How to Verify a Certificate of Insurance (and Your Agent's License) in Florida

A certificate of insurance is one page, and anyone with a printer can make one. Many Florida businesses file the certificates their subs and vendors send without a second look. Two cases this fall show what that can cost.

This guide walks through how to check a certificate, the agent behind it, a workers’ comp policy or exemption, and the insurer itself, using the free lookups Florida’s regulators publish, as of November 2026.

What happened in the Hialeah and Destin cases?

Both cases are allegations. The people charged have pleaded not guilty, and nothing has been proven in court.

Hialeah. According to Insurance Journal’s October 28, 2026 report, the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) charged a Hialeah man with selling fake insurance to a flooring contractor. He had been permanently barred from holding an insurance license in 2002. The contractor handed two certificates of insurance to a DFS compliance officer in April, and the carrier named on them said no policies had been bought. Investigators say the scheme ran for at least four years and the man kept $10,500 in premium. A licensed agent at the agency where he worked is charged as an accomplice. DFS also issued a stop-work order against the flooring company for not carrying workers’ comp on its employees.

Destin. Insurance Journal reported on October 29, 2026 that a federal grand jury indicted two Destin men on fraud and money laundering charges. They’re accused of collecting more than $651,000 in premiums over two years through companies that included The Wave Insurance, described as a risk retention group incorporated in Florida in 2025, and of providing falsified certificates of insurance. Neither company was licensed as a property-casualty insurer in Florida, and Florida’s Insurance Commissioner issued a cease-and-desist order in September. One of the men is a licensed agent, but DFS records show him appointed with a single life insurance company and no property-casualty company.

Each case had a real-looking certificate, and one had a real license. Neither stopped the alleged fraud.

What does a certificate of insurance actually prove?

A certificate of insurance (COI) summarizes the policies someone says were in force on the day it was printed. It doesn’t change the policy, and it doesn’t prove the coverage is still active. Additional insured status, for example, comes from an endorsement on the policy, not from a line on the certificate.

Our contractor insurance guide explains certificate holders, additional insureds and what Florida’s licensing board asks contractors to carry. This post is about the step after you receive one: checking that it’s real.

How do you verify a certificate of insurance in Florida?

Verify the certificate with the people who issued it, then check each name on it against the state’s own records. Here’s the order we use:

1. Look up the agency yourself. Find the agency’s phone number on its own website or on the DFS Licensee Search, not on the certificate. A fake certificate can carry a fake phone number that rings the person who made it.
2. Ask the agency to confirm each policy. Read them the policy numbers, effective and expiration dates, and limits. Ask whether any policy has been cancelled or set to cancel.
3. Check the insurer. Search the company on the Office of Insurance Regulation’s (OIR) Active Company Search. OIR notes that suspended companies don’t appear in its results, and it keeps a separate list of companies in receivership.
4. Call the insurer if anything looks off. The insurer can confirm whether a policy number exists and is in force.
5. Check the producer. Search the agent named on the certificate on the DFS Licensee Search (next section).
6. Check workers’ comp separately. Use the DFS Coverage and Exemptions search described below.
7. Get the next certificate straight from the agency. Ask the agency to email future certificates to you directly, and to send a new one at each renewal.

How do you check that a Florida insurance agent is licensed?

Search the agent on the DFS Licensee Search at licenseesearch.fldfs.com, and check both the license and the appointments. You can search by name, license number or National Producer Number.

Under section 626.112, Florida Statutes, no one may act as an insurance agent unless they are currently licensed by DFS and appointed by an appropriate appointing entity, usually the insurance company. An agent also may not sell a kind of insurance they aren’t licensed and appointed for. That’s why both parts matter:

Selling insurance without a license, or knowingly helping someone else do it, is a third-degree felony under section 626.112. DFS also notes on the search page that its data may not be fully current, so call the agency if a record doesn’t match what you were told.

How do you verify workers’ comp coverage or an exemption in Florida?

Use the Coverage and Exemptions search on the Division of Workers’ Compensation data portal. It has two parts:

• Proof of coverage. Search by employer name, federal employer ID number, policy number, effective or expiration date, or county. It lists employers whose policies were reported in the past five years.
• Exemptions. Search by employer name or federal employer ID number, and by construction or non-construction. It lists corporate officers and LLC members who have elected to be exempt.

A few exceptions trip people up:

• An exemption covers one person. DFS issues exemptions to individual officers or members, not to the business, and an exempt officer can’t collect workers’ comp benefits. The company’s employees still need coverage when the law requires it. Our Florida workers’ comp requirements guide explains the one-employee construction rule and the exemption limits.
• Exemption certificates no longer list a scope of business. DFS removed scopes of business from new certificates in 2023, so don’t expect to see the trade listed.
• A reported policy can still be cancelled. The database shows what carriers reported. Confirm with the carrier or agent that the policy is in force on your job dates.

Florida contractors have extra reason to check. Under section 440.10, Florida Statutes, a contractor that sublets work is liable for workers’ comp for the subcontractor’s employees unless the sub has secured its own coverage, and the contractor must require the sub to provide evidence of it. The contractor can seek repayment from the sub, which helps little if the sub has disappeared. DFS’s guide for contractors says the same: make certain every subcontractor has the required coverage, and keep a copy of any exemption certificate.

What is a risk retention group, and how do you check one?

A risk retention group (RRG) is a member-owned liability insurer allowed by the federal Liability Risk Retention Act. It’s chartered as a liability insurer in one state and can then operate in others after registering there. Legitimate RRGs exist for professions and industries that pool their liability risks. But an RRG is different from the insurers most Florida businesses buy from:

Florida’s rules for RRGs chartered in other states are in section 627.944, Florida Statutes. Before offering coverage here, the group must register with OIR, file its plan of operation and financial statements, sell only through an agent licensed and appointed in Florida, and print a notice on the front page and declarations page of each policy that state insurance guaranty funds aren’t available. OIR’s company search shows an RRG’s home state; a Florida home state is the only sign it’s chartered here.

Two exceptions are worth knowing:

• An RRG can’t be anyone’s workers’ comp. The federal definition of the liability an RRG may insure excludes an employer’s liability to its own employees, apart from the federal railroad workers’ law. Florida’s workers’ comp law, section 440.38, accepts insurance from an insurer authorized in Florida or an approved self-insurance arrangement. A certificate showing workers’ comp from an RRG is a red flag.
• A Sunbiz filing isn’t an insurance license. A company registered with the Division of Corporations can still be unlicensed to sell insurance, as the Destin case alleges. Check OIR, not Sunbiz.

What red flags should make you check a certificate twice?

None proves fraud, but each is worth a call:

• The agency or agent doesn’t appear on the DFS Licensee Search, or appears with a license type that doesn’t fit.
• The insurer doesn’t appear on OIR’s company search, or appears only as a risk retention group for coverage an RRG can’t write.
• The certificate’s phone number or email doesn’t match the agency’s listing.
• Premium was paid in cash, to a personal account, or to someone other than the agency or insurer.
• The workers’ comp policy isn’t in the DFS proof of coverage database. If the policy is brand new, ask the carrier to confirm it.

What to have ready before you request a quote

If you’re reviewing your own business coverage too, have these ready:

1. Your business’s legal name, FEIN and Sunbiz entity type.
2. A description of your operations and the trades you hire out.
3. Annual payroll by job type, and what you pay subcontractors.
4. Your current declarations pages and five years of claims history, if you have them.
5. Officer or member names, ownership percentages and any DFS exemption certificates.
6. Contract insurance requirements from your customers, such as additional insured or waiver of subrogation wording.

Magnuson Insurance is an independent agency in Lakeland, licensed in Florida (agency license L104700), and our agents’ licenses and appointments are public on the same DFS search described above. When you’re ready, you can start a business quote online or read about our small business insurance programs. Coverage can’t be bound or changed through a website form; an agent will confirm everything with you first.

What should you do if a certificate turns out to be fake?

Stop relying on it right away. Ask the vendor for proof of real coverage before more work is done, and talk with your own agent about how your policies respond if the vendor’s coverage doesn’t exist.

Report it to DFS. The department’s Insurance Fraud Hotline is 1-800-378-0445, and tips can also be sent online through Fraud Free Florida. Under section 440.105, Florida Statutes, presenting false, fraudulent or misleading proof of workers’ comp coverage is insurance fraud, a felony graded by the dollar amount involved. Florida’s Fraud Fighter Reward Program may pay up to $25,000 for a tip that leads to an arrest and conviction.