Workshop · April 2026
Avoiding the contract mistakes that lead to denied claims
Bob Marshburn has spent more than 40 years in risk management, much of it as an expert witness in coverage disputes. Here are the contract mistakes he sees behind denied claims and high legal costs, and the language that closes each gap.
Guest expert
Bob Marshburn
Founder and CEO, Certified Risk Managers LLC
40+ years in risk management
- Nearly 30 years advising public entities
- Contributing editor, IRIC manual, 10+ years
- Expert witness in insurance and indemnity disputes
- CRM, CIC, ARM, CRIS, CISC, CCIP
The session
Real cases from an expert witness, turned into contract language
Bob Marshburn is the founder and CEO of Certified Risk Managers LLC. He has been in the insurance business for 50 years, most of the last 30 with public entities, and has spent more than ten years as contributing editor of the Insurance Requirements in Contracts (IRIC) manual. Much of his work comes from serving as an expert witness when claims are denied.
On April 30, 2026 he joined us for a 90-minute workshop on the mistakes that lead to denied claims and legal expenses in third-party contracts. Every example came from a case he handled. As Bob put it, "There's no theory today. This is all reality."
Watch the full session, open the workshop materials, or read the takeaways below.
Key takeaways
13 takeaways from the session
Bob's advice in four themes, from writing requirements that trigger coverage to verifying what the policy actually says.
01–03
Write requirements that trigger coverage
Modern additional insured forms only respond to what a written contract specifically requires.
- 01
Spell out exactly what you require
About 80 to 90 percent of insurers use ISO forms, and since 2013 their additional insured forms cover you only to the extent required in a written contract. A clause that just says "name us as an additional insured" leaves the insurer room to argue about ongoing or completed operations, limits, and how long coverage lasts.
The takeaway: Name the coverage, endorsement, limits, and duration in writing.
- 02
Say "at least as broad as," never "or comparable"
Bob coined this wording for the IRIC manual. List the ISO form you want and require coverage at least as broad as that form. "Or comparable coverage" turns into a fight between attorneys over what comparable means, and you pay for it.
The takeaway: Name the form and require coverage at least as broad as it.
- 03
Put requirements on small jobs too
One organization skipped a contract on a $2,500 tank-cleaning job. The worker fell and was paralyzed, the settlement was $5 million, and there was no coverage because nothing required it in writing. Bob recommends a signed indemnity and insurance requirements form on purchase orders, RFPs, bid packages, and bills of sale.
The takeaway: Attach a signed requirements form to every PO and bid, even when the job seems too small for a contract.
“Words matter, believe me they do. Come claim time you'll find out just how important words are.”
Bob MarshburnFounder and CEO, Certified Risk Managers LLC04–06
Build indemnity that holds up
Indemnity is the first way to transfer risk, and small drafting gaps decide whether it pays.
- 04
Include all four elements
A complete indemnity clause has the contractor hold you harmless, defend you, and indemnify you, plus waive subrogation. The waiver removes the insurer's right to recover from you for your share of the negligence.
The takeaway: Check every indemnity clause for all four elements.
- 05
Make obligations outlast the contract
Bob sees "for the entire term of this agreement" in contract after contract. Claims often come later, when a deck collapses, a roof leaks, or soil settles. He recommends completed operations coverage for at least three to five years, and at least ten years for residential or mixed-use work in California.
The takeaway: Write indemnity and insurance obligations to continue after the work is done.
- 06
Don't let insurance minimums cap indemnity
In one of Bob's largest cases, the insurer's attorneys argued the indemnity was limited to the $1 million of insurance the contract required. The indemnity was unlimited; the insurance was only the minimum. Bob's contracts state that defense and indemnity obligations are in addition to, and not limited by, the insurance requirements.
The takeaway: State that indemnity is not limited by the insurance minimums.
07–09
Get additional insured status right
Being indemnified and being an additional insured are separate protections, and you want both.
- 07
Require both indemnity and additional insured status
Being an indemnified party does not make you an additional insured. As an additional insured you deal directly with the contractor's insurer, and in Bob's experience defense costs are paid in addition to the limits, while costs paid under indemnity come out of them. He has served as an expert witness in cases where the legal bills exceeded the settlement.
The takeaway: Require both, and tender claims as an additional insured first.
- 08
Watch for endorsements that delete item F
Item F of the CGL's insured contract definition is the part that pays indemnity claims. The ISO CG 21 39 contractual liability limitation endorsement removes it while leaving items A through E. Bob has never seen an indemnity claim paid under A through E.
The takeaway: Reject CG 21 39, and ask your attorney what deleting item F means.
- 09
Reach the full limits your contractor carries
Require ISO CG 25 03 or CG 25 04 so aggregate limits apply per project or per location. Bob's sample language makes the contractor's full coverage and limits available to you, or the contract minimums, whichever is greater. Excess policies need the same scrutiny: in the last ten years he has seen two that were true following form.
The takeaway: Ask for per-project aggregates and check excess policies against your requirements.
“The best contract in the world is no good if it's not verified for actual coverage.”
Bob MarshburnFounder and CEO, Certified Risk Managers LLC10–13
Verify and enforce
Certificates don't show what an endorsement takes away, so check the policy and keep your leverage.
- 10
Get the policy pages, not just the certificate
Require the declarations and endorsements pages for the CGL and a complete copy of any excess or umbrella policy. Endorsements can take coverage away. A limitation to designated premises, for example, can mean no coverage at your job site even when everything else looks right.
The takeaway: Review the endorsements, not just the certificate.
- 11
Negotiate large self-insured retentions
Bob once saw a $30 million excess policy with a $10 million self-insured retention. His client city said it would accept no more than $100,000, and the carrier issued an endorsement setting the retention at $100,000 for that city only.
The takeaway: Set a maximum retention in your requirements and hold to it.
- 12
Flow requirements down to subcontractors
Your contractor should agree that every subcontractor meets the same requirements, so the same coverage sits in each sub's policy. Without that pass-through, you may have no coverage at all from the subs who did the work.
The takeaway: Require every requirement to pass through to subs.
- 13
Make noncompliance a material breach
Share requirements up front in the bid package and get a signed acknowledgment. In one of Bob's cases, a contractor that still wasn't compliant tried to charge his client city $250,000 for coverage it said it had added. He also recommends one person or committee approve any changes to your standard provisions.
The takeaway: Treat missing coverage as a material breach, and route every change through one approver.
Workshop materials
View Bob's workshop materials
The 59-page handout covers each mistake, a sample indemnity and insurance requirements form, and a reference section on additional insured endorsements, California indemnity types, self-insured retentions, and excess policies.
Page 1 · Avoiding mistakes that lead to denials (opens the slides in a new tab) 
Page 3 · Two ways to transfer risk (opens the slides in a new tab) 
Page 7 · Elements of indemnification (opens the slides in a new tab) 
Page 15 · Sample requirements (opens the slides in a new tab) 
Page 29 · CG 21 39 sample (opens the slides in a new tab) 
Page 57 · The following form myth (opens the slides in a new tab)
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