Covered vine uncovered and certainly dead (7)
I believe the answer is:
insured
'covered' is the definition.
(covered by insurance)
'vine uncovered and certainly dead' is the wordplay.
'uncovered' indicates the central letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'certainly' becomes 'sure' (synonyms).
'dead' becomes 'd' (abbreviation in government records).
The middle letters of 'vine' are 'in'.
'in'+'sure'+'d'='INSURED'
(Other definitions for insured that I've seen before include "Financially covered" , "Protected against loss" , "Covered for burglary?" , "Financially protected" , "Covered against mishaps" .)