You’ve booked the gig, you receive your contract, and you read that the event/venue where you’ll be wants to be listed as additional insured on your policy. Some events/venues might even simply ask that you “add” them to your policy.

So what does this mean? The place where you are performing (or selling your wares/services in the case of our vendors) wants to be protected in case something arises out of your operations while on their property. By adding an event/venue as an additional insured to your policy, it protects them under your policy, allowing them to file a claim if sued due to something that arose from your actions or business. Not everywhere will require you to submit a certificate of additional insured, and it should be noted that you are covered regardless of the certificate! Please note, an additional insured certificate can't be the name of another individual and must be the name of the event/venue.

Example: A brewery arranged for your food truck to be on their site at a certain day and time. Your truck is parked in the brewery’s parking lot, and you unknowingly sold hot dogs that had gone bad. Some patrons got food poisoning and sued the brewery. The brewery will be able to file a claim under the vendor’s insurance instead of their own in this instance, saving them a possible increase in their own insurance premiums due to claim activity.

Need help with submitted a certificate of additionally insured? Check out The Dos and Don'ts of Certificate Requests for step-by-step instructions and tips.