What does primary and non-contributory mean?

The two parts

• Primary: the vendor's policy responds before yours.
• Non-contributory: the vendor's insurer won't seek a contribution from your policy for the same claim.

Why it matters

Being an additional insured on a vendor's policy doesn't, by itself, decide the order of payment. Many policies have 'other insurance' clauses that could make the vendor's coverage excess over yours, or split the loss. P&NC wording removes that ambiguity so the vendor's insurance carries the claim it was meant to carry.

How it appears on a COI

There's no dedicated checkbox on the ACORD 25. Brokers usually note it in the description of operations box, for example: 'Certificate holder is additional insured on a primary and non-contributory basis where required by written contract.' The actual protection comes from an endorsement or from the policy's additional insured form.

How to verify it

• Look for P&NC wording in the description box.
• Ask for the endorsement that grants primary and non-contributory status.
• Make sure your contract actually requires it — blanket endorsements usually only apply when the written contract asks for it.

The usual trio

Additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory are often required together. myCertGate lets you set these per workspace, project or vendor and flags certificates that don't show them.