Get the Best Insurance Certificate Compliance App!

Insurance Certificate Compliance App

Let’s say you’re a new member of a risk management team for a company that deals with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of contractors, vendors, or other third parties. And pretty soon, when your onboarding ends, it’s going to be your responsibility to track, manage, and even verify all of those necessary certificates of insurance. I’ll bet you’re already thinking you really hope your new company has an insurance certificate tracking app or software provider, aren’t you?

Insurance software is a huge and complicated category, so we’re going to focus on the piece of it where we lead the industry: tracking certificates of insurance. At myCOI we erase the worry over certificates of insurance. Our tools, technology, and expert insurance support staff make sure your certificates are tracked and verified so you can relax knowing anyone on your site or in your building carries the coverage you demand from them.

So, what is a certificate of insurance explained? Let’s take a look by looking at the things important when considering an app. You’ll want to compare what you learn here with the specific needs of your company, but this should give you a good general idea of what to look for.

Best Certificate Of Insurance Tracking Software

The competition for the best certificate of insurance tracking software is fierce, and we’d be being dishonest if we didn’t say you need to choose the right solution for your company. Obviously, at myCOI we believe we are the right solution nine times out of ten, but we don’t fit every company, and that’s okay. Certificate tracking online could be a critical part of your business no matter what solution you use, whether that’s a full managed partner solution or a simple COI tracking spreadsheet.

You’ll need to define what “best” means for your business. Is it the least expensive? That depends on how you measure cost. In pure dollars, a free COI tracking software may work, but is it reliable? Do its developers offer support? Are there regular product updates coming out? If not, check it carefully to make sure it isn’t out of date.

Is “best” the least of your precious person-hours consumed by tracking certificates of insurance? Then a managed solution like myCOI offers may be best. Our team of insurance professionals know what they’re looking at, and they’re experts in making sure your certificates are promising what they say they do, that they meet your business requirements for coverage, and our quarterly verification makes sure the coverage stays in effect.

Certificate Of Insurance Sample

If you’re trying to get through certificate of insurance 101, looking at an ACORD certificate of insurance sample is one of the best places to start. The nonprofit ACORD—the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development—publishes and maintains an extensive list of standardized forms. Using a list of ACORD forms makes it easy to ensure that you’re using forms that the larger insurance industry will recognize.

A certificate of insurance is issued by an agent or broker and certifies that the named insured carries the protections and coverage listed at the time the certificate was issued. That’s the most simple form of a certificate of insurance explained.

If you’re a business that receives certificates of insurance (COIs) from the contractors or vendors you hire, you already know the critical need you have for collecting, tracking, and verifying them. Your business has rules about the coverages and endorsements it requires, as well as the limitations or exclusions it will not. All of that is discoverable on a COI.

Finally, when you’re trying to deal with certificates of insurance issues and answers, one of the best places to start is to look at a filled-out certificate of insurance template. These are pretty easy to find online, and your risk management team probably has examples you can look at as well.

How To Get A Certificate Of Insurance

Once you get the insurance and other forms you need, you also need to make sure that you get an insurance certificate for your clients who may request this. Consider this certificate as proof that your company has the protection it claims to have. Understanding how to get certificates of insurance can help you mitigate questions from other companies who may need to request the form from you.

If you are still wondering how to get a certificate of insurance then the first thing you may do is take a look at an ACORD certificate of insurance sample. You may also get a certificate of insurance online from your agent or broker.

The key to understanding your certificate of insurance is to know what should be included on your form. Take the time to locate a free fillable ACORD 25 form; these ACORD form samples make it easy to see what’s included. You need to make sure your name, as well as the name of your company, are all included. You also need to make sure that the policy number and carrier NAIC number are included as well. The type of insurance protection, the effective date, and the limits of the insurance protection should also be clear and prominent on this important document.

If you’re on a compliance or a risk management team, your office almost certainly has a sample letter requesting certificate of insurance from vendors. As you’re learning the ins and outs of compliance, knowing how to request a certificate of insurance from a vendor is certainly high on the list.

Certificate Of Insurance Compliance

Certificate of insurance compliance is the work a risk manager or compliance admin does to collect, verify and maintain the certificates of insurance provided to that company by its third parties. Almost anyone a business hires to do work on its behalf can be asked to provide some form of proof of insurance. And on the face of it, that sounds like a pretty easy ask.

Collect a piece of paper? A standardized form? And store it? Easy-peasy. 

Except each certificate of insurance has to be checked, first and foremost to ensure that it claims all the necessary coverages, amounts, limits, and exclusions that your company requires of its contractors. Sure, there is general liability insurance mentioned, but does it protect to the same amount that you require?

Also, what assurances do you have that the contractor didn’t let the policy lapse the day after they handed you the COI? Are you verifying with insurance agents that these contractors still hold the policies and protections that their COI claims? Are there exclusions to the contractor’s protection that will mean you’re held responsible for risk that should properly rest with the contractor?

Remember that there are varied certificate of insurance requirements by state, and you need to be aware of them. Certificate of insurance best practices in every case remind you to check your state requirements, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t do the same.

How To Organize Certificates Of Insurance

Knowing how to organize certificates of insurance for tracking is a necessity for any company that hires third parties such as contractors or vendors. A certificate of insurance tracking solution allows businesses to track certificates of insurance.

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is not keeping accurate records of certificates of insurance. This puts them at risk for fines and penalties if they do not have up-to-date documentation on hand when requested by a third party, such as an attorney or law enforcement officer. In addition to having legal consequences, failing to keep track of your company’s certificates could lead to financial losses. It also increases the likelihood of liability lawsuits filed against your business. Knowing who needs to provide a certificate of insurance is one of the core components of risk management.

And if you’re asking “when do you need a certificate of insurance from a vendor?” The answer is before the work starts. Every time. Anything else opens you to incredible risk. 

Certificate Of Insurance Tracking Template Excel

If you’re looking for a simple and manual way to track the certificates of insurance in your business, then using a free COI tracking software is an option worth considering. Many companies begin with solutions like having their staff track insurance policies on Excel spreadsheets. And for smaller companies just starting out, that system works. For basic certificate of insurance tracking Excel is not a bad solution.

The drawbacks of using an Excel insurance tracker are that it can be time-consuming to maintain and often require constant updating. What began as a simple project one person could track and easily snowball into a time-intensive process that’s impossible to scale as a company grows. Instead, companies might add more people and more spreadsheets, which leads to paperwork being lost or misplaced, which leads to increased chances for errors in the data.

That is exactly the worry that myCOI erases. Our systems are industry-leading. Our insurance professionals are top-notch. If you’re tracking hundreds of certificates of insurance, we’d love the chance to show you just how much time and effort we can save you.