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The practical answer

The ACORD 24 is titled Certificate of Property Insurance. It summarizes property coverage on a described location for an interested party: a landlord checking a tenant's contents coverage, an owner checking a contractor's builders risk, a franchisor checking a franchisee's building.

Like the ACORD 25 on the liability side, it is information only. The disclaimer on the face says the certificate confers no rights on the holder and does not amend the policy. It tells you what somebody at an agency believed on the day they typed it.

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ACORD 24 or ACORD 28

They cover the same subject and are not interchangeable. The 24 is a certificate, sent to an interested party as information. The 28 is evidence, issued to a specifically named lender, mortgagee or loss payee and built to record that party's interest in the policy.

If a lender asks for proof of coverage on collateral, they usually want the 28. If a landlord or a general contractor wants to see that a counterparty carries property coverage at all, the 24 is the normal answer. Sending the wrong one is one of the more common reasons a document gets bounced back.

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What the form records

  • Producer, named insured, carrier and NAIC number, policy number and policy period.
  • The described location or locations, and what at that location is insured.
  • Coverage lines with their limits: building, business personal property, business income, extra expense, equipment breakdown, and any inland marine or builders risk items.
  • Deductibles, including separate wind, hail or named storm percentages.
  • Cause of loss form: basic, broad or special, plus whether earthquake and flood are added.
  • Valuation and coinsurance terms, such as replacement cost, actual cash value, agreed value or a coinsurance percentage.
  • A remarks section for endorsements and special wording.
  • The certificate holder block and any additional interest named on the policy.
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The checks that matter

  • Location. Property coverage is location specific in a way liability coverage is not. A limit shown against the wrong address protects nothing.
  • Valuation. Actual cash value on an older building can settle far below the cost of rebuilding it.
  • Coinsurance. If the clause requires the limit to equal a stated percentage of value and it does not, the settlement on a partial loss is reduced.
  • Special versus basic form. A basic form policy does not respond to causes of loss many people assume are covered.
  • Flood and earthquake. Both are normally excluded and added back only by endorsement or a separate policy.
  • Business income and extra expense, if the contract or lease requires it. It is often the coverage that actually keeps a counterparty solvent after a loss.
  • Whether your interest is recorded on the policy as an additional interest, or only in the certificate holder box, which grants nothing.
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Tracking property certificates alongside liability ones

Property certificates carry an expiry date and go stale exactly the way an ACORD 25 does. They are also reissued by the producing agency rather than by the insured, so the chase at renewal goes to the same place. If your program already tracks liability certificates by vendor and by expiry, adding property forms is a matter of recording which counterparties owe one and what the requirement is, not a separate system.

Operational boundary

Keep coverage decisions human and evidence explicit

CoverWarden records submitted evidence, requirements, findings, and authorized decisions. It does not issue coverage, guarantee claim outcomes, or replace your broker, attorney, or risk professional.

Common questions

What teams usually ask

What is the difference between an ACORD 24 and an ACORD 25?

The ACORD 24 evidences property insurance on a described location. The ACORD 25 evidences liability insurance: general liability, auto, umbrella and workers compensation. Vendor and subcontractor compliance almost always means the 25.

Is an ACORD 24 proof of coverage?

It is a summary, not proof. The form states that it confers no rights and does not amend the policy. For anything material, the policy declarations page and the relevant endorsements are the documents that carry weight.

Who issues an ACORD 24?

The producing insurance agency or the carrier. The insured cannot issue their own, and a form that appears to have been completed by the insured should be verified with the agency named on it.

Does the ACORD 24 show a mortgagee?

It can record additional interests, but a lender that needs its interest documented usually asks for the ACORD 28 evidence form instead, because that form is designed around a named lender or loss payee.