With spring (hopefully) right around the corner, construction season is starting again. With that in mind, if your business needs a certificate of insurance, Marshfield Insurance is here to help. Certificates are used to provide proof of liability insurance and summarize policy coverages to a third party instead of providing a copy of the policy. “The requestor of the certificate needs to know that the certificate provided to them is only proof of insurance for the business or individual providing the certificate and it does not provide any coverage to them,” said Kathy Leader, Commercial Service Agent at Marshfield Insurance Agency. “If there are any special requests for additional insureds or waivers of subrogation on a certificate you need to contact your insurance agent to make sure what they are asking for is on your insurance policy before it can be added to the certificate.” Leader also advises those signing contracts to review and understand what they are signing. “Contracts are about assuming risk and insurance responsibility,” she said. “The most important thing regarding a contract is to read the contract and know what the contract is requiring from you before signing the contract because once the contract is signed you are legally obligated to the terms and requirements of the contract. It is a good practice to have your lawyer review the contract for you before signing it.” For those looking to print their own certificates, Marshfield Insurance makes it easy. “CSR24 is a service we offer through our agency. We can set up the certificate template in CSR24 for your current policy term and then you can go into CSR24 and enter the certificate holder and then issue the Certificate,” said Leader. “This can be done at any time, whenever you need it.” On CSR 24, contractors are not allowed to add any special wording such as adding additional insureds or waivers of subrogation so in a case like that they would still need to contact a Marshfield Insurance customer service agent at the agency to get a certificate like this issued. “Going through Marshfield Insurance to have certificates issued is a benefit because we can go over the insurance requirements for a certificate with our insured so they understand what they need and tell them if they have to make any changes to their policy to meet the requirements and what additional cost could be involved,” explained Leader. “All contracts are different for each job and companies are different as to what they offer and what can be added in regard to the insurance requirements in a contract,” she added. “It is a good practice to have a legal expert review sizable or important contracts. We also have an insurer that offers a cost-free service to answer specific questions regarding a contract if you are insured with them. This service is not designed to do a complete contract review. Our agency also offers a similar service to our commercial customers via a subcontracted attorney through our agency.” Contact Marshfield Insurance Agency today at 715-387-4443 for more information!