How Do I Obtain A Liability Insurance Certificate?

BSU Insurance Certificate Requests

The BSU department requesting Certificate of Liability and/or Worker's Compensation Certificate needs to send an e-mail to Risk Management and Insurance (RM&I) that reviews what the applicable event is about. This information will help determine if the event qualifies for a State liability or Worker's Compensation Certificate.

This is usually requested when a third party entity requires verification of insurance from BSU. The certificate is normally required to comply with the insurance clause terms for the event or activity agreement or contract. A copy of the agreement or contract should always be requested and faxed to the BSU Office of Risk Management and Insurance (RM&I) at 426-4976. RM&I Office contact is Breck Skinner, Risk Management Representative at breckskinner@boisestate.edu telephone 426-3012.

Who issues the Certificate of Liability (Insurance)?

Where applicable, RM&I will then request the Certificate of Insurance from the University's State Insurance Administrator, which is the State of Idaho's Department of Administration's Office of Insurance Management (OIM). University departments should not contact the OIM directly as these certificate requests must be handled by RM&I.

The Idaho State Insurance Fund issues Worker's Compensation certificates of Insurance on behalf of Boise State.

Normal turnaround time for Certificates is 2or 3 days, sometimes longer depending on the workload for RM&I and the State Insurance Administrator's office. RM&I requests that University department's allow a least one to two weeks lead time, wherever possible to the University's RM&I office to process certificate requests.

What amounts of liability insurance limits are used?

The State of Idaho's Tort Claims limit is $500,000.00 per occurrence. The State of Idaho has a Retained Risk Fund (like self-insurance) which protects state entities (includes BSU) under the Idaho Tort Claims Act.

Occasionally, a third party entity (who is leasing, renting or allowing BSU to use their facilities or products) will require by contract a verification of liability insurance of more than $500,000.00 per occurrence.

Firms requesting more than the normal State liability limits of $500,000.00 per occurrence should be reminded by the applicable University department of the State's (the University is an State entity) liability limits.

If they still request higher liability limits, contact RM&I and we can contact the firm to negotiate lower limits, wherever possible.

If the third party entity will not change their insurance limit verification requirement the additional limit requested will need to be noted to the OIM. For further information on Certificates of Insurance, please contact our Risk Management and Insurance Office.

How Do I Obtain a Property Insurance Certificate?

Since all University owned property (building and contents) is covered on a replacement cost basis, property certificates are normally only needed on non-owned University property within the University's care, custody and control.

Non-Owned Property:

When Non-owned property is rented or loaned to department from a vendor or third party, and insurance coverage is requested in writing by a rental agreement or contract, the State can provide property insurance coverage to the University for the rental property, provided that the property item is reported in advance of receipt to our RM&I office, along with a copy of the rental/loan agreement or contract, and it is scheduled on our University's Major Property policy by our RM&I office.

Coverage is not effective until reported and scheduled with our State Insurance Administrator's office. Once scheduled, upon our request the State can issue a liability or Property Certificate, if required in writing as part of the rental/loan agreement or contract.

RM&I recommends that University department's not take responsibility for the non-owned property (includes rental property other than rental cars) until the University takes possession of the property and it is in our care, custody and control.

In order to obtain a property insurance certificate from our State Insurance Administrator's office we need to know:

RM&I Requirements to request a Property Insurance Certificate

Who issues the Certificate for Property Insurance?

Where applicable, RM&I will request the Certificate of Insurance from the University's State Insurance Administrator, which is the State of Idaho's Department of Administration's Risk Management Program Office (RMPO). University departments should not contact the RMPO directly as these certificate requests must be handled by RM&I.

Normal turnaround time for Certificates is 2 or 3 days, sometimes longer depending on the workload for RM&I and the State Insurance Administrator's office. RM&I requests that University department's allow a least one to two weeks lead time, wherever possible to the University's RM&I office to process certificate requests.

Any questions about obtaining insurance certificates should be directed to Breck Skinner, BSU Assistant Risk Manager at (208) 426-5955 or via email

What Certificates of Insurance Are Required For Outside Service Companies Providing Service to the University?

Certificates of Insurance furnished by outside service companies to the University for Vendor services provided on campus require specific insurance coverage's for service contractors, contractors, and specialty firms. These coverages are "General Liability" and "Automobile Liability" with minimum limits of $1,000,000 Combined Single Limits (CSL) per occurrence. Higher limits may be required for events with elevated risk. A separate certificate of Worker's Compensation insurance is also required for contractors' employees working on campus. (Examples of Service Providers are: elevator service, general contractors, electrical, plumbing, roofing contractors, etc.) Additionally, event promoters at the Taco Bell Arena, Morrison Center, or Athletic events, etc., must meet these insurance requirements, as well.

Certificates of General and Automobile Liability from outside service providers must list "Boise State and the State of Idaho as Additional Insureds" with respect to the event or service provided.

Frequently, additional communication is required between Risk Management and the outside contractor or promoter prior to the service or event. As such, adequate lead time is necessary for the State to issue certificates in a timely manner to outside organizations. Facility use agreements/contracts, as well as outside organizations' certificates of insurance requests should be received by Risk Management a minimum of 10 days prior to the scheduled event or activity, whenever possible.

BSU Practicum Students – When And Where Do I Obtain A Liability Insurance Certificate?

BSU Practicum Students

As noted under the "How Do I Obtain Liability Coverage Information" question, BSU is insured through the State of Idaho insurance program. That program includes coverage for qualified BSU Practicum Student work related programs. The state's definition of a covered Practicum is:

"Means a course of study involving practical application of previously studied theory approved by and under supervision of the covered colleges and universities of the State of Idaho."

To qualify for Practicum Student liability coverage the following requirements must be met:

The terms Practicum and Internship are sometimes used interchangeably within the University. These terms are not necessarily interchangeable and can have different meanings. The State's definition of a Practicum is defined above. The term Internship can mean a person who is in supervised practical training to learn a specific field however it does not have to be related to a required University class credit training activity. Internships can be both paid and unpaid positions and can be considered employees of the training firm.

Our State Student Practicum liability coverage does not include Practicum student coverage for medical clinical training fields, i.e. nursing, pharmacy, physician assistants, clinical laboratory, occupational therapy, pathology, radiology, etc. This category also excludes pre-medical fields, such as pre-pharmacy, pre-physician, pre-dietetics, pre-physical therapy, etc. However, the University has two individual Student Healthcare liability insurance policies (separate from the State program coverage) for those types of BSU Practicum Students. University departments needing Practicum Student liability coverage for these State excluded medical clinical training fields can contact either:

The Nursing Department – 426-3900 or

The College of Applied Technology (COAT) – 426-1840

Should you be contacted by an outside Practicum training program service provider requesting a Certificate of Liability insurance for a Practicum student, please contact our Risk Management and Insurance office to review where and how the applicable insurance coverage should be obtained.