Waiver of Subrogation: What It Means on a Sub's COI and How to Verify It
A waiver of subrogation means a sub's insurer can't pay a claim and then sue you to get the money back. Without one, the insurance you required from the sub can end up pointed at you. This guide covers how subrogation works, what a waiver changes after a claim, the three forms that provide it, and how to require and check each one.
A waiver of subrogation is an endorsement in which a subcontractor's or vendor's insurer gives up its right to recover a claim payment from you. It has to be on each policy: CG 24 04 for general liability, CA 04 44 for auto and WC 00 03 13 for workers' compensation, which usually carries an extra premium. A ticked SUBR WVD box on the ACORD 25 is the agent's statement, not the waiver; the proof is the endorsement, naming you or applying to anyone your signed contract requires.
In this guide
What subrogation is, and what a waiver gives up
When an insurer pays a claim, it steps into its policyholder's shoes. Whatever right the policyholder had to recover that loss from someone else now belongs to the insurer. That is subrogation, and every liability and workers' comp policy reserves it. On a general liability policy it is the condition called Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us.
On a job site, the "someone else" is often you. A sub's insurer pays for an injury or for damage, then looks for anyone else it can argue contributed to it: the GC who ran the site, the owner, the property manager who hired the vendor. A waiver of subrogation is the insurer agreeing, in an endorsement, not to pursue that recovery against a named party. It is the insurer giving something up, which is why it has to be on the policy, not just in your contract.
What it stops
The sub's insurer suing you, after it has paid, to recover what it paid.
What it doesn't stop
A claim brought by the injured person or the property owner themselves. That goes to liability insurance, which is where additional insured status comes in.
Your subcontract is where the sub agrees to provide the waiver. The endorsement is where its insurer actually gives the right up: without it, the sub has promised something its insurer never agreed to.
How it plays out after a claim
A framing sub's carpenter falls through an opening on your job and is out for four months. The sub's workers' comp insurer pays the medical bills and lost wages, as it should. Then it looks at the site: the opening was left by another trade, and you ran the site. What happens next depends on the sub's workers' comp policy:
| Without a waiver | With a waiver in your favor | |
|---|---|---|
| After it pays | The insurer can sue you to recover what it paid, arguing you were responsible for the site | The insurer can't pursue you for it |
| Who defends you | Your general liability carrier, on a claim about a loss your sub's policy already covered | No recovery suit to defend |
| Your loss history | A defended or settled claim on your record at renewal | Untouched by the recovery |
| The injured worker's own claim | Separate; handled by liability insurance | Still separate; the waiver doesn't affect it |
The same logic runs through general liability and auto: a waiver keeps the sub's losses on the sub's insurance. It works alongside the other two requirements in a typical insurance exhibit. Additional insured status gets you onto the sub's policy, primary and noncontributory wording makes it pay before yours, and the waiver stops it turning around afterwards. The full set is in subcontractor insurance requirements.
Three policies, three forms
A waiver on one policy does nothing for the others. A general liability waiver doesn't reach workers' comp, and a workers' comp waiver doesn't reach auto. Each line needs its own endorsement:
| Policy | Standard form | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | ISO CG 24 04, Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us | Waives recovery against the party in its schedule for payments arising from the sub's ongoing operations, or completed work done under a contract with that party. The schedule either names you or, in later editions, uses blanket contract wording. |
| Business auto | ISO CA 04 44, Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us | The auto version. Matters wherever the sub's vehicles and equipment move around your site. |
| Workers' compensation | NCCI WC 00 03 13, Waiver of Our Right to Recover From Others | The insurer won't enforce its recovery right against the party in the schedule, and only where a written contract requires the waiver. It has its own premium, rated under each state's rules; some states use their own version of the form. |
| Umbrella or excess | The carrier's own wording | Ask that the umbrella follow form, so the waivers underneath carry up to it. |
Workers' comp is the line GCs feel most: when a sub's worker is hurt on your site, the sub's comp insurer pays, and the GC is the obvious third party for it to pursue. It is also the line where it costs the sub money, and where a few states restrict waivers. Ask your broker what applies in your state.
Where it appears: the SUBR WVD box and the endorsement
Each coverage row on the ACORD 25 has a SUBR WVD box, next to ADDL INSD. A tick there says the agent believes that policy carries a waiver. Agents often add a sentence in Description of Operations as well, such as "waiver of subrogation applies in favor of the certificate holder where required by written contract." Both are information only. The certificate states that it confers no rights and doesn't amend the policy. A ticked box on a policy with no endorsement waives nothing.
The proof is the endorsement page, and it comes in two shapes:
- Scheduled: the endorsement names your company, and sometimes the project. Check the name matches your legal entity, and that the owner is listed too if your prime contract requires it.
- Blanket: the endorsement applies to any person or organization the sub has agreed in a written contract to waive recovery for, typically a contract signed before the loss. Nothing on it names you. What brings you in is your subcontract, so it has to be signed, and has to require the waiver, before the work and before any loss.
Blanket waivers are convenient for everyone and common on subs who work for many GCs. They are also the reason an unsigned subcontract is an insurance problem, not just a paperwork one. The COI audit checklist covers the other boxes to read on the same certificate.
How to require it and check it
Name every line in the subcontract
The insurance exhibit should require waivers of subrogation on the sub's general liability, auto, workers' comp and umbrella, in favor of you, the owner and anyone else your prime contract lists. Have your attorney set the wording once.
Put it in the bid requirements
The workers' comp waiver usually costs the sub extra premium. Subs who learn about it after award push back; subs who see it in the bid price it in.
Get the subcontract signed before work starts
A blanket waiver only reaches parties the sub agreed in writing, before the loss, to waive. A crew on site under an unsigned subcontract may have no waiver in your favor at all.
Ask for the endorsement pages, not just the box
Request the CG 24 04, CA 04 44 and WC 00 03 13, or the carrier's equivalents, with every new certificate. Check each names you or carries blanket wording.
Check again at renewal
Endorsements can drop off when a policy renews or moves carriers, and workers' comp often renews on a different date from general liability.
Three endorsements per sub, each on its own renewal date, is the check that slips first. Insurance endorsement verification reads the forms themselves, and COI tracking software keeps each policy on its own dates so the renewal check happens.
How TrackMyVendor automates this
- The SUBR WVD box is read on every coverage row of the certificate, along with the carrier, policy number, dates and limits.
- Endorsement forms are read, and a CG 24 04, CA 04 44 or WC 00 03 13 is recognised as a waiver of subrogation by its form number. Pro
- Make the waiver of subrogation a required document, and a sub whose policies don't show one is flagged until it arrives. Pro
We read the certificates and endorsement forms you're sent; we don't read the subcontract or confirm a blanket waiver's written-contract condition is met. That stays with you and your attorney.
See how endorsement verification worksCertificates and endorsements, collected together
Subs and vendors upload the certificate and the endorsement pages through one link — no account, no portal. Every policy is read and tracked on its own dates. Your first 25 contractors are free.
Frequently asked questions
What is a waiver of subrogation?
Is a waiver of subrogation the same as additional insured?
What is the CG 24 04 endorsement?
Does a waiver of subrogation on workers' comp cost extra?
What is the difference between a blanket and a scheduled waiver of subrogation?
This guide explains how waivers of subrogation commonly work. It isn't insurance or legal advice: form editions, carrier wording and state law differ, and the policy and your contract govern. Ask your broker and attorney about your own requirements.
Insurance on a sub’s certificate
What to require from every sub, one term at a time.
Subcontractor insurance requirements: start here → Coverage, minimums and endorsements to require from subs, with every term below in one table