COI Diploma study guide
COI Diploma · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The COI Diploma is a professional credential for people who issue, review, or rely on certificates of insurance - agency account managers and CSR staff, compliance and risk-transfer analysts in construction and facilities, contract administrators, and underwriters who field certificate questions daily. It tests whether you can read a certificate and the underlying policy together and explain what is and is not actually being evidenced. The COI Diploma study guide has 7 sections and about 2,526 words.
01Insurance Fundamentals and Risk Management
This domain tests whether you understand why certificates exist at all: they are a downstream artifact of a risk-financing decision. Expect questions on risk treatment, insurable interest, indemnity, fortuity, and the difference between contractual risk transfer and insurance transfer.
377 words, about 2 min02Policy Structure, Declarations, and Insuring Agreements
This domain tests your ability to read a policy the way a certificate professional must: locate the grant of coverage, the limits that cap it, and the conditions that can defeat it. Declarations: named insured, policy period, limits, forms and endorsements schedule, premium, business description.
348 words, about 2 min03General Liability and Commercial General Liability Coverage
This domain tests the coverage A, B and C structure of the CGL, the occurrence trigger, and the exclusions that most often defeat a certificate holder's expectations. Coverage A, Bodily Injury and Property Damage: bodily injury, sickness, disease, death, and physical injury to tangible property, including loss of use.
386 words, about 2 min04Certificate of Insurance Forms and ACORD Standards
This domain tests which ACORD form does what, what legal effect it has, and which fields a reviewer actually relies on. ACORD 25, Certificate of Liability Insurance: general liability, auto, umbrella or excess, workers compensation, with insurer, policy number, effective and expiration dates, limits and endorsement codes.
383 words, about 2 min05Additional Insured Endorsements and Contractual Risk Transfer
This domain tests the difference between an indemnity promise and insurance, and the endorsement language that determines whether a contractual transfer actually works. Additional insured status is only as broad as the endorsement: named versus blanket, ongoing versus completed operations, primary and non-contributory wording, waiver of subrogation.
331 words, about 2 min06Evidence of Coverage, Verification, and Compliance
This domain tests operational discipline: how to verify what a certificate claims, how to track it, and when to escalate a discrepancy. Match certificate data to the policy: legal named insured, policy number, period, limits, insurer name and NAIC number, and the forms and endorsements schedule.
330 words, about 2 min07Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Certificate Issuance
This domain tests judgement: what a producer may and may not put on a certificate, and the consequences of getting it wrong. Accuracy and good faith: issue certificates only for policies actually in force, and only as authorized by the insurer.
371 words, about 2 min