# The ACORD 25's new limits sentence: what changed in the 2025/12 edition, and what GCs should do

Analyst brief R-14, COI Journal Resource Center. The newest edition of the standard certificate adds one sentence about limits. It means the number on a certificate may be the number you asked for, not what the policy carries.

Question: What changed on the ACORD 25 certificate of liability insurance in the 2025/12 edition?

By The editors, COI Journal. November 13, 2026. Docket COIJ-26-0015. Published by Forsured.

## Key findings

- The ACORD 25 (2025/12) adds a sentence saying limits shown are inclusive of amounts requested by the certificate holder and may not reflect policy limits above those amounts.
- ACORD told IIABA the language is permissive, not mandatory, and was filed and approved where states require it. It doesn't apply in Wyoming.
- Big I New York and the national Big I still recommend that agencies show the limits in the policy declarations.
- For GCs: a limit at or above your requirement still passes. Just don't treat it as the policy's ceiling.

## What changed

The ACORD 25, the standard certificate of liability insurance in the United States, has a new edition dated 2025/12. Both Big I New York and IIABA describe it as in use now.

The change is in the "This is to certify" box near the top of the form. The old edition ended with a warning that limits shown may have been reduced by paid claims. The new edition adds an asterisk to that sentence and a new one after it: limits shown are inclusive of amounts requested by the certificate holder and may not reflect policy limit amounts in excess of those requested, [Big I New York reported](https://www.biginy.org/news/ask-tim-news/acord-changes-limits-wording-on-certificate-of-insurance/). The asterisk marks language that ACORD says does not apply in Wyoming.

## What ACORD says about it

According to [IIABA](https://www.independentagent.com/vu_resource/input-from-acord-regarding-recent-changes-to-the-acord-25/), ACORD said the change was filed as a regulatory filing in the states that require it and was reviewed and approved by all applicable states. ACORD described the language as permissive, not mandatory. Those are ACORD's statements, relayed by IIABA.

## What agent groups recommend

Big I New York called showing the policy limits, regardless of contract requirements, a good errors and omissions loss prevention practice. IIABA reports that the national Big I and Big I New York both still recommend listing policy limits, and suggests agencies check state law and their own counsel or E&O carrier.

## What it means for general contractors

In practice, two certificates for the same policy may now show different limits, depending on what each holder asked for and the issuing agency's practice.

- **Your pass or fail doesn't change.** If the certificate shows a limit at or above your requirement, it meets your requirement on its face.
- **The number may not be the ceiling.** Don't use certificate limits to judge how much coverage a trade carries overall, for example when weighing a trade for a larger job.
- **Aggregates still matter.** A certificate showing your requested aggregate says nothing about how much of the real aggregate has been used on other jobs. See [per project aggregate](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/per-project-aggregate/).
- **Ask when it matters.** If full policy limits matter to a decision, ask the broker for them in writing, or for the declarations page.

## What it means for brokers

Pick one agency practice for limits on certificates, apply it consistently, and be ready to explain it. See [The broker's side of the COI](https://coijournal.com/reports/broker-coi-request-load/).

## How we wrote this

Based on the ACORD 25 (2025/12) as posted by the New York State Department of Financial Services and reporting by Big I New York (March 10, 2026) and IIABA (July 7, 2026). We could not retrieve ACORD's own December 2025 forms notice. General information, not legal or insurance advice.

## Sources

- [ACORD Changes Limits Wording on Certificate of Insurance](https://www.biginy.org/news/ask-tim-news/acord-changes-limits-wording-on-certificate-of-insurance/), Big I New York, Timothy Dodge, March 10, 2026
- [Input from ACORD Regarding Recent Changes to the ACORD 25](https://www.independentagent.com/vu_resource/input-from-acord-regarding-recent-changes-to-the-acord-25/), Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Nancy Germond, July 7, 2026
- [ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance (2025/12), as posted by the New York State Department of Financial Services](https://www.dfs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2025/12/acord-25-2025-12-liability.pdf), ACORD / NY DFS