How to get a COI for your NYC move

A certificate of insurance, usually shortened to COI, is a document your building may require from the moving company. The useful first step is to ask management for its written requirements. Forwarding those instructions is much more effective than asking a mover for “the usual certificate.”

The details can differ between your current building and the new one. Keep the two requests separate until each management office confirms it has what it needs.

What a COI does and does not do

A COI provides evidence of insurance policies. It can show the insured business, insurers, policy dates, types of coverage and limits. It is a summary of the policies behind it.

It does not create coverage or rewrite a policy. New York’s Department of Financial Services explains that certificates should provide evidence of the actual insurance and should not change its terms. That distinction matters when a building asks for language or coverage the mover’s existing documents do not provide. The insurance professional has to address the request; typing it onto a certificate does not make it true. Read the DFS guidance on certificates of insurance.

A building’s acceptance of a COI also does not tell you what happens if your own furniture is damaged. Ask the mover about its responsibility for your belongings separately. Our guide to comparing moving quotes explains where that question belongs.

Ask management for the complete request

Contact the management office or person handling moves at each address. Ask for the moving instructions and any insurance requirements, sample certificate or required endorsements.

Useful information to collect includes:

“Certificate holder” and “additional insured” are not interchangeable. A certificate holder receives the document; additional-insured status depends on the insurance policy’s provisions or an endorsement. New York’s Office of General Services explains this distinction in its insurance-requirements guidance.

You do not need to interpret an endorsement yourself. Send the actual requirement to the mover and let the relevant insurance professional review it. Avoid paraphrasing a long request into “the building wants to be insured.”

Send the details while choosing your moving date

There is no useful reason to wait until every box is packed. As soon as a building provides its instructions, share them with the mover you are considering and ask whether the requirements can be met.

Include both addresses and distinguish the documents for each. If you are arranging a furniture pickup from a seller, ask whether that building also requires paperwork. A small delivery may still fall under management’s moving rules.

The move is ready only when the relevant arrangements are confirmed. Booking a mover, reserving an elevator and having a certificate accepted are related tasks, but one does not automatically complete the others. Read our guide to parking and elevator planning if the access window is still unresolved.

Check the response instead of assuming approval

Ask management to confirm that it has accepted the insurance documents. A sent email proves submission, not approval. Keep the confirmation with your moving instructions so the person meeting the crew can find it.

If management rejects a document, request the specific correction in writing. “The COI is wrong” gives the mover little to act on. A missing entity name, an expired policy date and an additional endorsement are different problems that may need different responses.

Send the rejection to the mover along with the original request. Avoid editing the PDF yourself or copying details from an old certificate. The company issuing the document needs to make and verify the correction.

What if the date or mover changes?

Tell management and the mover promptly. Ask whether the revised date needs to appear on the documents and whether the building needs a new approval. Check the elevator reservation separately.

If you switch moving companies, documents issued for the original company do not establish the replacement company’s coverage. Send the same building requirements to the new mover and have management review its documents.

For a last-minute move, call the building’s actual approval contact. A front-desk employee may be able to help you reach that person, but do not assume everyone in the building can authorize an exception.

How this works with Keepsake

Keepsake coordinates directly with building management and handles certificate-of-insurance requirements for the move. Send our team the management contact and written requirements, including any submission instructions.

We still need the information from the building before taking that coordination on. If you are starting a local move in NYC, include the paperwork with your inquiry or send it as soon as management supplies it. You can then keep your attention on the parts of the move only you can decide.