How to Inspect An Exhibitor's COI

Exhibitor COIs are often one of the most afterthought aspects of event production. However, it is arguably one of the most important areas of event logistics. If a Certificate of Insurance (COI) is missing or invalid and an exhibitor is responsible for an incident resulting in a claim, your policy will end up picking up the slack. This can result in steep premium increases, or worse, a loss of coverage for subsequent events. If this is your first time managing your exhibitors paperwork, and aren’t exactly sure how to inspect an exhibitor’s COI, here is everything you need to know in order to successfully make sure you’re covered by your exhibitor’s COI.

A Certificate of Insurance or COI, is a document used to provide information on specific insurance coverage. It includes everything from the insurance company, limits of coverage, policy number, certificate holder name, certificate holder address, effective dates, and additionally insured.

One of the most common mistakes made by exhibitors is listing the “Certificate Holders” and the “Additionally Insured.” The exhibitor is the “insured” on the policy, leaving any other required entities to be the “additionally insured”. If the additional insureds are not listed or listed incorrectly on the COI, it could affect their coverage in the event of a claim. By naming additionally insured parties properly on the COI, policy coverage is extended to those entities.

After your exhibitor submits their completed COI, it is important to review the document to make sure everything is filled out correctly. Below is a checklist of everything that should be filled out on the COI after it is submitted to you, in order for you to be covered by your exhibitors COI.

-Producer: Exhibitors Insurance company & their address:

-Insured: The exhibitor & their address:

-Contact info:

-Insurer(s) affording coverage:

-Type of Insurance:

-Policy number:

-Effective Dates:

-Limits:

-Description of Operations/ Locations/ Vehicles: Additionally Insured:

-Certificate holder / address of certificate holder:

-Authorized Representative Signature: