Additional insured: adding a broker or facility to your policy
Additional insured status extends your liability policy to a company or agency that your insurer adds at your request, usually because a contract requires it. NEMT brokers, health plans, counties, and facilities ask for it so a claim from your trips is defended under your policy instead of theirs. The status must be written into the policy by endorsement, and no certificate can create it on its own.
On this page
What brokers and buyers are protecting
Contracts pair two promises. Under the indemnity clause you agree to defend and repay the broker or buyer for claims your trips cause. Additional insured status lets that party claim directly under your policy, which backs up the indemnity promise if it turns out to be unenforceable. MTM’s Pennsylvania provider agreement contains both: you indemnify MTM and its client, and your general liability and auto policies must each name MTM as an additional insured.
What contracts ask for varies in who gets added and how far the coverage reaches:
| Who | Additional insured requirement |
|---|---|
| MTM, Pennsylvania agreement (01.01.2023) | “Medical Transportation Management, Inc. and all Affiliates” on general liability and auto, reaching the higher of the contract minimums or every dollar of liability and umbrella coverage you carry, with endorsements sent on request |
| Louisiana Medicaid managed care (March 3, 2026) | The Louisiana Department of Health on auto and general liability. The health plan must obtain a copy of your policy |
| Paratransit Services, Washington | The brokerage, the Health Care Authority, and their officials and staff as primary additional insureds on general and auto liability, backed by certified copies of the policies and endorsements |
| Arizona Medicaid plan subcontracts | The State of Arizona and its agencies on general liability and auto, with a waiver of subrogation on each |
| Hamilton County, Ohio (RFP, December 2025) | The county and its job and family services department on general liability, auto, and umbrella, on an ACORD or ISO form, with set wording on the certificate |
MTM’s wording deserves a second look. Its status reaches all the liability and umbrella coverage you buy, so a larger umbrella bought for another contract also widens what MTM can claim.
The endorsement, not the certificate
A certificate of insurance is a summary of the policy and changes nothing in it. Additional insured status has to be written into the policy by endorsement. Three details decide whether the endorsement does its job:
- Scope. The endorsement covers the other party only for the relationship it describes. Sonoma County’s contract guide describes an event licensee whose endorsement covered the county only for food donations and client referrals, which had nothing to do with the license, so the county had no protection at all.
- Form. On general liability, ISO’s CG 20 26, Additional Insured, Designated Person or Organization, is the general-purpose form that guide calls a catch-all. On auto, many insurers issue the CA 20 48 designated insured endorsement instead, because the standard business auto form already covers anyone liable for the conduct of an insured, to the extent of that liability.
- Named or blanket. A blanket endorsement grants the status to every party your written contract requires. It helps when you add brokers and facilities through the year, as long as each contract actually states the requirement.
Primary and noncontributory
Four of the five contracts above also require your coverage to be primary, and some add noncontributory wording. Primary puts your policy first in line, ahead of the other party’s insurance. Noncontributory means your insurer cannot ask that insurance to share the loss. Without the second part, two primary policies contribute, and both insurers split defense costs and damages. MTM requires primary and non-contributory coverage in those words. Arizona and Hamilton County make the buyer’s own insurance excess and not contributing.
The price of adding someone
Endorsement charges vary by insurer and form, so ask your agent for the price before you sign a contract that requires one. The bigger costs sit elsewhere:
- Every additional insured draws on the same limits you bought.
- A claim against the broker that arises from your trip is paid from your policy.
- Each renewal means new endorsements and certificates for every holder, before the old ones expire.
For the wider picture of indemnity, limits, and contract risk, see NEMT liability. Facility buyers ask for the same terms, covered in the facility transportation agreement template.
Keeping renewals on schedule
HealthRide’s credentials registry holds each van’s insurance expiration date and sends a reminder before it passes. That leaves time to get fresh endorsements and certificates to every broker and facility before the old ones lapse.
Frequently asked questions
- When a broker is the certificate holder, is it an additional insured too?
- No. The ACORD 25 form itself warns that a holder's status as an additional insured depends on provisions or an endorsement in the policy, and that wording typed onto the certificate cannot stand in for that endorsement. Your agent has to add the endorsement to the policy first. Only then can the certificate show the status.
- Does adding an additional insured raise my limits?
- No. Sonoma County's contract insurance guide puts it plainly: an endorsement adding an insured leaves the limits where they were, and the named insured and every added party draw on the same amount. A $1 million auto policy with three brokers added is still $1 million for any one accident.
- Will a blanket endorsement satisfy a broker that wants to be named?
- Often, as long as your written contract with that broker requires the status. A blanket endorsement gives it automatically to every party a written contract calls for, so no names appear on the form. In Texas, a certificate backed only by a blanket endorsement may say the policy carries one, but it may not list the holder by name as an additional insured. Some buyers want the endorsement pages themselves: MTM can ask for them, and Hamilton County's 2025 solicitation required them with the certificates.
- What is a waiver of subrogation, and why does it come with this request?
- It is a promise that your insurer will not sue the broker or buyer to recover what it paid on your claim. Contracts often ask for it next to additional insured status. MTM's Pennsylvania agreement, Arizona's minimum subcontract provisions, and Hamilton County's 2025 transportation solicitation all require one.
