Why this matters
Certificate of insurance requests never stop. A landlord wants proof of insurance, a general contractor wants to be named as additional insured by Friday, and a client writes “the landlord needs our insurance thing again” with no names at all.
Most requests are routine. The risky ones look routine too. A request that may need an endorsement on the policy, answered with a quick “sure, no problem”, is how an agency ends up promising coverage the policy doesn’t have.
In this module you build an AI agent in n8n that turns the day’s requests into one row each: the client, who the certificate is for, the request in the client’s words, and a check that marks it standard, sends it to the account manager, or says what to ask. It saves every request to a Google Sheet and never says a policy covers something.
What you’ll build
An n8n workflow with a chat trigger, an AI Agent with a system prompt for Harborview Insurance Group (a made-up independent agency), an OpenAI chat model, memory and a Google Sheets tool, plus a Certificate Request Log sheet with five columns: Date, Client, Certificate holder, Request and Check.
You paste in three made-up requests and get three entries: a standard certificate for a property manager, an additional insured and waiver of subrogation request that goes to the account manager before Friday, and a vague request where the agent asks for the landlord’s details instead of guessing. Then the agent saves all three as rows.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practicen8n, OpenAI and Google Sheets are practice copies. No account is created and nothing is billed.
- An n8n account, to do it for realn8n Cloud has a free trial, or you can self-host. The steps are the same.
- An OpenAI API key with a little creditLogging a day of certificate requests costs fractions of a cent.
- A Google accountFor the Certificate Request Log sheet. n8n asks you to sign in to Google once.
- Your agency’s certificate proceduresWhich requests a CSR can handle and which need the account manager, and your carriers’ rules. The system prompt in the download is a starting point.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
The system prompt is your certificate procedure
It says who the agent works for, who reads its output, and exactly what one entry looks like: date, client, certificate holder, the request in the client’s words with any deadline, and a check.
The check has three answers only: Standard request, Account manager review (with why), or Unclear (with what to ask). That is what makes the log quick to work through.
Never promise coverage
The most important rule in the prompt: never say a policy covers something, and never promise what a certificate will show. A certificate shows what is on the policy; the account manager decides what the policy can support.
So any request for additional insured, a waiver of subrogation, special wording or special limits goes to the account manager. The agent flags it; a person decides.
Ask instead of guessing
Vague requests are common: “the landlord needs our insurance thing again.” The agent marks them Unclear and says what to ask: the certificate holder’s name and address and what the lease or contract asks for.
Memory lets you say “save those” afterwards, and the Google Sheets tool writes the rows itself.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Certificate request agent system prompt (.txt)The system prompt, the five column headers and the sample requests from the lesson.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. A general contractor wants to be listed as additional insured with a waiver of subrogation by Friday. What does the Check say?
- Standard request
- Account manager review: it may need endorsements on the policy
- Covered, issue it today
Show the answer
Account manager review: it may need endorsements on the policy. Additional insured and waivers may need a change to the policy. The agent routes it; the account manager decides.
2. A client writes “the landlord needs our insurance thing again.” What does the agent do?
- Guesses the landlord from last year
- Marks it Unclear and says to ask for the landlord’s name, address and what the lease requires
- Leaves it out
Show the answer
Marks it Unclear and says to ask for the landlord’s name, address and what the lease requires. A certificate for the wrong holder is worse than a quick question back to the client.
3. Why does the prompt say never to say a policy covers something?
- It makes replies shorter
- Because a certificate shows what is on the policy, and promising more is how an agency ends up promising coverage the policy doesn’t have
- n8n can’t read policies
Show the answer
Because a certificate shows what is on the policy, and promising more is how an agency ends up promising coverage the policy doesn’t have. The log records the request. Coverage decisions stay with the account manager and the policy.
You reached the end of AI for Insurance Agencies
Every certificate request now lands in one log, and the risky ones go to the right person. Pick your next course, or point the same agent at tomorrow’s inbox.
Pick your next course →