You got a link asking for your insurance

Checking the link is genuine

You should check. An unexpected email asking you to upload business documents is exactly what a scam looks like, and “it looked official” is not a reason to trust one.

• When in doubt, phone the contractor. Not the number in the email — the one you already have for them. That single step settles it, any legitimate request survives it, and it is the one check an email cannot fake.
• It names the contractor who asked. The page shows the company requesting the documents. If that is not somebody you work for, close it.
• It never asks for money or bank details. The page asks for insurance documents. Nothing else. If anything asks you to pay a fee or enter account numbers, it is not us.
• Every genuine request opens on the same web address — the one in your browser bar right now. If a link points somewhere that merely looks similar, do not use it.

What it actually asks for

Usually your certificate of insurance — the one-page ACORD 25 form your insurance agent produces. Depending on what the contractor requires, it may also ask for a W-9, a trade license, or a safety certificate. The page lists exactly which ones, and it only asks for the ones still outstanding.

If you do not have a current certificate to hand, the fastest route is almost always to email your insurance agent and ask them to send one — they can usually issue it the same day, and they can send it to you or straight to the contractor.

Nothing on the page needs a password, and there is no software to install. What the whole thing looks like from your side is written for the contractor who is deciding whether to ask you, which makes it a fair way to see what they can and cannot do with what you send.

What happens after you upload

Your file goes into a queue on the contractor's side and a person looks at it. Software reads the dates and limits off the page first, and anything it could not read confidently is put in front of that person rather than waved through — so a slightly crooked phone photo is not a problem, it is just a document somebody reads properly.

If something is wrong with it — the wrong year, a missing endorsement, the wrong company named — you will usually get an email saying which, with a fresh link attached so you can send the right one without asking for anything. If you hear nothing, it was fine.

Stopping the emails

Certificates expire once a year, so the contractor's system will email you again before yours does — by default at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before expiry. That is the whole point of it from their side, and it is why the request usually arrives before you have thought about the renewal.

Every one of those emails carries an unsubscribe link at the bottom, and a reply of STOP to a text stops the texts. It is your decision and it works immediately. Worth knowing what it does and does not do: it stops us contacting you, and it does not tell the contractor you are covered. They will still need the certificate, and they will now be chasing you by phone instead — which is usually worse for both of you than one email a year.