COI for NYC Moves: What It Is and Why Your Building Requires It?

What Is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?

A COI is a short summary of an insurance policy, not the policy itself. The International Risk Management Institute defines a certificate of insurance as a document providing evidence that certain insurance coverages and limits have been purchased by the party required to furnish it.

For a moving company, that document is almost always the ACORD 25 form, an industry-standard template that lists the insurer, the policy number, the coverage types, and the dates each policy is active. The certificate itself carries no legal force of its own. It only reports what the underlying policy said on the day it was issued, which is why a stale or mismatched COI gets rejected even when the company’s actual coverage is fine.

Why Do NYC Buildings Require a COI Before Moving Day?

A COI shifts responsibility for move-day damage onto the mover’s insurer instead of the building’s. New York co-op and condo boards carry master policies that cover the building’s common areas, and a claim against that policy raises premiums for every owner, not just the person who moved.

Insurance brokers who work with New York boards report that liability minimums have been climbing: many buildings that once accepted $500,000 in coverage now ask for $1 million, and some co-ops layer a $2 million to $3 million umbrella policy on top of that (Habitat, 2024). Requiring a COI from every mover lets the building point to that mover’s policy first if something gets damaged, rather than its own.

A COI also works as a basic screen. A company that cannot produce one on request usually does not carry active general liability insurance at all, which is one of the simplest red flags to check before you book.

What Information Has to Appear on a Moving COI?

A compliant COI names the insured mover, the certificate holder, the limit, and the move date.

How Much Liability Coverage Do NYC Buildings Typically Require?

Most NYC buildings ask for at least $1 million per occurrence in general liability coverage.

Brokers quoted by Habitat, the trade publication covering New York co-op and condo boards, describe $1 million in liability coverage as a common baseline today, with a $2 million to $3 million umbrella layered on top at some buildings (Habitat, 2024). Pre-war co-ops and larger buildings with freight elevators tend to sit at the higher end of that range, a pattern common in Astoria’s older co-op buildings.

A separate charge sometimes gets confused with the COI: a refundable move deposit, usually $500 to $1,000, collected directly by the building and returned after the move if nothing gets damaged. The deposit and the COI serve different purposes and are handled by different parties, so confirm both requirements with your building rather than assuming one covers the other.

How Long Does It Take to Get a COI?

Turnaround ranges from same day to about a week, depending on the carrier and the building.

The practical rule most brokers and moving companies converge on: request your building’s COI requirements at least five business days before the move, and ten if the building names a specific carrier or an unusual limit. Asking on the day you book, rather than days later, does more to prevent a delay than anything else in this process.