CG 24 04 Waiver of Subrogation Endorsement Explained

Nyasha Gutsa Cofounder, Billy    7 minute read

Most subcontract insurance exhibits ask for three things on the general liability policy: additional insured status, primary and noncontributory wording, and a waiver of subrogation. The first two are covered in our guides to CG 20 10, CG 20 37 and primary and noncontributory endorsements. This guide covers the third.

What subrogation is, and why you want it waived

Subrogation is the insurer’s right to step into the shoes of its insured after paying a claim and recover that money from whoever caused the loss. Say a sub’s employee is hurt on site and the sub’s carrier pays. Without a waiver, that carrier can turn around and sue the general contractor to get its money back, arguing the GC controlled the site. The GC’s own policy then has to respond, the GC’s loss history takes the hit, and the two contractors who agreed to work together are now on opposite sides of a lawsuit.

A waiver of subrogation shuts that door. The sub’s insurer agrees in advance that it will not pursue the parties named in the waiver. Combined with the indemnity clause in the subcontract, it keeps each party’s losses on each party’s own policy, which is the whole point of the risk transfer structure in construction contracts.

What CG 24 04 actually says

The endorsement modifies the Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us condition in the CGL policy. In plain terms, the insurer waives any right of recovery it may have against the person or organization shown in the schedule because of payments it makes for injury or damage arising out of the insured’s ongoing operations or the insured’s work done under a contract with that person or organization and included in the products and completed operations hazard.

Three details in that sentence matter when you review a certificate:

• It is scheduled. The waiver applies only to the name written in the schedule. If the schedule says “Acme Builders” and your entity is “Acme Builders of Texas LLC,” you have an argument, not a waiver.
• It covers ongoing and completed operations. Unlike additional insured status, which splits across CG 20 10 and CG 20 37, one CG 24 04 covers both phases.
• It is tied to a contract. The waiver applies to work done under a contract with the scheduled party. No written contract, no waiver.

CG 24 04 vs CG 24 53

ISO introduced CG 24 53, Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us (Automatic), so carriers could grant a blanket waiver without listing every party. It waives subrogation for any person or organization the insured has agreed in a written contract to waive it for, but only to the extent the contract requires it and only if the contract was signed before the loss.

Form	Who is covered	What to check
CG 24 04	Only the names in the schedule	Your exact legal entity, or wording that references the contract, appears in the schedule
CG 24 53	Anyone the insured must waive for under a written contract	Your subcontract actually requires the waiver, and it was signed before work started
Carrier proprietary blanket waiver	Varies by carrier	Read it. Some exclude completed operations or cap the waiver at the contract’s requirement

Many carriers now use their own blanket waiver forms instead of either ISO edition. Those are fine, but they have to be read, because the language is not standardized. This is where an AI review of the endorsement text saves real time compared with a person scanning a 40 page policy packet.

How to verify a waiver of subrogation on a COI

1. Find the SUBR WVD column. On ACORD 25 it sits beside ADDL INSD in the coverages table. A Y on the general liability row means the broker is asserting a waiver exists. Our ACORD 25 walkthrough covers every column.
2. Look at the description of operations. The box should say something like “Waiver of subrogation applies in favor of certificate holder per CG 24 04” or name the blanket form. If the box is silent, ask.
3. Request the endorsement itself. The certificate confers no rights. Only the endorsement attached to the policy does. Ask the broker for the CG 24 04, CG 24 53 or carrier equivalent as a PDF. This is the step most manual COI processes skip, and it is the reason a COI is not the same thing as an endorsement.
4. Match the schedule to your entity. For CG 24 04, the scheduled name must match the contracting entity, or the schedule must use blanket wording such as “any person or organization as required by written contract.”
5. Check the other lines. A GL waiver does nothing for a workers comp claim. Confirm WC 00 03 13 on workers compensation and CA 04 44 on commercial auto if your subcontract requires them, which most do.

Common mistakes we see in COI files

• Accepting the Y alone. Brokers mark SUBR WVD as Y on request. It is not evidence.
• Wrong entity in the schedule. The GC’s parent company is listed, but the contracting party is a project specific LLC.
• Waiver on GL only. Workers comp and auto waivers never collected.
• Waiver limited to ongoing operations. Some proprietary forms drop completed operations. For a GC with a multi year completed operations exposure, that gap matters.
• Contract signed after the loss. CG 24 53 only applies to contracts executed before the injury or damage. Chase the signed subcontract before mobilization, not after.

Sample subcontract language

If your insurance exhibit does not already require it, this wording is common and clear:

Have your broker or counsel review it against your prime contract. Owners often require the waiver to flow down to them as well, which is another reason to prefer the blanket forms.

Frequently asked questions