The certificate of insurance is paperwork about the mover, not about your goods. It answers the question a property manager, a hospital or a school asks before letting a crew inside: is this company insured? Your own protection for the household goods is a separate subject, covered under valuation.
Two documents that sound alike
A COI proves that a mover holds liability coverage. Valuation is the level of protection you choose for your belongings, either full value protection or the released rates option, which FMCSA lays out in its consumer booklet. Do not use one in place of the other. A COI will not tell you what happens to a damaged armoire, and the valuation election will not satisfy a building manager.
There is also a third item. If you buy separate cargo insurance through your mover, 49 CFR 375.303(c) requires the mover to issue the policy or other appropriate evidence of the insurance at the time of sale. That is evidence of what you bought, a different thing from the building COI.
When a building asks for one
Apartment and condo managers, office landlords, senior living communities, hotels and dormitories commonly require a COI naming the property as an additional party. Each building writes its own wording, and each sets its own lead time, so the property manager is the person who defines what the certificate must say.
On a commercial job, such as an office move or an FF&E delivery, the certificate is often required before the crew arrives. Your request starts a short chain: the manager sends the requirement, the mover sends it to its insurance contact, and the certificate comes back to the manager.
What to send your mover
- The exact name and address of the building or property owner
- The wording the manager requires, including any additional-insured line
- The move date and the loading dock or elevator hours
- The email address where the manager wants the certificate sent
- Any deadline the building has set
Timing with O'Brien's
Call the Sparks office on 775-359-6683, Monday to Friday between 8 am and 5 pm, as soon as a building mentions insurance. O'Brien's holds U.S. DOT No. 30611 and MC-109375 for interstate household goods and Nevada Transportation Authority certificate 1070 for moves within Nevada, and the estimator can pass your building's requirement on so the certificate is ready before the move date.