Why Your Airbnb Manager Asks to Be Named Additional Insured (and What a COI Is)

You signed with a short term rental manager, and one of the first emails you got was a request: "Please have your agent add us as an additional insured and send over a certificate of insurance (COI)." If that sounded like the management company shifting its problems onto you, this post is for you. The request is standard, it usually costs nothing, and it protects you at least as much as it protects the property manager. This is the additional insured property manager arrangement in one sentence: your policy covers both parties, so one carrier handles the claim instead of two carriers fighting.

Below we explain, for property owners, what additional insured actually means, why your manager's own business policy will not respond when a guest is hurt at your property, what a COI is, how to get one in a day, and what happens when owners say no. If you are new to the topic, start with our short term rental insurance guide and come back here.

What "additional insured" means (and how it differs from named insured, certificate holder and loss payee)

An insurance policy has a hierarchy of parties it protects, and the labels are not interchangeable. Here is the plain English version.

Term	Who it is	What it gets
Named insured	You, the property owner (or your LLC). You bought the policy and pay the premium.	Full rights under the insurance policy: coverage, the right to file a claim, the right to cancel.
Additional insured	A third party added by an additional insured endorsement, typically the property management company.	Liability protection for claims that arise from your property and the manager's work on it. No right to change or cancel the policy.
Certificate holder	Anyone who is sent a COI as proof that coverage exists.	Information only. Being a certificate holder grants zero coverage.
Additional interest	A party with a financial interest that wants to be notified if the policy cancels, often a lender or HOA.	Notice of cancellation, nothing more.
Loss payee	A party with an insurable interest in the building itself, usually your mortgage lender.	Gets paid alongside you on a building claim.

A common misconception is that "certificate holder" and "additional insured" are the same thing. They are not. The Texas Department of Insurance spells this out in its certificate of insurance FAQ: a certificate cannot state that someone is an additional insured unless the policy itself actually says so through an endorsement. The paper follows the policy, never the other way around.

So when your manager asks to be "listed as additional insured," they are asking for two things: an additional insured endorsement on your policy, and a certificate from the insurance company that proves it. The endorsement is what matters. The certificate is just the receipt.

Why the manager's own policy does not cover your home

As a property owner you may push back with a fair question: "Doesn't the management company carry its own general liability insurance?" It does. A legitimate property management company carries a general liability policy, errors and omissions insurance for its management activities, and workers compensation insurance for its staff. None of that helps when a guest slips on your pool deck.

The reason is a standard exclusion that insurance companies attach to property manager policies. Proper Insurance shares a sample form (PM 154, a property manager liability exclusion) in its program materials for managers. The language removes coverage for bodily injury or property damage "arising from any premises that you manage." In other words, the management company's insurance is written to protect the company's office, its employees and its professional advice, not the properties it manages. Property management companies know this, which is why well written owner policies list management companies as additional insureds.

Disclosure: the coverage framework in this article draws on program materials shared with Surge by Proper Insurance. Surge is not currently compensated by Proper, and owners are free to use any insurer that meets the coverage requirements below.

That is not a loophole. It is how insurance companies price the product. Insuring one office is cheap for the companies that write these policies. Insuring every hot tub, staircase and balcony across dozens of properties the company does not own would make the premium unaffordable, and those properties already have (or should have) their own policies. So the market settled on a simple rule: the policy on the rental property responds first, and the manager is added to it as an additional insured.

Once you understand the exclusion, the request stops looking like the manager being difficult. Carriers built the exclusion, management companies live with it, and property owners close the gap. It is the only way a property manager can operate without carrying an inherent risk they have no coverage for.

What this means for you as the owner

Imagine a guest breaks an ankle on a loose stair and sues. The complaint will name every party connected to the property: the property owner, the LLC that holds title, and the property management company that handled the booking and the last inspection. You and your property manager are now co defendants in the same lawsuit.

If the property manager is listed as additional insured on your policy, one insurance company defends both parties on your behalf, with one adjuster, one set of lawyers and a unified defense. If the manager is not, you get two insurance companies each looking for a way to make the other pay. That fight delays your claim, drives up legal costs, and can end with the manager's carrier trying to seek reimbursement from you or your insurer under the contract. Two carriers arguing is the worst outcome for the owner, not the manager.

Why this costs you nothing on a proper short term rental policy

Here is the part most owners miss. If you are insuring an Airbnb with a homeowner's insurance policy, adding a business as an additional insured can be awkward or impossible, because a homeowner's insurance policy was never built for paying guests. Many insurance companies will not add a management company at all, and some will use the request as a reason to cancel. We cover that problem in Airbnb and homeowners policies.

A commercial short term rental policy is different. It is written for a business, so extending the liability portion to your business partners is normal. According to Proper Insurance's program materials, its policy provides $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate of commercial general liability and automatically extends that protection to the property manager as additional insured, with no extra premium. The same materials describe the policy as replacing a homeowner or landlord policy rather than sitting on top of one, underwritten through Lloyd's of London. You can read the program overview at proper.insure.

Proper is not the only insurance provider that does this, but it is a clean example of the principle: on a policy built for short term rentals, naming your property manager is a feature, not a favor. Carriers that specialize in this space expect property management companies to be on the policy. Our roundup of the best insurance for Airbnb hosts compares the main options.

Two things the endorsement does not do, so neither party is surprised later:

• It does not cover the manager's own professional mistakes (a double booking, a pricing error, a bad contractor referral). That is what the management company's own errors and omissions policy is for.
• It does not mean the manager's employees are covered if they are injured at your home. That is workers comp, which the company should carry on its own. Ask for proof of that too.

What a certificate of insurance (COI) is

A certificate of insurance is a one page summary of your policy that your insurance agent issues to a third party. For liability, the standard form is the ACORD 25, "Certificate of Liability Insurance." ACORD, the organization that publishes the form, is clear in its own certificate FAQ that a certificate "is NOT an insurance policy" and does not extend or alter insurance coverage in any way. Only an endorsement to the policy can do that.

Florida's Department of Financial Services says the same in its guidance for agents: a certificate is proof of coverage that shows which insurance company insures the risk, and issuing one that differs from the underlying policy is unlawful. That is good news for you. A COI from a licensed agent is a reliable document, not a marketing sheet.

What to check on an ACORD 25 before you forward it

1. Insured. Your name or LLC exactly as it appears on the deed and the management agreement.
2. Insurer and policy number. The insurance company's name and the policy number. A blank here means the agent has not bound coverage yet.
3. Policy period. The effective and expiration dates. Your manager will ask for a new certificate at every renewal.
4. Limits. Each occurrence and general aggregate. Most property management companies ask for $1,000,000 per occurrence; many commercial STR policies carry $1,000,000 / $2,000,000.
5. Additional insured box. On the liability line, the "ADDL INSD" column should be marked, and the description of operations box should name the management company and reference the additional insured endorsement form number.
6. Certificate holder. The management company's legal name and address. Remember, this box alone provides no coverage; the endorsement does.

If the "ADDL INSD" column is blank but the manager appears as certificate holder, send it back. That certificate is proof you have a policy, and nothing else. It does not protect the manager and, when a claim comes, it will not protect you from a fight between insurance companies.

How to get a COI from your agent in a day

Requesting a certificate is routine. Agents issue them constantly for contractors, landlords, vendors and other parties, and a good agent will handle it on your behalf without a phone call. Send one email with:

• The management company's exact legal name and mailing address (ask your manager for this; it is in the Airbnb management contract).
• The wording you need: "Please add [Company] as additional insured on the general liability policy and issue an ACORD 25 certificate showing the additional insured endorsement." Your manager may also send a sample additional insured endorsement request; forward it as is.
• Where to send it: your email and the manager's.

On a commercial STR policy, most agents turn this around the same day or the next business day. If your agent says the policy cannot add a business as an additional insured, that is a signal about the policy, not about your property manager. It usually means you are on a homeowner or landlord form that was not designed for short term guests, and it is time to review the right coverage for a rental property.

What happens if the owner refuses

Some property owners refuse on principle. Here is what actually happens next, from both sides.

The manager's side. Every stay at your property is now a risk the management company has no coverage for. Their own carrier excludes managed premises. Your policy does not name them. If a guest is injured, the property manager pays for legal defense out of pocket and hopes the plaintiff loses. Companies that take on that exposure across many properties will not survive a single serious lawsuit, so experienced management companies decline the listing or terminate the agreement. Walking away is the same discipline you would want from anyone handling your investment.

The owner's side. You lose access to the better property management companies and end up with whoever is willing to skip the paperwork. You also lose the unified defense described above: when a claim does hit, your insurer and the manager's insurer become adversaries, and you are in the middle. Financial losses from a stalled claim, plus separate legal expenses, are a bad trade for avoiding one email.

There is a middle ground if your current policy truly cannot add a business. Tell the manager, get a quote on a commercial STR policy, and set a date to switch. Most management companies will work with a property owner who is fixing the gap, and will not work with a client who ignores it. If you want to see how this shows up in contract language, read our post on the insurance clause in a management agreement.

The owner's 6 point checklist

Run through this before you sign, and again at every renewal. It takes a property owner about twenty minutes and it will protect you far more than the manager.

1. Confirm your policy is built for short term rentals. Not a homeowner's insurance policy with a "rental" note, not a landlord (DP-3) form that assumes a tenant on a lease. If you are unsure which category your guests fall into, see when a guest becomes a tenant.
2. Check the limits. At least $1,000,000 per occurrence, which is what most property management companies require. Higher aggregate limits are common on commercial forms.
3. Ask for the additional insured endorsement, not just a certificate. Get the form number and read it. Some endorsements only cover the additional insured for your negligence; broader forms also cover the manager's ongoing operations at the home.
4. Review the ACORD 25 yourself using the six items above before forwarding it.
5. Ask the manager for their own certificates. General liability insurance, errors and omissions, and workers comp. A property management company requesting your COI should be willing to share its own.
6. Match the property management agreement to the policy. The agreement should state the limits, the additional insured requirement, and who pays for what after a covered loss. If your policy carries business income coverage, decide whether the manager's lost commissions are paid from it. Proper's program materials describe a commission income endorsement (form PI PR-400) that does exactly this, but only if the agreement specifies it. See our short term rental management agreement template and loss of rental income coverage for details. Have your attorney review any contract language before you sign.

State notes: Texas and Florida

The additional insured concept is the same everywhere, but two details vary by state, and both matter for property owners who manage across state lines or who are interviewing a new property manager.

Texas regulates COIs under Insurance Code Chapter 1811. Certificate forms must be filed with the Texas Department of Insurance, and an agent cannot put anything on a certificate that is not in the policy. That is why a Texas agent will politely refuse to type "additional insured" on the form unless the endorsement exists. Owners in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Galveston can see typical premiums in our Texas STR premium costs breakdown and our Texas management guide.

Florida owners have the added complication of wind and flood. The additional insured endorsement sits on the same commercial policy, but the building coverage may involve a separate wind deductible or a flood policy through the NFIP. Your property manager only needs additional insured status on the liability policy, not on the flood or wind portion. For the full picture, read Florida Airbnb insurance requirements and our Airbnb hurricane policy explainer, or start with the Florida management guide if you own in Fort Lauderdale, Panama City Beach or Kissimmee.

Where platform protection fits

Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts and similar platform programs are run by the booking sites, not policies you own. There is no agent to issue a certificate, no endorsement to add your manager, and coverage only applies to stays booked on that platform. They provide protection as a backstop (see our AirCover review and Host Damage Protection explained), but no serious property management company will accept them in place of a commercial policy with liability coverage that names the manager. For guest damage, see damage waiver vs deposit.

Quick answers

Is it normal for a property manager to ask to be an additional insured?

Yes. Nearly all professional property management companies require it, because the policies those companies carry exclude the premises they manage. The request is a sign you are dealing with a company that understands its potential liabilities and wants to protect both parties.

Does adding my property manager as additional insured raise my premium?

On a commercial short term rental policy, usually not. Proper Insurance, for example, extends its coverage to the property manager automatically according to its program materials. On a homeowner's insurance policy the answer varies, and some carriers will not do it at all.

Does the manager get to make claims on my policy?

Only for liability claims that arise from your property. An additional insured cannot file insurance claims for damage to your building, cannot change the policy, and cannot cancel it. You remain the named insured with full control, and the manager is covered only for what happens at the rental property.

What is the difference between additional insured and additional interest?

An additional interest is only notified if the policy cancels. An additional insured is actually covered under the liability portion of the policy. Lenders and HOAs are usually additional interest or loss payee; property managers should be additionally insured, because they are the ones who could be sued alongside you.

Can I use a COI instead of the endorsement?

No. A certificate is proof, not insurance coverage. If the endorsement is not on the policy, a certificate that says otherwise is worthless, and in Texas and Florida the agent who issued it broke the rules. Management companies know this, which is why they ask for the endorsement form number.

Am I fully covered once the manager is added?

You are covered for what the policy covers. Adding a manager does not add new perils; it adds a party. Still read your exclusions, especially around pools, animals, liquor and business income, and confirm with the insurance company that the risk profile of a short term rental is what they underwrote.

Should I switch to a new property manager if mine did not ask for this?

Not necessarily, but ask why. A property manager who skipped the coverage conversation may have skipped others. Bring it up, request their certificates, and get them listed as additional insured anyway. It protects you and your rental property.

How often do I need to send a new COI?

At every renewal, typically once a year, and any time you change carriers or limits. Most property management companies track expiration dates and will send a reminder.

If you would like a second set of eyes on your coverage and how it fits with a manager, Surge offers a human review of your listing and your coverage requirements, no sales pitch attached. Pricing is simple, starting at 15% for full service. Start at our Airbnb management guide for owners.