Yes. You can bid the job with the insurance you carry today. Coverage is proven at award or before you start work, not when you submit the bid. Price the extra coverage into your bid and get quotes now, so you can buy the day you win. If the bid asks for it, your broker will write a free letter saying the coverage is available to you. Who this is for: contractors looking at a bid whose limits or wording go beyond their current policies.
The short version
- Yes, you can still bid. Insurance is proven before you start work, not when you submit.
- Price the extra coverage into the bid. Illustrative: a $1,000,000 umbrella runs roughly $600 to $2,500 a year for many trades.
- Get quotes before bid day. A policy change takes one to three business days. A new umbrella can take two weeks.
- Four ways to close a gap: change your policy, raise a limit, add a second layer of coverage on top, or ask the owner to adjust.
- Walk away only if no insurance company will write it. A broker can tell you in a day or two.
Can I bid a job whose insurance I do not have yet?
Yes. The insurance section describes what you must carry when you start work, not what you carry today. Most bid packages want nothing about insurance at submission. Some want a broker letter saying the required coverage is available to you, or a sample certificate showing the limits you would carry after award. Both are free.
Never hand in a real certificate that shows limits you do not have. Bid with what you have and show how you will get the rest. For the timeline, see buying the insurance before you win.
How do I close the gap between the bid and my policy?
Almost every gap is in the table below. Costs are illustrative, for a small contractor with a clean claims history.
| What the bid wants that you lack | The fix | Illustrative cost | Usual time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner as additional insured (your customer can use your liability policy if they get sued because of your work) | An endorsement, a change added to your policy | Often nothing with blanket wording, otherwise $50 to $300 | 1 to 3 business days |
| Additional insured after the job is finished | A second endorsement | $0 to $500 | 1 to 3 business days |
| Waiver of subrogation (your insurance company agrees not to go after your customer to recover money it paid) | One endorsement on general liability, another on workers comp | General liability $0 to $250. Workers comp is usually a small percentage of that job's premium, illustrative, set by your state and your insurance company. | 1 to 3 business days. A few states use their own form or limit the waiver, so it can take longer or not be available. |
| Higher general liability limit ($1,000,000 to $2,000,000 per occurrence) | Raise the limit on the policy itself, or stack an umbrella on top of it if the contract lets you combine the two | $1,000 to $3,000 a year | Days to 2 weeks |
| Umbrella (a second layer of coverage above your other liability policies) | New or larger umbrella | $600 to $2,500 for $1,000,000. $3,000 to $12,000 for $5,000,000. | 1 day to 2 weeks |
| Pollution coverage (fumes, dust, spills, or mold caused by your work) | A separate policy | $1,500 to $5,000 a year | 3 to 10 business days |
An umbrella sits above your general liability policy rather than raising its own limit. Most contracts let you add the two together, but some require the general liability policy alone to carry the number, so check the wording. Either way, get quotes before bid day. More in when requirements exceed your policy.
How do I put the extra cost into my bid?
Treat the extra insurance like any other cost of the job. If the coverage only serves this job, charge all of it to the bid. If it serves other jobs this year, spread it. Then apply your usual markup. Step by step: how to include insurance costs in your bid.
Can I ask the owner to lower the requirement?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking. Many insurance exhibits are copied from a template written for a much bigger contractor. A $5,000,000 umbrella on a $150,000 subcontract is a common example. Ask in writing before the bid date, through the question process the instructions describe. A note from your broker on what the market offers for your trade helps. See can I ask a customer to change their insurance requirements.
When is the gap a reason to walk away?
- No market will write it. A recent large claim or a lapse in coverage can close the door on a higher limit for a year.
- The cost eats the margin. If the extra coverage costs more than the profit and you cannot pass it through, the job is not worth it.
- The timeline does not fit. If the notice to proceed is five days after award and the fix takes three weeks, you cannot meet the contract.
Outside those three cases, the gap is a price to include, not a wall.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A heating and cooling contractor in Arizona with eight employees bids a $620,000 mechanical package on a medical office. The insurance exhibit asks for a $5,000,000 umbrella and pollution coverage. He carries a $1,000,000 umbrella and no pollution policy.
What went wrong: He reads the exhibit, decides he cannot meet it, and passes. The winning bidder carried the same coverage he did.
What it cost: Illustrative figures: the winner priced the $5,000,000 umbrella at about $6,800 and a pollution policy at $2,200. Roughly $9,000, or 1.5 percent of the job. The contractor who passed gave up about $55,000 of gross profit.
The fix: The gap was a $9,000 pricing problem, not a wall. A free bid review would have shown him that in a day, and the fixes could have been bought the week he was awarded.
Frequently asked questions
Q: A bid requires more insurance than I carry. Can I still compete?
Yes. Coverage is proven at award or before you start, not at bid time. Price the extra coverage into your bid and get quotes now, so you can buy quickly if you win.
Q: Will the owner throw out my bid if my certificate shows lower limits?
Not usually, because most bids do not ask for a certificate at submission. If yours does, ask your broker for a sample certificate marked for bid purposes, showing the limits you will carry after award.
Q: Does a second layer of coverage count toward the limit the bid asks for?
Often, but read the wording. An umbrella sits above your general liability policy instead of raising its limit. Many contracts let you add the two together, and some require the general liability policy alone to carry the number.
Q: Can I ask the owner to lower the insurance requirements?
Yes, in writing and before the bid date. Many requirements are copied from a template written for bigger companies. A note from your broker about the market for your trade makes the request stronger.
Q: What if my insurance company will not raise my limits?
A broker can place an umbrella or a second policy with a different insurance company on top of the one you have. You do not need to move your whole account to meet one bid.
Q: Should I just skip bids with big insurance requirements?
Only when no insurance company will write it, the cost is bigger than the profit, or the timeline cannot be met. Otherwise the gap is a cost to price.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Closing the gap between a bid's insurance exhibit and a contractor's current policies, with quotes in hand before bid day, is a routine part of what we do.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.