Event Professionals
COI Guide for Event Professionals
How event professionals handle certificates of insurance - venue requests, additional insured naming, and workflows that survive peak season.
COI Guide for Event Professionals
A certificate of insurance (COI) is often how venues and clients verify that you carry liability coverage. It is evidence of insurance - not the policy itself - and wording matters.
What venues commonly ask for
- General liability limits (often $1M+ per occurrence)
- Your legal business name matching contracts
- Venue / landlord / management company as additional insured
- Sometimes waiver of subrogation or primary/noncontributory language
- Delivery before load-in or rehearsal access
If a request looks unusual, ask your insurer or Thimble support path how to accommodate it - do not edit PDFs yourself.
Host COI vs vendor COI
| Party | Typical policy | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Host / couple / company | Special event liability | Event-day guest injury / certain property damage; venue requirement |
| Vendor / pro | Business liability (e.g. via Thimble) | Your operations across many jobs |
Do not offer your business policy as a substitute when a venue explicitly requires the host to carry event insurance. Send clients to Event Insurance.
Peak-season workflow
- Store venue legal names in a notes field per booking
- Request COIs as soon as the contract is signed
- Confirm the venue accepted the certificate in writing
- Keep a folder per weekend with all vendor and host docs if you are the planner
Get coverage
Explore Thimble event business insurance and profession pages from the Event Professionals hub.