A certificate holder asks whether the policy has blanket additional insured, and the honest answer depends on one box on the endorsement, not on the form number.
Blanket additional insured means anyone your client is required to add by a written contract or agreement gets additional insured status automatically. No endorsement per name, and no waiting on the carrier every time a new job or lease comes in. Whether a CG 20 10 or CG 20 11 actually works that way is something you have to read for yourself.
What counts as a “written contract or agreement”?
A signed document in which your client agrees to make another party an additional insured. In practice it’s usually one of these:
- A commercial lease, for a landlord or property manager
- A construction contract or subcontract, for a general contractor or project owner
- A service, vendor or venue agreement
The requirement normally sits in the contract’s insurance or indemnification section. A request for a certificate on its own usually isn’t the agreement, and a verbal promise isn’t written. Most blanket endorsements also require the contract to be signed before the injury or damage happens.