If a funding round, customer contract or office lease is waiting on insurance, the useful question is simple: when can you actually get covered?
At Corgi, you can apply online for startup coverage and get an instant quote for eligible risks. Binding comes next: the insurer must accept the risk, any outstanding requirements must be completed, and the effective date must be confirmed. Tell us your deadline upfront so we can help you work toward it.
A quote, a bound policy and a certificate are different things
A quote sets out the proposed coverage, price and terms. It may still have conditions to meet.
Binding is the insurer's confirmation that coverage has been placed, with an agreed effective date. Don't treat a quote screen or an application submission as that confirmation.
A certificate of insurance, or COI, is evidence of the coverage in place. It doesn't add coverage or change the policy. New York's insurance regulator explains this distinction: a certificate should reflect the actual policy terms.
If your customer needs an additional insured endorsement, a particular limit or other wording, send the requirement with your application. A certificate alone may not satisfy it.
What can you arrange through Corgi?
Our startup insurance packages bring together policies founders commonly need:
- General Liability for covered third-party bodily injury, property damage and certain personal or advertising injury claims.
- D&O for covered claims about management decisions, often raised during fundraising or board discussions.
- Tech E&O for covered customer financial losses arising from your technology products or services.
- Cyber for covered security and privacy claims, with additional protections depending on the endorsements selected.
You can also review Media Liability, EPLI, Fiduciary Liability and Hired and Non-Owned Auto as the business needs them. Adding a new policy or increasing a limit can require further underwriting; a funding round doesn't automatically update your coverage.
For AI products, tell us what the system actually does. AI-related protection depends on the appropriate endorsements and selected modules, rather than simply buying a policy labeled Tech E&O. Our Tech E&O coverage page explains the available AI endorsement.
What to have ready if you need coverage today
Start with the business requirement, then the application. These details make the conversation much more useful:
The actual request
Send the insurance clause, investor checklist or lease requirement, including the deadline.
Your business details
Have your legal entity name, operations, revenue, funding stage and team size handy.
Your existing coverage
If you're switching, bring current declarations, endorsements and renewal dates. Claims-made policies need particular care around continuity.
The requested terms
Identify each-claim and aggregate limits, any required endorsements and the proposed effective date.
The documents needed
Confirm who should receive the certificate or binder and how the business must be named.
Answer the application's questions fully, including those about prior incidents or claims. Missing information or terms outside an insurer's online offering can mean more review.
Why founders choose Corgi
We built Corgi around the moments when insurance becomes part of running a startup: closing a customer, raising a round, hiring a team or signing a lease. You can bring those requirements to us and review the relevant policies together, instead of working out the whole insurance package yourself.
Intryc's founder, Alex Marantelos, describes completing the application in five minutes and getting help from our team with packaged coverage choices. Eragon's founder, Josh Sirota, says Corgi helped the company meet an enterprise customer's insurance requirements and close the contract in days.
That is the job we want to do well: make the requirements clear and help you get the right documents in place for the next step.
Buyer Considerations
Check the legal entity, policies, selected endorsements, limits and effective date on the binding confirmation and issued documents. If you're replacing a policy, coordinate the switch before canceling the old one; our switching guide walks through that process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to bind insurance instantly?
It means the insurer confirms that coverage has been placed, with an agreed effective date. Check that confirmation and the policy terms rather than assuming an instant quote is active insurance. Any policy-specific waiting periods still apply.
How fast can I get a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?
Ask when documents will be available after binding and whether the recipient needs endorsements as well as a certificate. Send that requirement upfront.
Do I have to buy all coverage modules at once?
No. Review the policies your business needs now and consider additions as contracts and operations change. Changes can require underwriting and a confirmed effective date.
What insurance policies are usually required to close a funding round?
D&O is a common investor or board request. The actual financing documents determine the requirement; review those rather than assuming every round calls for the same package.
Need insurance for an upcoming deadline? Start your Corgi application and tell us what needs to happen, and when.
