An independent insurance broker will review the insurance section of a bid for free. That review is how they learn what coverage to quote you, so they do not charge for it. Morrow does this for any contractor: send us the bid package and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, no purchase required. Who this is for: contractors holding a bid package with insurance requirements they are not sure they can meet.
The short version
- An independent broker reviews bid insurance requirements at no charge. It is part of how they earn your business.
- Your current agent can do it too. Ask whether they will compare the bid to your policy line by line.
- A lawyer reads the contract terms. Matching insurance to a bid is a broker's job.
- A good free review tells you three things: what you already meet, what you do not, and what each fix costs.
- Send the whole bid package, not just the insurance page. Requirements hide in the general conditions.
Who will review bid insurance requirements for free?
Several people can read the insurance section of a bid. Only one of them can also price the gaps and fix them.
| Who | What they check | What it costs you | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent insurance broker | Compares every requirement to your policy, prices each gap, and can place what is missing | Free. The insurance company pays the broker only if you buy. | Most bids |
| Your current agent | Knows your policy well. May or may not read the bid closely. | Free in most cases | Small, familiar jobs |
| Construction attorney | Contract terms, payment clauses, and indemnification (a promise to cover someone else's losses) | Roughly $250 to $600 an hour, illustrative | Large contracts with unusual terms |
| The general contractor's insurance reviewer | The person (or outside vendor) the general contractor pays to approve certificates. They tell you what they will accept, not what it costs or how to get it. | Free, but they work for the other side | Clearing up a vague requirement |
You are not locked in. You can take the marked-up bid to your current agent and ask them to match it.
What should a free bid review tell me?
Ask for a written answer on four points.
- What you already meet. Limits and wording your current policies satisfy today.
- What you do not meet. Each gap, in plain English, with the page of the bid it comes from.
- What each fix costs. An illustrative price for every change, so you can put it in your bid.
- How long each fix takes. A change to your policy, called an endorsement, usually takes one to three business days. A brand new policy can take up to two weeks.
What do I send for the review?
Send more than the insurance page. Requirements hide in three or four places in a bid package.
- The insurance exhibit and your bid due date. The exhibit is usually titled "Insurance Requirements" and often near the back.
- The general conditions. Where indemnification and "keep the coverage for three years after completion" hide.
- The instructions to bidders. They say whether a broker letter or a sample certificate goes in with the bid.
- Your current policies. The front page with your limits, plus the list of changes on each policy.
Your certificate of insurance, the one page summary of your policies, is not enough. It does not show policy wording, and a certificate is not coverage.
What do reviewers catch that bidders miss?
Limits are easy to check. Wording is where bids go wrong. These four items cause most rejected certificates.
| What the bid asks for | Plain English | Why bidders miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Additional insured, completed operations | Your customer can use your liability policy if they get sued because of your work, and that protection keeps going after the job is finished | Many policies cover the job while it runs but not after it ends |
| Primary and noncontributory | Your policy pays first and your customer's policy does not chip in | It is one line of wording, easy to overlook |
| Waiver of subrogation on workers comp | Your insurance company agrees not to go after your customer to recover money it paid | It is a separate change on a separate policy, and a few states use their own form or limit the waiver, so it can take longer |
| Umbrella limit | The size of the second layer above your other policies | A $5,000,000 request is common on public work and takes time to place |
When should I ask for the review?
Before you price the bid, not after you win. New coverage adds cost you should pass through, and a slow fix moves your start date.
Give yourself a week before bid day if you can. If you have two days, send it anyway. Public bids often add bonds on top of insurance; see certificates for government contracts.
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: An electrical contractor in Texas with nine employees bids a $480,000 school addition. He prices the job from his usual numbers and never sends the 60 page bid package to anyone.
What went wrong: He wins. The insurance exhibit, on page 41, asks for $2,000,000 per occurrence general liability, a $5,000,000 umbrella, and pollution coverage. He carries $1,000,000 per occurrence and a $1,000,000 umbrella. Texas adds one more item on public work. Workers comp is optional for most private employers there. But a contractor on a city, county, school district, or state building contract must certify in writing that every employee on the project is covered, and each subcontractor gives him the same certificate.
What it cost: Illustrative figures: roughly $1,900 to raise the general liability limit, $4,200 to increase the umbrella, and $1,800 for a one year pollution policy. About $7,900 that never made it into the bid, plus a nine day wait before he could start.
The fix: A free review the week before bid day would have found every gap in an hour. The $7,900 would have gone into the bid price, about 1.6 percent of the job.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who can review a construction bid's insurance requirements for free?
An independent insurance broker will, because the review is how they learn what coverage to quote. Your current agent may as well. Ask for the answer in writing, gap by gap.
Q: Will my current insurance agent review a bid for free?
Most will if you ask. The real question is whether they compare the bid to your policy line by line and price each gap, or just tell you your certificate looks fine.
Q: Do I need a lawyer to review the insurance section of a bid?
Not for the insurance section itself. A broker handles limits, wording, and cost. An attorney is worth the fee when the contract has unusual payment terms or a broad promise to cover the other side's losses.
Q: How long does a free bid insurance review take?
Usually a business day or two, once the broker has the bid package and your policies. Give yourself a week before bid day so a slow fix can still be priced in time.
Q: What do I need to send for a bid insurance review?
The insurance exhibit, the general conditions, the bid instructions, and the front page and change pages of each of your policies. A certificate alone is not enough, because it does not show policy wording.
Q: Will the review cover the bond requirements too?
Ask for it. Many brokers arrange bonds or work with a bond agent who does, so they can flag the bid security while they read the insurance section. A public bid often wants both.
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. Reading the insurance section of a bid package and pricing every gap before bid day is the most common thing our contractor clients ask us to 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.