An independent commercial insurance broker is the person to ask, and a good one will explain the insurance section of your contract for free, usually within a day or two of receiving it. A construction lawyer is the right call for the rest of the contract, and your customer has someone whose job is checking insurance paperwork, who can tell you what they will accept. Who this is for: contractors and trades holding a contract with an insurance section they do not understand and a start date coming up.
The short version
- An independent insurance broker explains the insurance section for free. It is how they earn the business.
- Your customer has someone who checks insurance paperwork. Ask them what they will and will not accept.
- A construction lawyer is for the rest of the contract, not for the insurance limits.
- An online quote form or a chatbot cannot read your policy. Do not rely on one.
- Ask for the answer in writing, in plain English, with a cost next to each gap.
Who explains contract insurance requirements for free?
An independent commercial insurance broker. Independent means they work with many insurance companies, not one. Reading the insurance section of a contract is a normal part of their day, and they do it for free because it shows them what coverage you might need. You do not have to buy anything to get the review.
A good review tells you three things: which requirements your policy already meets, which it does not, and what each fix costs. If you get a one line answer like "you're fine," ask for the line by line version. The difference between a broker and an agent matters here, because an agent who works for one insurance company can only tell you what that company offers.
Who else can help, and what does each one cost?
| Who | Good for | Cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent insurance broker | Translating every insurance requirement, pricing each gap, fixing them | Free | Ask for the review in writing, not just a phone call |
| Your current agent (one insurance company) | Telling you what your current policy has | Free | They can only offer what their one company sells, so "we do not do that" may just mean "we do not do that" |
| Your customer's insurance or compliance contact, the person (or outside company) whose job is checking subcontractor insurance | Telling you exactly what they will accept, and what they will waive | Free | They will not read your policy for you. Anything they agree to waive has to be put in writing and attached to the contract. A verbal okay does not change what you signed. |
| Construction lawyer | The rest of the contract: payment terms, indemnification (a promise to cover someone else's losses), and what happens if there is a dispute | Illustrative: roughly $250 to $500 an hour, often one to three hours for a subcontract | Most lawyers will not tell you whether your policy meets the limits. That is the broker's job. |
What should I ask them?
Whoever you ask, use the same five questions. Write down the answers.
- Which of these requirements does my current policy already meet?
- Which ones does it not meet, and what exactly is missing?
- What does each fix cost, and how long does each take?
- Is any requirement unusual for a business my size, and should I ask the customer to change it?
- What documents will my customer want to see, and can you send them directly?
What should I send them?
- The insurance section of the contract, or the whole contract if you are not sure where it ends.
- The first page of each policy you carry, the one with your limits on it.
- The list of forms attached to each policy. That is the page listing every change your insurer has added, one line each.
- Your most recent certificate of insurance, the one page summary of your policies, limits, and dates.
- Two lines about the job: what you are doing, for whom, and when you start.
If you want to try the comparison yourself first, here is how to compare your policy with a contract.
How do I know the advice is good?
Good advice is specific. The person names the exact form your policy has, or does not have. They give a price for each gap, not a shrug. They tell you when a requirement is out of line for your size and how to ask for a change. And they put it in writing, so you can forward it to your customer. See how to ask a customer to change a requirement.
Weak advice sounds like "you should be fine" or "just send them the certificate." A certificate is a summary. Whoever checks insurance for your customer will ask for the policy pages behind it, and a summary cannot answer for them.
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 painting contractor in Massachusetts with four employees wins a $60,000 repaint for a property management company. The contract asks for additional insured wording that continues after the job is finished and primary and noncontributory wording. He calls the agent who writes his truck and his house.
What went wrong: The agent says "you're covered" and sends a certificate. The property manager's compliance team rejects it. The agent's one insurance company does not offer completed operations wording to painting contractors at all, and the agent had not read the contract.
What it cost: Six working days lost while an independent broker moved him to a contractor focused policy. Illustrative cost: roughly $300 more a year in premium, about $3,600 in idle crew time, and a customer who now double checks everything he sends.
The fix: Ask someone who reads construction contracts for a living. The agent was honest and fast. He was also limited to one company's products and did not know what he did not know.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who can help me understand the insurance requirements in my contract?
An independent commercial insurance broker, for free. They translate each requirement, tell you what your policy meets, and price each gap. A construction lawyer handles the rest of the contract.
Q: Does a broker charge to review a contract?
Almost never. Reading the insurance section is how a broker learns what coverage to place, so it is part of the job. If a broker wants to charge you to read an insurance section, call another one.
Q: Should I ask a lawyer instead of a broker?
Ask both if the contract is large. The lawyer covers payment terms, indemnification, and disputes. The broker covers whether your policy meets the insurance limits and wording. Most lawyers will not answer the second question.
Q: Can my customer explain their own requirements?
Yes, and it is worth a call. Whoever checks their insurance paperwork can tell you what they will accept and what they might waive. Anything they agree to waive has to go in writing and be attached to the contract.
Q: What if the broker says my policy cannot meet a requirement?
Ask whether another insurance company can, and what it costs. Then ask whether the requirement is reasonable for your size. Many are copied from templates written for much larger companies and can be adjusted.
Q: How fast can I get an answer?
A broker who works with contractors usually replies within the hour on business days. How fast the written review comes back depends on how long the insurance section is and how many policies you carry, so send the contract as soon as you receive it.
Rules and prices differ by state. There is a local version of this guide for Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Translating the insurance section of a contract into plain English, with a price next to each gap, is the first thing we do for a new contractor client.
- 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.