If you are moving into or out of a condo, a co-op, an apartment building or an office, there is a good chance the building will not let the truck near the loading dock until it has a certificate of insurance on file. It is one of the most common reasons a move gets delayed at the door, and it is completely avoidable.
A certificate of insurance, usually shortened to COI, is a one-page document from our insurer confirming that we carry coverage, how much, and that the building is named on it. Building management wants it because if a mover damages an elevator, a lobby floor or a common hallway, they want to know who pays.
What Buildings Typically Ask For
General liability
Cover for damage to the building itself: elevators, doors, hallways, lobby floors, landscaping.
Workers compensation
Cover for the crew. Buildings ask because they do not want exposure if someone is hurt on their property.
Auto liability
Cover for the truck while it is on the property.
Additional insured
The building, and often the management company and the owner, named specifically on the certificate.
How To Get Yours Without Delaying The Move
- Ask the building early. Request their COI requirements as soon as your date is set. Some want specific wording or coverage limits.
- Send us the exact names. We need the legal name of the building entity, the management company, and the address exactly as they want it to appear.
- Check the limits. Most buildings ask for standard limits. Some larger buildings ask for more. Tell us the number they want.
- Watch the elevator reservation. Many buildings will not book the service elevator until the COI is approved, and slots go quickly at month end.
- Allow a few days. It is not instant. Ask us at least a week before moving day and it is a non-event.
The failure mode we see most: a certificate arrives naming the building but not the management company, and it gets rejected on the morning of the move. Send us the exact wording the building gave you rather than a paraphrase, and this does not happen.
We Are Licensed And Insured
We are a licensed and insured New Jersey moving company operating out of Dover since 1888. Our license numbers are NJ #39PC00002200, US DOT #43124 and MC #81955. If a mover cannot produce a certificate of insurance on request, that tells you something important before you have handed them a single box.
How much does a certificate of insurance cost?
There is no separate charge for issuing a COI for your move. It is part of being a properly insured mover.
How long does it take to get one?
Ask at least a week before moving day. It has to go through our insurer, and month-end is the busiest period for everyone involved.
My building wants to be named as additional insured. Is that a problem?
No. That is a standard request and we handle it routinely. Send us the exact legal names the building wants listed.
Do I need a COI for a house move?
Usually not. COIs are almost always a building requirement, so they come up with condos, co-ops, apartments and offices rather than single-family homes.
What if my building rejects the certificate?
Send us the rejection wording. Nine times out of ten it is a naming detail rather than a coverage problem, and it is corrected the same day.
Moving into a managed building is usually a residential move with one extra piece of paperwork, or a commercial move with a tighter schedule. Either way, tell us it is a building with management when you call and we will raise the COI before you have to.
Moving into a building with management?
Tell us the building and we will start the certificate of insurance now.
What A Certificate Of Insurance Actually Contains
It helps to know what you are looking at, because most rejections come down to one field being wrong rather than the coverage being inadequate. A COI is a summary document issued by our insurer. It is not the policy itself, it is proof that the policy exists and confirmation of who it protects.
The named insured
Us. Our legal business name as it appears on the policy, which is not always identical to the trading name you know us by.
Coverage types and limits
General liability, workers compensation and auto liability, each with a dollar limit next to it. Buildings usually specify minimums.
The certificate holder
The party being given the certificate. Usually the building or the management company, and this is the field most often filled in wrong.
Additional insured
Anyone extended protection under our policy for this job. Buildings frequently want the owner, the management company and sometimes a board named separately.
Effective and expiry dates
Your moving date has to fall inside them. A certificate that expires the week before your move is worthless.
Description of operations
A line describing the job and often the unit number and date. Some buildings want this to match their records exactly.
Who Asks For One, And Why
Almost every request comes from a building rather than a person, and the reasoning is always the same: shared property. If a mover scrapes a lobby wall, jams an elevator or cracks a tile in a common hallway, the building wants a clear answer about who pays before the truck arrives, not a negotiation afterwards.
- Condominium and co-op boards. The most common source of requests, and often the strictest about exact naming.
- Apartment management companies. Usually have a standard form and a required set of limits, and will often not release the service elevator without it.
- Office landlords. Commercial buildings tend to want higher limits than residential, and often require moves outside business hours.
- Senior and continuing care communities. Nearly always require one, alongside a fixed move-in window.
- Storage facilities. Some require a certificate before a third-party mover can load or unload on site.
A Timeline That Works
- As soon as you have a date: ask the building for their moving requirements in writing. Ask specifically for required limits, who must be named, and any required wording.
- Same day: forward that to us. Not a summary, the actual document or email. Paraphrasing is where mistakes creep in.
- Within a few business days: our insurer issues the certificate and we send it to you, the building, or both.
- Once approved: book the service elevator or loading dock. This is the step people forget, and slots disappear fast at month end.
- The week of the move: confirm the building still has it on file. Management companies change hands and inboxes get missed.
Give it a week if you can. A certificate is not a document we can print ourselves; it comes from our insurer. At month end, when every building in the county is processing move-ins, a same-day request is the one thing most likely to delay your move.
Residential Buildings Versus Commercial
The document is the same but the expectations differ. Residential buildings tend to care most about the elevator, the lobby and the hours you are allowed to move. They are usually satisfied with standard limits and a correctly named certificate holder.
Commercial landlords typically ask for higher limits, sometimes require the move to happen entirely outside business hours, and occasionally want their own form completed rather than a standard certificate. If you are running an office relocation, ask the landlord for their requirements at the same time you ask about freight elevator access, because the two are usually handled by the same person. Our commercial moving page covers how those jobs are scheduled.
What A Certificate Of Insurance Is Not
This is worth being plain about, because the document gets more credit than it deserves. A COI protects the building. It is not the same thing as coverage for your own belongings in transit, and it is not a valuation agreement for high-value items.
- It does not insure your furniture for its replacement value. That is a separate conversation about valuation coverage.
- It does not mean nothing can go wrong. It means responsibility is clear if it does.
- It is not a substitute for asking a mover directly whether they are licensed. Ask for the license numbers too.
If you own genuinely valuable items, ask about them specifically rather than assuming a certificate covers them. Our antique and fine furniture page goes into that in more detail.
The building sent a form rather than asking for a certificate. Can you complete it?
Usually yes. Send us the form and we will pass it to our insurer. Building-specific forms take a little longer than a standard certificate, so allow extra time.
Can you send it directly to my building?
Yes, and it is usually the cleanest route. Give us the management contact email and we will send it to them and copy you.
My move is in two days and I have just been told I need one. What now?
Call us straight away rather than emailing. We will tell you honestly whether it is achievable in the time, and if it is not, it is far better to move the date than to arrive and be turned away.
Does the certificate cost me anything?
No. Issuing one for your move is part of being a properly insured mover, and there is no separate charge for it.
We are moving out of one building and into another. Do we need two?
Usually yes, one for each building, each naming the right parties. Tell us both at the same time and they can be issued together.