Additional Insured for Brand Deals: Your Essential Checklist

When your small business enters into brand partnerships, sponsorships, or collaboration agreements, you'll likely encounter a common insurance requirement: adding the brand as an "additional insured" on your liability policy. This seemingly simple request carries significant implications for your coverage and contractual obligations. Understanding what's required—and having a clear checklist—can help you navigate these deals confidently while protecting your business interests.

What Is an Additional Insured?

An additional insured is a person or organization who enjoys the benefits of being insured under an insurance policy, in addition to whoever originally purchased the insurance policy. The term generally applies within liability insurance and property insurance, and most often applies where the original named insured needs to provide insurance coverage to additional parties so that they enjoy protection from a new risk that arises out of the original named insured's conduct or operations.

To extend coverage further, Additional Insured Endorsements are added to the policy.

A rider/endorsement increases or adds coverage for items or issues not typically covered or addressed in your original policy and changes the original policy's terms and usually adds additional cost to your insurance premium.

Typically, a larger and more powerful business will require that smaller entities (desiring to do business) have the larger business named as an additional insured.

In brand deals, this means the company you're partnering with wants protection under your policy if they're sued due to your work or activities [1].

Why Brands Require Additional Insured Status

The usual reasons for including other parties as additional insureds is due to the close relationship or legal requirements between the original named insured and the additional insured. In most cases it is beneficial for a party to be covered as an additional insured on the policies of other parties because this will reduce the loss history of the additional insured and lower its premiums.

For brands entering partnerships with small businesses, content creators, or service providers, additional insured status offers crucial protection. If your business activities during the partnership lead to a lawsuit naming both parties, the brand wants assurance that your insurance will respond to defend and potentially pay claims on their behalf. This transfers risk back to the party actually performing the work—your business [1].

Your Pre-Contract Checklist

Before signing any brand deal contract, work through this essential checklist to ensure you can meet insurance requirements:

1. Review Your Current Coverage

Start by examining your existing business insurance policies. Most small businesses should have general liability insurance, which is typically where additional insured endorsements are added. If you're working with a business owners policy, verify that it includes general liability coverage with sufficient limits.

Check your policy declarations page for:

Current coverage limits (typically expressed as per-occurrence and aggregate limits)
Policy effective dates and renewal dates
Any existing additional insured endorsements
Exclusions that might affect brand partnership activities

2. Understand the Contract's Insurance Requirements

Carefully read the insurance section of your brand partnership agreement. Look for specific requirements including:

Minimum coverage limits: Brands commonly require $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, though requirements vary
Types of coverage needed: General liability is standard, but some contracts also require professional liability, product liability, or cyber liability
Additional insured language: Note whether they require "primary and non-contributory" coverage
Certificate of insurance deadline: When you must provide proof of insurance
Waiver of subrogation: Whether your insurer must waive rights to recover costs from the brand

For comprehensive guidance on what brands typically require, review our article on influencer and creator insurance requirements for brand deals.

3. Contact Your Insurance Agent or Broker

Once you understand the contract requirements, reach out to your insurance professional with:

A copy of the insurance requirements section from your contract
The exact legal name of the entity to be added as additional insured
The project description and duration
Any specific endorsement forms requested (such as ISO CG 20 10 or CG 20 37)

Ask about:

Whether your current policy can accommodate the additional insured request
Any additional premium costs
Processing time for the endorsement
Whether blanket additional insured coverage might be more cost-effective if you do frequent partnerships

4. Verify the Endorsement Details

When you receive the additional insured endorsement from your insurer, carefully verify:

Correct legal name: The entity name must exactly match what's in your contract
Scope of coverage: Confirm the endorsement covers liability arising from your work or operations
Effective dates: Ensure coverage spans the entire partnership period
Primary vs. excess coverage: If required by contract, verify the endorsement makes your coverage primary
Certificate holder information: Confirm where certificates should be sent

5. Obtain and Provide the Certificate of Insurance

After the endorsement is added to your policy, request a certificate of insurance (COI) that shows:

Your business as the named insured
The brand as both certificate holder and additional insured
Policy numbers and effective dates
Coverage limits meeting or exceeding contract requirements
Reference to the additional insured endorsement

For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to provide a certificate of insurance with additional insured.

Important: A certificate of insurance is evidence of coverage, not the actual endorsement. Some sophisticated brands may also request a copy of the actual endorsement form to verify coverage.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Waiting Until the Last Minute

Insurance endorsements can take several business days to process. Don't wait until the day before your partnership launches to address insurance requirements. Start the process as soon as you receive the contract, ideally allowing at least two weeks.

Assuming Your Policy Automatically Covers Additional Insureds

Standard general liability policies don't automatically extend coverage to other parties.

In other cases, the original named insured wishes to extend coverage to others who would not come within these standard categories. To extend coverage further, Additional Insured Endorsements are added to the policy.

You must specifically request this endorsement [1].

Overlooking "Primary and Non-Contributory" Language

Many brand contracts require that your insurance be "primary and non-contributory" to any coverage the brand carries. This means your policy pays first, before the brand's insurance. This requires a specific endorsement beyond basic additional insured status—make sure your agent knows this requirement.

Failing to Maintain Continuous Coverage

If your policy lapses or you cancel coverage during the partnership period, the brand loses their additional insured protection. This typically violates your contract and could result in breach of contract claims. Set calendar reminders for policy renewal dates and maintain continuous coverage throughout the partnership.

Not Understanding Coverage Limitations

Additional insured coverage typically only applies to liability arising from your work or operations.

The disagreements are often about whether the additional insurance coverage should cover "independent negligence" by the additional insured, or should only cover liabilities caused by the named insured party's acts.

If the brand is sued for their own independent actions unrelated to your work, your policy likely won't respond [1].

Cost Considerations

The cost of adding an additional insured to a property or liability insurance policy is generally low, as compared to the costs of the original premium.

Many insurers charge between $0 and $100 per additional insured endorsement, though costs vary based on: [1]

The nature of your business activities
Coverage limits required
Duration of the endorsement
Your claims history
Whether you need specialized endorsements (primary and non-contributory, etc.)

For businesses that regularly enter brand partnerships, consider asking your insurer about blanket additional insured coverage.

Generally, additional insured clauses are worded in broad terms, such as "any person or organization whom you (the named insured) are required to add as an additional insured on this policy under a written contract." An additional insured often gains this status by means of an endorsement added to

Sources

Additional insured - Wikipedia