Risks are involved in every area of a business. As an executive, you are continually weighing the options and challenges of every decision. You know that firsthand and probably think about the potential risks your business could face on a daily basis. That’s why you and the rest of your executive team take extra precautions to ensure your workplace is a safe and comfortable environment, and that you have procedures, processes, and proper coverage in place when something does happen. Unfortunately for most businesses, mishaps can come at the most unexpected and least ideal times.
You probably know from experience how costly insurance claims can be as you’ve weighed the risks of your business time and again. Take for example a few recent statistics from the Insurance Journal:
- Product liability accounts for about >5% of claims and costs on average $35,000
- Customer or Contractor injury and damage accounts for about >5% of claims and costs on average $30,000
- If a lawsuit is involved, a general liability claim can average more than $75,000 per case to defend and settle and based on The Hartford’s claims history, 35% of all general liability claims actually result in a lawsuit
For many companies, managing COIs and compliance with every single third party relationship can be a full-time job – and a very manual one at that. And if not managed effectively, it can expose your company to a high amount of risk, taking for example just a couple of the statistics shared above.
Is Your Business Risking It?
Whether your company is in the business of construction, manufacturing, property management, education, healthcare, sports and entertainment, or any other industry, your concern should be focused on delivering the best products or services to your end customers – not solving disasters that could be prevented. Take for example this scenario:
Your construction company hires subcontractors to help on the job site during your busiest seasons. While the work is dangerous, your onsite supervisors are careful to ensure everyone uses proper precautions and that there is a first aid kit in the job site truck. While the supervisor was on a call across the job site, a young man tripped over a bucket and landed on a piece of wood with several nails projecting and was severely hurt. Little did the company know that the man is an uninsured subcontractor, so the company and supervisor are liable for the hurt worker. The organization had never faced such a severe injury before and didn’t have the proper policies or procedures in place. Suddenly, the construction company is thrown into the middle of a very costly, resource-heavy legal battle and the time and attention of many executives and employees is focused on resolving the matter at hand instead of staying laser focused on business objectives.
What are your current processes for managing COIs? Do you have a process at all? Is it manual and clumsy for your Administrative or Contract staff who own the reporting and processes? These questions all lead us to address why tracking and managing certificates of insurance can mean saving your business thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of employee time.
Is your company risking it all?
Certificate of Insurance Tracking Matters to Your Reputation
Manual certificate of insurance tracking can be like building a house of cards. Each time you begin working with a new third party, you or a manager in charge carefully places each new card in it’s proper place. You might even be able to keep stacking documents one on top of each other for a long period of time, or even cut some corners in the process that take extra time. But one day the whole house could come crumbling down if one piece of the house doesn’t hold up.
As companies continue to try to reduce costs by trimming coverages, the risk of non-compliant vendors, tenants, and subcontractors, suppliers continues to grow. Is your Administration or Contracts staff keeping track of individual contracts that outline specific requirements? If you are collecting certificates just to confirm they were received, you have no guarantee that the requirements are actually being met. This could mean that your company could be non-compliant on one, several, or even all of your policies without even realizing it. Tracking and managing certificates of insurance to confirm all limits, endorsements, and insurance requirements are in place allows your business to transfer costly claims and other exposures to your vendors. If your company fails to do that and your certificates aren’t trackable or managed correctly, you are risking your bottom line.
Start Tracking Certificates of Insurance Before It’s Too Late
Certificate of Insurance Management Solutions exist for one reason – to help you handle the everyday tasks of managing COIs and protecting your company against underinsured claims, costly litigation and failed audits. Why wait until something goes wrong to start insurance tracking and managing your certificates? Implementing a management solution can save your company thousands of dollars in potential legal battles, ensure you’re properly covered, and eliminate wasted time on manual processes.
Companies like myCOI offer an easy-to-use, cloud-based solution developed and supported by our team of insurance professionals who have been in your shoes. Simplify your certificate of insurance tracking and protect your organization with the industry’s leading COI tracking software and team of insurance professionals. myCOI’s software was designed to provide your company a single place to view your COIs, compliance, and risk reporting, for your vendors, suppliers, tenants, subcontractors, franchisees, and carriers.
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