Blanket Additional Insured vs. Additional Insured: Which Is Better?

As a General Contractor, you need your subcontractors to list you as additional insured and as a subcontractor you likely want to be able to offer additional insured status to your GCs because it is a requirement of getting the job. What is the best way to do this?

The two options are additional insured (or “Scheduled Additional Insured”) and blanket additional insured. “Scheduled Additional Insured” is when you list the GC by name in an endorsement on your policy.  This endorsement is generally the CG 2010 though it can be a different one depending on which insurance company you are using for your insurance.

“Blanket additional insured” is when your policy gives additional insurance status to multiple entities without having to name each one individually (e.g., anyone you have an agreement with that gives additional insured status). Your GC would gain additional insured status by fulfilling whatever the requirements are of your blanket additional insured policy endorsement.

But which of these two options is the best?

For the General Contractor, as long as you are sure the blanket additional insurance applies to you, which one the subcontractor has does not really matter. If you can confirm that the blanket additional insurance is applicable to you, then you don’t need to demand that your name be listed on a policy endorsement as additional insured.

For the subcontractor, it is usually best to go with a blanket additional insured. Typically, the cost of getting a blanket additional insured endorsement is less than having to get multiple endorsements for scheduled additional insured. Thus the blanket additional insured option will save you money. If you get the blanket additional insurance, you only have to pay for it once rather than paying for it each time. So, if you are working with more than three people who want to be additional insured it is probably best to choose blanket additional insured.

The one issue that you can run into is that some GCs or Commercial Property owners in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina will demand that they be named as an additional insured and will not accept blanket additional insured. However, you might be able to persuade them that blanket additional insured is sufficient. If you are wondering how to deal with that situation, give us a call, we would be happy to help!

What Does additional insured status not do for me?

Even if you choose one of these options, there are still limitations on what Additional Insured Status does.  For more information read our full blog What Does Additional Insured Status NOT Do For Me right here.

A word about Certificates:

Keep in mind, that just because you have a Certificate of Insurance, there can still be issues.  Certificates of Insurance are basically worthless and we have a blog on that topic you can read by clicking here, and if that is not scary enough, there are many Fake Insurance Certificates being passed around and you need to know how to spot them.

If you are a beginner, this blog is a great place to start, but below is our most Comprehensive Guide to everything you need to know about Insurance Certificates.

For More Information:

If you are one of those that really likes to learn, we have the place for you!  Click here to read our Complete Guide to Certificates of Insurance.  Believe it or not, we have actually published a book just on Insurance Certificates and you can download it there as well.  If you are able to absorb all of that information, you will know more than most insurance agents on the subject, and if you are an insurance agent reading this, you're welcome! 😉

Veritas Risk Management, Inc. offers proactive risk management services covering a wide variety of topics. Veritas Risk Management, Inc. does not engage in the practice of law, accounting, or tax consulting.  We encourage everyone to consult with his or her own professional advisor for details concerning his or her specific facts, situations, and circumstances.