No, not for the change itself. Producing a certificate takes about a minute, but changing your coverage is not instant, because your insurance company has to agree first. A certificate of insurance is the one page summary of your policies, limits, and dates, and changing what it reports usually takes one to three business days. Morrow clients issue their own online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge, and changes to the policy itself (an endorsement) still go through the broker. Who this is for: subcontractors whose general contractor (GC) just asked for wording their policy may not have.
The short version
- Producing a certificate is instant. Changing your coverage is not.
- A coverage change needs your insurance company to issue it, usually one to three business days.
- Once that change is issued, the new certificate takes about a minute.
- Many policies already protect the customers you sign contracts with. If yours does, most requests turn out to be instant.
- Order the change the day you sign the contract, not the night before you start.
What is my GC actually asking for?
Read the request twice. Some builders ask for a new certificate. Some ask for coverage you do not have yet and call it a certificate request. Two jobs, two clocks.
| What the builder asks for | Is it a coverage change? | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Name us on the certificate | No | About a minute |
| Put the project number in the notes box | No | About a minute |
| Let us use your liability policy if we are sued over your work | Yes, unless your policy already covers the customer you signed with | One to three business days |
| Keep that protection going after the job is finished | Yes, and it is the one most often missing | One to three business days |
| Your policy pays first and ours does not chip in | Yes. It is normally its own separate page, and only some insurers build it in | One to three business days |
| Your insurer gives up the right to come after us for money it paid | Yes, on both liability and workers comp | One to three business days, longer in a few states |
Why can't my broker just type it on the certificate?
Because a certificate only reports what your policy already says. It does not create coverage. A broker who types on wording the policy does not carry has handed your customer a worthless document.
It does not help you either. If a claim came in, the insurance company would read the policy, not the certificate. See why a certificate is not coverage.
How long does a policy change take?
The change is called an endorsement. It is a page your insurance company adds to your policy, and only the insurance company can issue it. Your broker orders it and chases it, but the timing belongs to the insurer. Plan on one to three business days for routine changes. Raising a limit is the slow one, two days to two weeks. If your policy already carries the wording, nothing has to be issued, so the certificate goes out today.
Builders often want the pages themselves. See where to get them.
Which requests turn out to be instant after all?
More than you would expect. Many contractor policies already protect the customers you have signed written contracts with, without adding them one at a time. Then nothing has to be issued, so the certificate is instant and free.
Two limits matter. That protection covers the customer you signed with while the work is going on. It usually does not reach the owner or lender above them, and the broader version that does normally excludes work after the job is finished. So ask your broker three things: does my policy cover the customer I signed with, does that last after the job is done, and does it reach the owner named in this contract? Background: how that wording works.
What do I tell my GC while I wait?
- Send the certificate you can produce today, so the file is open and current.
- Say in writing what is ordered and when you expect it.
- Ask whether the builder will clear you to start on the current certificate. Insurers rarely backdate, so a change issued after an injury does not apply to it, and the builder's permission does not create coverage.
- Copy your broker, so the builder's insurance contact can ask them directly.
How do I avoid this next time?
- Send the insurance page of every contract to your broker the day you sign it.
- Ask what your policy already carries before you promise a builder anything.
- Price the missing wording once, then carry it all year instead of ordering it job by job.
- Use a portal for routine certificates, so only real changes need a person. See how instant certificates work.
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 framing subcontractor in Massachusetts is cleared to start Monday on a $180,000 job. On Thursday the builder emails: the certificate must show that the builder stays protected under his liability policy after the job is finished.
What went wrong: His policy covers the builder while work is going on, but not afterward. That is a coverage change, so no certificate can show it until his insurance company issues the page.
What it cost: Illustrative numbers: the insurer issues the change on Tuesday afternoon and charges about $220 for the year. Two days of lost start time cost his four man crew roughly $2,600.
The fix: The $220 was never the problem. The two days were. Had the contract gone to his broker the day he signed it, the page would have been on the policy two weeks early.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can I get a certificate instantly if my GC requests changes to my coverage?
Not for the change itself. Producing a certificate takes about a minute, but a coverage change has to be issued by your insurance company, usually in one to three business days. Once it is issued, the new certificate is instant again.
Q: Why does a coverage change take days when the certificate takes a minute?
Because different people do them. Your broker can produce a certificate from data it already holds. Only your insurance company can change your policy, and that goes through its own queue.
Q: Can my broker just add the wording to the certificate to get me started?
No. A certificate only reports what the policy already says, so wording that is not on the policy is worthless to your customer and a real problem for the agency that typed it.
Q: How do I know whether my policy already has what the builder wants?
Ask your broker three things: does my policy cover the customer I signed the contract with, does that last after the job is finished, and does it reach the owner named in this contract? Many policies cover the first, which makes those requests instant. The last two are most often missing.
Q: Will the change cost me money?
Sometimes. Wording your policy already carries is free. Adding it can run from nothing to a few hundred dollars a year on liability, and raising a limit is a real purchase. Ask the price first.
Q: Can I start work while the change is being issued?
That is the builder's call, and many will clear you on your current certificate if the change is ordered and dated. Know what you are accepting. Insurers rarely backdate, so a change issued after someone is hurt does not apply to that injury, and the builder's permission does not create the coverage.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Sorting out which of your builder's demands is a one minute certificate and which needs a real policy change is exactly the call our clients make to us.
- 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.