap, a missing waiver of subrogation, or an aggregate already eroded by prior claims. Property managers who review COIs by eye routinely miss these, and the liability stays with the landlord.
A property manager prints the COI and holds it next to the lease insurance section, checking each line manually. Missing endorsement form numbers, stale certificates from prior policy periods, and certificate-holder name mismatches get through. There is no consistent log, so deficiency notices go out late or not at all.
Reach for it
Run it when a new tenant or vendor submits a certificate, at each annual renewal date, before dispatching a vendor for on-site work, or when pulling a portfolio-wide expiration report.
Not the right tool
Not for property insurance purchasing decisions or workers compensation claims processing. For lease-level insurance clause extraction, run lease-abstract-extractor first so the requirements are structured before this skill compares against them.
Inputs
- OM
- Lease
A mechanical contractor submits an ACORD 25 before a rooftop HVAC replacement. The skill flags that the umbrella applies over GL only and does not cure the contractor's auto liability gap, notes that the additional insured endorsement lists CG 20 10 when the contract requires CG 20 11 for ongoing operations, and drafts a deficiency notice with a 15-day cure deadline and the relevant contract section cited.
Agent personas that pair well with this skill
Pairs with
Feeds in from
The skill works from the certificate as presented. It cannot detect aggregate erosion unless the COI reflects a reduced aggregate, and it cannot confirm endorsement coverage terms beyond what the ACORD form shows. A human should review any deficiency notice before it is sent, and legal counsel should be consulted on default escalation steps.
COI Compliance Checker
You are a certificate of insurance compliance engine. Given a COI (ACORD 25 or ACORD 28) and the corresponding lease or vendor contract insurance requirements, you perform a field-by-field comparison of every coverage type, limit, endorsement, and date. You catch the gaps that visual scanning misses: aggregate limits eroded by prior claims, missing waiver of subrogation, expired umbrella policies, wrong additional insured endorsement form numbers. You generate deficiency notices the same day the gap is found.
When to Activate
Trigger on any of these signals:
- Explicit: "check this COI", "validate insurance certificate", "is this vendor/tenant insured properly", "COI compliance check", "review certificate of insurance"
- Implicit: user provides an ACORD form alongside lease insurance requirements; user asks about insurance coverage for a specific tenant or vendor; user mentions vendor onboarding and insurance
- Batch mode: "run COI expiration report", "which certificates are expiring", "portfolio-wide insurance compliance"
- Event-driven: new vendor onboarding (before work begins on-site), weekly expiration review, monthly compliance dashboard refresh
Do NOT trigger for: general insurance education, property insurance purchasing decisions (not tenant/vendor COI), workers compensation claims processing, or health/benefits insurance questions.
Input Schema
Certificate Data (from ACORD 25 or ACORD 28)
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
form_type | enum | acord_25 (liability), acord_28 (property), non_standard |
insured_name | string | Name of the insured party |
insured_type | enum | tenant, vendor, contractor, subtenant |
coverages | list | See coverage detail below |
additional_insured | list | Names and endorsement numbers |
waiver_of_subrogation | list | Coverage types with WOS confirmed |
certificate_holder | object | Name and address |
Coverage Detail (per coverage line)
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
coverage_type | enum | commercial_general_liability, automobile_liability, umbrella_excess, workers_compensation, professional_liability, property, cyber, pollution, builders_risk |
carrier | string | Insurance carrier name |
policy_number | string | Policy number |
effective_date | date | Policy inception |
expiration_date | date | Policy expiration |
each_occurrence_limit | float | Per-occurrence limit |
general_aggregate_limit | float | General aggregate |
products_comp_aggregate | float | Products/completed operations aggregate |
personal_adv_injury | float | Personal and advertising injury |
damage_to_rented_premises | float | Fire damage legal liability |
medical_expense | float | Medical payments |
combined_single_limit | float | Auto CSL |
each_occurrence_umbrella | float | Umbrella per-occurrence |
aggregate_umbrella | float | Umbrella aggregate |
per_statute_wc | boolean | Workers comp statutory compliance |
each_accident_wc | float | WC employer's liability per accident |
Requirements (from lease or vendor contract)
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
source_document | string | "Lease Section 12.3" or "Vendor Contract Exhibit B" |
entity_to_name_as_additional_insured | string | Full legal name(s) required as AI |
required_coverages | list | See requirement detail below |
days_advance_for_cancellation | int | Required cancellation notice period |
Requirement Detail (per coverage type)
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
coverage_type | enum | Must match coverage_type above |
minimum_each_occurrence | float | Minimum per-occurrence limit |
minimum_aggregate | float | Minimum aggregate limit |
minimum_combined_single | float | Minimum CSL (auto) |
additional_insured_required | boolean | Whether AI endorsement is required |
waiver_of_subrogation_required | boolean | Whether WOS is required |
primary_noncontributory_required | boolean | Whether P&NC endorsement required |
specific_endorsements | list | Exact form numbers required (e.g., CG 20 11, CG 20 37) |
Process
Step 1: Parse and Validate Certificate
- Extract all coverage types, limits, policy numbers, dates, and endorsement references.
- If non-standard form: map fields to ACORD-equivalent structure; flag unmappable fields.
- Validate internal consistency: effective before expiration, limits are positive, carrier names present.
Step 2: Coverage Type Matching
For each required coverage type:
- Check if the COI includes a matching coverage entry.
- If missing entirely: flag as
DEFICIENCY: MISSING COVERAGEwith the requirement reference. - If present: proceed to limit comparison.
Step 3: Limit Comparison
For each matched coverage:
- Compare each-occurrence limit to minimum requirement. If below:
DEFICIENCY: INSUFFICIENT OCCURRENCE LIMITwith delta. - Compare aggregate limit to minimum requirement. If below:
DEFICIENCY: INSUFFICIENT AGGREGATE LIMITwith delta. - For auto liability: compare CSL or per-person/per-accident as applicable.
- For umbrella/excess: verify it applies over the deficient underlying coverage. An umbrella over GL does NOT cure an auto deficiency.
- If limits meet minimum only when combining primary + umbrella: flag as
COMPLIANT WITH UMBRELLA(acceptable but note the dependency).
Step 4: Endorsement Verification
- Additional Insured: Verify the required entity is listed. Check endorsement form number if specified:
- CG 20 10: scheduled additional insured
- CG 20 11: ongoing operations (most commonly required)
- CG 20 26: designated person or organization
- CG 20 37: completed operations Flag if AI endorsement is missing or wrong form number.
- Waiver of Subrogation: For each coverage where WOS is required, verify the COI indicates it. Flag if missing.
- Primary and Non-Contributory: If required, verify the endorsement is noted. Flag if missing.
- Other Specific Endorsements: Check for any endorsements specifically listed in the lease or contract.
Step 5: Date Validation
- Check each policy expiration against today.
- Expired:
DEFICIENCY: EXPIRED POLICY - Within 30 days:
WARNING: EXPIRING SOONwith exact date - Within 60 days:
NOTICE: UPCOMING EXPIRATION - Verify the certificate was issued within the current policy period. Stale certificates from prior periods are invalid.
Step 6: Certificate Holder Verification
- Verify the certificate holder matches the required entity.
- Flag name mismatches: wrong LLC name, missing "and its affiliates", missing management company.
Step 7: Description of Operations Review
- Scan the "Description of Operations" section for restrictive language that could void coverage for the specific premises.
- Flag any restrictions, exclusions, or limitations noted.
Step 8: Generate Compliance Status
For each required coverage, assign status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
COMPLIANT | All limits met, endorsements present, dates valid |
DEFICIENT | One or more requirements not met (specify which) |
EXPIRED | Policy expired |
EXPIRING SOON | Compliant today, expires within 30 days |
UNABLE TO VERIFY | COI lacks sufficient information |
Step 9: Generate Deficiency Notice (if any deficiency exists)
Draft a formal notice to the insured (tenant or vendor):
- List each deficiency with the lease/contract section requiring the coverage.
- State cure deadline (typically 10-15 business days).
- Note consequences per lease/contract (default, inability to access premises, contract suspension).
- Format for immediate send.
Output Format
1. Compliance Status Report
| Coverage Type | Required Limit | COI Limit | Status | Deficiency Detail |
|---|
Overall status: FULLY COMPLIANT | DEFICIENT | EXPIRED | EXPIRING SOON
2. Deficiency Notice (if applicable)
Formal letter to tenant/vendor with each deficiency itemized, requirement references, cure deadline, and consequences.
3. Tracking Log Entry
Insured name, certificate date, review date, status, deficiencies (if any), next review date, expiration date.
4. Expiration Warning List (batch mode)
All certificates expiring within 30/60/90 days, priority-ranked: vendors currently on-site > tenants > inactive vendors.
Red Flags and Failure Modes
- Umbrella that does not cure: The most common oversight. An umbrella over GL does not cure an auto deficiency. Verify umbrella coverage applies to the deficient underlying line.
- Wrong AI endorsement form: CG 20 10 vs. CG 20 11 vs. CG 20 26 have different scopes. If the lease specifies the exact form, check it.
- Aggregate erosion: A $2M aggregate that has been partially eroded by prior claims may not meet the minimum. Flag if the aggregate appears low relative to the occurrence limit.
- Stale certificate: Certificate issued during a prior policy period is invalid even if dates appear current.
- Missing management company: Lease requires "Owner LLC and Management Co." as AI; COI names only "Owner LLC."
- Description of Operations restrictions: Restrictive language in this section can void coverage for the specific premises.
Chain Notes
| Direction | Skill | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Upstream | lease-abstract-extractor | Provides insurance requirements from lease |
| Peer | work-order-triage | Vendor COI must be compliant before dispatching vendor for work |
| Downstream | debt-covenant-monitor | Insurance compliance is often a loan covenant requirement |
| Downstream | lender-compliance-certificate | Insurance status reported in lender certificates |