Landlord guide · Tenant insurance certificates
Track when each tenant’s insurance expires, and when the new certificate is due.
Read the policy period on each certificate, not the date it was issued, and record when every policy on it ends: liability, property, umbrella and any other line the certificate dates on its own. Then check the certificate against the lease for three things: the limits, the way you are named, and how long before a policy ends the lease says the renewal certificate is due. Prism reads a certificate and returns each policy’s expiry and limits with the sentence they came from. It reads the certificate and the lease one at a time, so the renewal-certificate date is one you join up yourself, as the example shows.
Worked example: three policies, three different dates
A commercial tenant's lease and its certificate of insurance. The certificate lists liability limits of 1,000,000 per occurrence and 2,000,000 in the aggregate, names the landlord as certificate holder and additional insured, and dates three policies. The lease says how long before a policy ends the renewal certificate is due. Neither document contains that due date, so it has to be worked out from both.
The lease: coverage“Tenant shall maintain commercial general liability insurance with limits of not less than One Million Dollars per occurrence and Two Million Dollars in the aggregate, naming Landlord as an additional insured.”
The lease: renewal certificates“Tenant shall deliver to Landlord a certificate evidencing renewal of each required policy not later than fifteen (15) days before that policy expires.”
| Policy on the certificate | Policy period | Renewal certificate due (15 days before it ends) |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | Nov 12, 2026 to Nov 12, 2027 | Oct 28, 2027 |
| Property | Mar 1, 2027 to Mar 1, 2028 | Feb 15, 2028 |
| Umbrella | Jun 15, 2027 to Jun 15, 2028 | May 31, 2028 |
- Oct 28, 2027: 15 days before Nov 12, 2027. Twelve days back reaches Oct 31, and three more reach Oct 28.
- Feb 15, 2028: 15 days before Mar 1, 2028. 2028 is a leap year, so February has 29 days: one day back is Feb 29, and fourteen more is Feb 15. In a common year the answer would be a day earlier in the month.
- May 31, 2028: 15 days before Jun 15, 2028.
Also compare the limits: the certificate shows liability of at least the amounts the lease requires, so it meets that clause, and it names you as the lease says. A certificate that showed less would not, and that is a matter to raise with the tenant, not a date.
The lease and its clauses were written for this page, not taken from a customer’s lease. The dates are worked out by hand and checked against the same date arithmetic Prism uses.
What the reminders do here
Prism emails you 90, 30 and 7 days before each policy expiry it reads from a certificate. It does not email you on the renewal-certificate date, because that date is in neither document. Send each tenant’s certificate as its own file, named after the unit; the file name is in the subject of every reminder.
What to read on a certificate
The policy period, not the issue date
A certificate dates each policy by its effective and expiry dates. The expiry is the date to track; the day the certificate was issued is not.
A separate expiry for each policy
Liability, property and umbrella policies often end on different dates. Each is its own date, so a gap can open on one while the others are still in force.
Limits
Liability each occurrence and aggregate, property, and umbrella or excess limits, each with its amount, to set against what the lease requires.
Who is named
The named insured, and any certificate holder, additional insured or mortgagee with the role each is given. The named insured is not always the tenant on the lease.
Cancellation notice
How many days notice the certificate says the insurer will give before cancelling or not renewing.
What the lease requires
In the lease, read as a separate document: each coverage and limit, the additional-insured wording, and how long before a policy ends the renewal certificate is due.
Deductibles and exclusions
Any deductible or exclusion the document itself states. Nothing is inferred from silence.
What it will not do
Prism returns what the certificate and the lease state and quotes where. It does not compare the two for you (each is read on its own), does not judge whether the cover is adequate, and does not know a policy was cancelled or replaced after the certificate was issued: send the new certificate when it arrives. It is not legal or insurance advice, and reminders are best-effort.
Use it from an AI agent
Prism is a remote MCP server. In Claude Code:
claude mcp add --transport http prism https://prism.parad1gm.com/api/prism-mcpThen ask: “Read this certificate of insurance and list each policy with its expiration date, its limits and the certificate holder, with the sentence each comes from.” The agent sends the document with prism_review_contract and reads the result with prism_get_contract. Setup for Claude on the web, Cursor, VS Code and A2A agents is on the agents page.
$0.50 a contract for an agent, and the first 3 are free. On the website it is $1 per contract, or $9 a month for up to 50.
Questions
Which date on the certificate do I track?
The expiry of each policy, taken from its policy period. A certificate with three policies has three expiry dates, and the earliest is the one to chase first.
Can Prism tell me when the renewal certificate is due?
Not from one document. The lease sets the period ("fifteen days before that policy expires") and the certificate states when the policy expires. Prism reads each on its own, returns the lease rule undated and the policy expiry dated, and leaves you to join them: expiry less the period, as in the example.
Does Prism check the limits against the lease?
No. It returns the limits and the named parties from the certificate and quotes the coverage the lease requires. You compare them.
Is a certificate proof that the policy is in force?
It shows what the tenant’s insurance agent reported on the day it was issued. The standard ACORD certificate says on its face that it is issued as a matter of information only and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage, so it cannot tell you about a cancellation after that day. Ask for a new certificate at each renewal, as the lease may require.
What does Prism email me about?
For each policy expiry it reads from a certificate you have paid to read: an email 90, 30 and 7 days before. With a 15-day rule the 7-day email comes after the certificate is due, so the 30-day email is the one to act on.
What do I do when a tenant sends a new certificate?
Send it to Prism as a new document. It is read on its own and its policy periods are dated. The old expiry stays in your list until you mark it done on the Deadlines page.
What kinds of certificate does it read?
A certificate of insurance or a policy declarations page, as a PDF or a photo. Prism also reads the insurance clause of a lease. Each document is read on its own.
Is this legal or insurance advice?
No. It tells you what the certificate and the lease say and where. Whether the cover is adequate is a question for your broker or a lawyer.
More for landlords
Every guide here starts from the lease. Prism for landlords shows the whole picture: leases, insurance certificates and loan documents read once and put on one calendar that emails you before each date.
- How to track lease expirations across your rental units
- When the rent goes up: escalation and CPI adjustment dates
- What the lease says about the security deposit, and the dates
- The tenant’s option to renew: the dates a landlord should watch
- A spreadsheet or Prism for lease expiries
This guide is about what a lease says and which dates follow from it. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover state or local law. How often Prism finds these dates is on the accuracy page.