Reaching $10,000 in gross monthly sales on Amazon triggers a hard requirement: upload a Certificate of Insurance (COI) within 30 days, or risk listing removal and account suspension. This guide covers Amazon's exact requirements, the six-step upload process, and the rejection reasons that catch most sellers.
Key takeaways
- $1M per occurrence and $1M aggregate are Amazon's minimum coverage limits, with no exceptions for new sellers or low-volume listings.
- Amazon must be listed as an Additional Insured, named as "Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates and assignees" on the policy.
- Your carrier must be rated A- or better by AM Best (or an equivalent rating from S&P, Moody's, or Fitch).
- You have 30 days from receiving Amazon's request email to upload a compliant COI.
- Most rejections come from name mismatches between the COI and Seller Central, not from coverage gaps.
What is an Amazon Certificate of Insurance?
A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a one-page document issued by your insurance carrier that confirms you hold an active commercial general liability policy. For Amazon sellers, it is the document Amazon's risk-management team reviews to verify compliance with the marketplace's Business Solutions Agreement insurance terms.
The COI itself does not grant coverage. The underlying policy does. The certificate is a summary, but it is the only document Amazon requires to confirm your policy meets specs.
What an Amazon-compliant COI must include
- Insured's legal entity name (must match the seller name on Seller Central exactly)
- Insurer name (the underwriting carrier)
- Policy number, start date, and end date
- $1M per occurrence and $1M aggregate liability limits
- Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates listed as Additional Insured
- Coverage type: Commercial General Liability with product liability extension
- The carrier's AM Best (or equivalent) rating
Amazon's exact insurance requirements
Amazon's Amazon seller insurance requirements have been stable since 2021. They apply once a seller crosses $10,000 in gross monthly sales for any single month. The threshold uses gross merchandise sales, not profit, and is calculated per-account, not per-listing or per-ASIN.
The broader eCommerce insurance buyer's guide covers what Shopify, eBay, Walmart, and other marketplaces require. For Amazon specifically:
| Requirement | What Amazon expects |
|---|---|
| Coverage type | Commercial General Liability + Product Liability |
| Limit per occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $1,000,000 |
| Additional Insured | Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates and assignees |
| Carrier rating | AM Best A- or better, or equivalent |
| Trigger threshold | $10,000 gross monthly sales (any single month) |
| Deadline to upload | 30 days from notification email |
| Coverage scope | Bodily injury, personal injury, broad-form property damage from products or operations |
How to upload your COI to Seller Central
The upload itself takes about ten minutes if your COI is already compliant.
1. Log in to your Seller Central account
Sign in at sellercentral.amazon.com with the account credentials linked to the seller name on your COI. Brand-store and aggregator accounts must use the parent account, not a sub-user role.
2. Navigate to account info
Click the gear icon (top right) and select Account Info from the dropdown.
3. Select business insurance
Under the Business Information panel, click Business Insurance. If you have already been notified you need insurance, you will see a banner with your 30-day countdown.
4. Enter your policy details
Open the second tab labelled Step Number Two: Upload Proof of Insurance. Enter:
- Name of insurer: spelled exactly as it appears on the COI (for example "Lloyd's of London", not "Lloyds").
- Name of insured: the legal seller entity name, character-for-character matching Seller Central.
- Policy number: the unique identifier from the carrier.
- Policy start and end dates: the period must cover at least 12 months ahead.
If your insurance came through Amazon's Insurance Accelerator program, tick the corresponding box. Assureful policy holders do not check this box.
5. Upload the certificate file
Click Choose File and upload the COI as .doc, .docx, or .pdf. Files larger than 5 MB are rejected automatically. If your COI is a scanned image, convert it to PDF first.
6. Submit and wait for review
Confirm every field matches the uploaded file, then submit. Amazon's risk team typically reviews within 5 business days. You will receive an approval or rejection email; rejected COIs need to be re-uploaded with corrections.
Why COIs get rejected (and how to avoid it)
The most common rejection reasons sellers run into:
- Name mismatches. The legal entity on the COI does not exactly match the Seller Central name. Common culprits: "LLC" vs "L.L.C.", trailing "Inc.", or DBA names instead of the registered legal entity.
- Missing Additional Insured language. The COI lists Amazon as a generic certificate holder rather than a named Additional Insured. Amazon specifically requires "Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates and assignees".
- Wrong limits. A $500K policy does not satisfy Amazon's $1M minimum, even if total annual coverage exceeds $1M across multiple policies. Per-occurrence and aggregate must each be $1M on the single policy.
- Lapsed effective date. The policy starts after the upload date, leaving a gap in coverage.
- Non-rated or under-rated carrier. The underwriter is below AM Best A- or is not listed at all.
- Generic CGL without product liability extension. A plain commercial general liability policy without explicit products coverage does not meet Amazon's product-specific requirement.
Sellers who use a specialist Amazon seller insurance product rarely hit these issues because the policies are pre-formatted to Amazon's exact specs and the COI is generated automatically once the policy binds.
What happens if you miss the 30-day deadline
Missing the deadline triggers a graduated set of consequences:
- Listing removal. Amazon may take affected ASINs offline shortly after the deadline passes. The listings remain in your inventory but are unsearchable until you upload a compliant COI.
- Account suspension. Extended non-compliance can result in full account suspension. Reinstatement requires a successful COI upload plus a Plan of Action.
- Category restrictions. High-risk categories (children's products, supplements, electronics, automotive) may be permanently restricted even after reinstatement.
If you miss the deadline, upload a compliant COI immediately. Amazon does not retroactively penalise sellers who become compliant within a week of the deadline, but listings already taken offline have to be re-activated through Seller Support.
How to send your COI by post
Most sellers upload digitally, but Amazon will accept a physical copy mailed to:
Amazon
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
Attention: Risk Management
Postal review takes 14 to 21 business days, so this is not recommended unless the digital upload fails repeatedly.
Frequently asked questions
How do I upload proof of insurance to Amazon?
Sign in to Seller Central, navigate to Account Info then Business Insurance, enter your insurer, insured name, policy number, and dates, then upload your COI as PDF or DOCX. The whole process takes about ten minutes if your COI is already compliant.
What are Amazon's exact insurance requirements?
$1M per occurrence and $1M aggregate Commercial General Liability with product liability extension, from a carrier rated A- or better by AM Best, naming Amazon.com Services LLC and its affiliates as Additional Insured. The threshold to require coverage is $10,000 in gross monthly sales for any one month.
What is the cheapest Amazon-compliant insurance?
Generic CGL policies from major carriers start around $50 to $80 per month for low-volume sellers, but most do not include the product liability extension or the Additional Insured language Amazon requires. Specialist Amazon-seller policies like Assureful start at $26 per month and are pre-formatted for Amazon's specs, on average 42% less than comparable A-rated insurers.
How long does Amazon take to approve a COI?
Digital uploads are reviewed within 5 business days. Postal submissions take 14 to 21 business days. Approvals are confirmed by email; rejections include the specific reason so you can correct and re-upload.
Do I need to re-upload my COI every year?
Yes. Amazon requires a current, in-force COI at all times. Re-upload whenever your policy is renewed, the carrier changes, or any policy detail (limits, additional insureds, dates) is amended. Set a calendar reminder for 30 days before your renewal date.
Bottom line
An Amazon Certificate of Insurance is a one-page document that proves your CGL policy meets Amazon's $1M/$1M product liability requirements with the carrier rated A- or better and Amazon listed as Additional Insured. The upload process takes ten minutes; the most common rejections are name mismatches and missing Additional Insured language.
If you are shopping for an Amazon-compliant policy now, the fastest path is a specialist Amazon seller insurance quote, which generates a pre-formatted COI ready for upload. For broader coverage decisions across multiple marketplaces, see the eCommerce insurance buyer's guide.
Related reading: Amazon seller insurance guide, Amazon A+ Content, Amazon FBA sell-through rate.