The Old ACORD Certificate Form Is Not Illegal. Stop Using It.
Several member agencies have recently contacted us about a change to the most commonly-used certificate of insurance form, ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance. ACORD published a new edition of the form a few months ago. The New York State Department of Financial Services subsequently removed the prior edition from its list of approved certificate of insurance forms. Members have asked if it is legal for them to use the prior edition if they do not yet have access to the new one.
The answer is yes, it is legal, but you should stop using it as soon as possible.
Members have reported receiving an email communication telling them that, because the ACORD 25 (2016/03) form no longer appears on the DFS approved list, “it may no longer be used for certificates of insurance issued in New York state.” The communication cited Section 502 of the New York Insurance Law which is a section of Article 5 – Certificates of Insurance.
Recipients of this message have interpreted it to mean that, if they have issued ACORD 25 (2016/03) since December (the new edition is ACORD 25 (2025/12)), they have violated the provisions of Article 5. Violations carry a penalty of $1,000 for the first offence and $2,000 for each subsequent offense.
The fact is that nothing in Article 5 prohibits an insurance agency or brokerage from using an unapproved form as a certificate of insurance.
- ACORD occasionally publishes new editions of all its forms, including certificate, application, claim notice, disclosure, and other types of forms. They do this for several reasons that are explained on its FAQ page.
2. ACORD announced the ACORD 25 (2025/12) edition in December. We reported this on March 10 of this year and advised agencies not to change their procedures in response to the new edition.
3. DFS has removed the old edition from its list of approved certificate forms.
4. It is incorrect to say that Section 502 prohibits an agency or brokerage from using an unapproved certificate form. Subsection (a) of that section states:
“In this state:
(a) … (N)o person or governmental entity shall wilfully require, as a condition of awarding a contract for work, or if a contract has already been awarded as a condition for work to commence or continue under the contract, or if the contract has been performed or partially performed as a condition for payment to be made under the contract, the issuance of a certificate of insurance unless the certificate is:
(1) a form promulgated by the insurer issuing the policy referenced in the certificate of insurance; or
(2) a standard certificate of insurance form issued by an industry standard-setting organization and approved for use by the superintendent or any other form approved for use by the superintendent.”
The restriction is on the person or organization requesting the certificate, not the agent. Nothing in that text states that an agent may not use an unapproved certificate.
Subsection (b) of Section 502 prohibits a person or organization from requiring wording on a certificate that is not in the policy – again, a restriction on the certificate requester.
The only provision in Section 502 that applies to agents is subsection (c):
“A certificate of insurance shall not amend, extend, or alter the coverage provided by the insurance policy to which the certificate of insurance makes reference. A certificate of insurance shall further not confer to any person any rights beyond those expressly provided by the policy of insurance referenced therein.”
If a certificate form does not change the coverage or make someone an additional insured who is not actually an additional insured, (and the carrier approves of the agent using it,) it is perfectly legal for an agent to use that certificate form.
A couple of caveats:
- The legislature enacted subsection (a) of Section 502 (at our request) to remove pressure from agencies and brokerages to issue non-standard certificate forms that may include a variety of errors and omissions liability traps. This was common before they enacted the law. Therefore, it is prudent (but not required) to use only approved certificate forms. Non-standard forms may increase your agency’s E&O liability risk.
2. The new edition of ACORD 25 revised the wording regarding limits of insurance. Our advice remains that agencies should input the limits shown in the policy declarations in those fields, regardless of the new wording.
3. ACORD’s license for use of its forms states permits users to use a replaced edition of a form for no more than 12 months after publication of the new edition. Anyone issuing ACORD 25 (2016/03) after next December 1 will be in violation of the terms of the ACORD license. That is not the same as a violation of the law.
4. ACORD’s forms FAQ page states:
“It is vital you use only the most current ACORD Forms. Once a form is outdated, ACORD no longer checks on whether it remains compliant with the law, including state insurance department rules. Anyone using an outdated form does so at great risk. In particular, agents and insurers using a non-compliant form are subject to severe penalties.”
It is always in your best interest to use only current editions of ACORD forms, even if the law permits you to use older ones.
In summary, our advice from the post of March 10, 2026 stands:
“The new edition appears on the New York State Department of Financial Services’ approved certificates of insurance list. All agencies should be using it now. Check with your ACORD forms vendor to ensure that they are providing you with this edition.”
More information is available on the Certificates of Insurance page in the Answer Center of our website.
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