What's the difference between a Certificate Holder and an Additional Insured?

A meaningful distinction that contracts often gloss over:

• A Certificate Holder is named on a COI to receive proof of insurance and any future change notifications. They have no coverage under the policy. If they get sued over an incident at your premises, they hire and pay their own counsel.
• An Additional Insured is added to the policy by endorsement (a formal amendment to the policy) and has actual coverage under it for liability arising from the named insured's operations. If they get sued over an incident at your premises, your carrier defends and pays.

In contracts: "Additional Insured" is meaningful protection; "Certificate Holder" is administrative paper. Read contract requirements carefully — some say "additional insured" but the requesting party only actually wants certificate-holder status, and vice versa. We confirm the right form and endorsement number (CG 20 10, CG 20 26, CG 20 37, etc.) when adding additional insureds.