What should I ask for instead of a certificate if I need to know exactly what is covered?

The policy schedule and the relevant part of the wording, or a direct written answer from the broker or insurer about the specific scenario. A certificate summarises too little to settle a coverage question.

How do I confirm an insurer named on a certificate is actually authorised?

Check the insurer’s name against the relevant regulator’s public register rather than relying on the certificate alone. A certificate can be accurate about a policy while saying nothing about whether the issuer is properly authorised.

What if a checklist keeps asking for a certificate that cannot exist?

Explain the underlying position in writing rather than continuing to chase a document. This happens most often with workers compensation requirements applied to sole traders with no employees, where the scheme has nothing to issue.

When a certificate is not the right evidence at all

In short

A certificate answers "does a policy exist". It cannot answer whether a specific event is covered, whether an insurer is legitimate, or whether a scheme requirement is even the right one to be asking about.
For coverage detail, the policy schedule and wording are the documents that actually settle the question, not a summary of them.
For confirming an insurer or intermediary is real and licensed, the regulator registers do that job — a certificate alone does not.

Most of the time, a certificate of currency is exactly the right document to ask for. Occasionally it is not, and asking for one anyway just produces a document that cannot actually answer the question being asked. Recognising those situations saves a round trip.

This page covers the questions a certificate cannot answer, and what to reach for instead.

When the question is about coverage detail, not existence

A certificate confirms cover exists; it does not describe what happens in a specific scenario. Whether an event falls inside or outside the policy depends on the wording and any endorsement attached, neither of which a certificate reproduces.

Where the actual question is "would this situation be covered", the certificate is the wrong document to send. The schedule and the relevant part of the wording — or a direct question to the insurer or broker — answer that question; the certificate does not.

The document that actually carries that detail

When the question is whether the insurer or intermediary is legitimate

A certificate is produced by whoever issues it, and reading it does not independently confirm that issuer is who they claim to be, or that the named insurer is a genuine, authorised insurer. That confirmation comes from checking the relevant public register directly, not from the certificate itself.

This matters more than it might seem, because a certificate can be entirely accurate about a policy that exists with an entity that turns out not to be a properly authorised insurer at all.

Confirm an insurer is authorised to write general insurance in Australia: use the APRA register cited below.
Confirm a broker or intermediary is licensed: use the ASIC register cited below.

When a certificate is simply the wrong kind of evidence for the scheme

Some checklists ask for a certificate against a requirement that a certificate cannot ever satisfy — most commonly, workers compensation for a sole trader with no employees, where the scheme generally will not issue a policy to cover the proprietor at all. No certificate exists to produce, however long the request is repeated.

Where that is the situation, the correct response is explaining the scheme position directly rather than continuing to search for a document that was never going to exist.

The sole trader version of this exact problem

Questions

What should I ask for instead of a certificate if I need to know exactly what is covered?: The policy schedule and the relevant part of the wording, or a direct written answer from the broker or insurer about the specific scenario. A certificate summarises too little to settle a coverage question.
How do I confirm an insurer named on a certificate is actually authorised?: Check the insurer’s name against the relevant regulator’s public register rather than relying on the certificate alone. A certificate can be accurate about a policy while saying nothing about whether the issuer is properly authorised.
What if a checklist keeps asking for a certificate that cannot exist?: Explain the underlying position in writing rather than continuing to chase a document. This happens most often with workers compensation requirements applied to sole traders with no employees, where the scheme has nothing to issue.

Sources

APRA — register of general insurers — The public register of insurers authorised to conduct general insurance business in Australia, used to confirm the insurer named on a certificate is real.
Insurance Council of Australia — Industry body for Australian general insurers; publishes general consumer explainers on how insurance works.
business.gov.au — business insurance — Australian Government guidance on business insurance types and managing cover.