The COI: what the venue is actually asking for

A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary of a policy: who is insured, for how much, until when. Venues ask every vendor working the day for one, and the request is usually a formality. It becomes a crisis about four times a year per venue, always for the same reason.

The default certificate an insurer sends names the vendor's own business and nobody else. What the venue almost always wants is that certificate with the venue named as an **additional insured** — a different document, produced by the insurer, that takes three to five working days.

What the venue is checking

The named insured is the business that will actually be there

A certificate in the name of a trading name, a former company or a sole trader who now operates through a limited company is the most common rejection, and it is a rejection nobody expects because the policy itself is perfectly valid.

The venue is named as an additional insured

With the exact legal entity name and address the venue specifies, not the name on their website. Ask them for the wording; most have it written down.

The coverage limits meet their minimum

Commonly one million dollars per occurrence for general liability in the United States, sometimes two million aggregate. A venue that requires liquor liability will say so separately.

The policy period covers the wedding date

Which sounds obvious and catches people whose annual renewal falls between booking and the day.

Why six weeks, not two

Because the fix is not in the vendor's hands. Requesting an amended certificate means asking the insurer or the broker, who produce it in their own time — three to five working days is normal and longer is not unusual in July and August, when every venue in the country is asking for the same thing.

At six weeks out, a rejected certificate is an email. At one week out it is a vendor who may not be allowed on site, and the venue's answer at that point is usually a firm one, because the requirement is in their own insurance policy rather than in their preferences.

The part that is a coordination problem

It is chased by the wrong person

Whoever owns the timeline usually ends up chasing certificates, and they are the person with the least ability to produce one. The vendor has to ask their own insurer; nobody else can do it for them.

Nobody knows who has sent theirs

Twelve vendors, twelve emails, one venue inbox and no shared list of which are in. This is the single most common thing a planner rebuilds by hand in the last fortnight.

The venue's requirement is not always the same for every trade

A band with equipment, a caterer with an open flame and a stationer who posts a box are not the same risk, and some venues ask for different limits or waive it entirely for a delivery. Ask once, in writing, for the list.

Questions we are asked about this

What is a COI for a wedding vendor?

A certificate of insurance: a one-page summary of the vendor's liability policy showing who is insured, the coverage limits and the policy dates. Venues require one from every business working the day, usually with the venue named as an additional insured.

How long does it take to get a certificate of insurance amended?

Three to five working days from the insurer or broker in normal conditions, and longer in peak season. That is why it belongs at six weeks before the wedding rather than in the final fortnight.