For property managers managing multiple properties and projects, keeping all of the moving pieces in line can be difficult. One thing that should never slip through the cracks, however, are insurance certificates from tenants, vendors, suppliers and contractors. Insurance is fundamental to cover any claims or losses for which the tenant, vendor, supplier or contractor may be liable. Verifying COIs is a sound risk mitigation practice and could avoid costly lawsuits and claims down the road. Many property managers don’t realize the implications of not verifying COI compliance.
Ensuring insurance compliance goes beyond disclosing insurance requirements in leases or agreements or simply asking tenants, vendors or contractors if they have adequate insurance. Property managers must collect and review Certificates of Insurance (COIs) for tenants, vendors, suppliers and contractors to be kept aware of who is compliant and who is at risk. Your company could be on the hook if their insurance is not verified.
Why gathering COIs is important
While general liability and property insurance covers specific exposures, every tenant, vendor, supplier and contractor can vary with the types of insurance coverage they need for their business operations. This may include auto liability, workers compensation & employers liability, pollution liability, etc. So, ensuring that each one of these stakeholders has adequate coverage in line with their operations is key. Many tenants, vendors and contractors may not normally carry the insurance coverages you require in your leases or agreements. COIs provide confirmation that the appropriate coverages are in place, containing information on policy lines, endorsements and limits of coverage. In addition, this ensures your tenants, vendors, suppliers and contractors are compliant with their leases and agreements, protecting them as well as your organization from exposures associated with their operations.
While simply taking the word of tenants to heart and going on blind faith that a vendor is compliant might be easier, in the long run it can make things much harder for stakeholders and property managers alike. If an incident does occur and the tenant is either found at fault or if a COI isn’t in place to show compliance, there could be serious financial implications for both sides. So, instead of simply checking a box to show compliance, property managers have to collect COIs from everyone involved with a property or project: tenants, vendors, contractors, suppliers, and more.
If they insist they are compliant with your requirements, it’s still critical to have an organized documentation process. Because insurance policies are often updated, changed or cancelled throughout the course of a lease or an agreement for services, having a, effective tracking process that allows property managers to capture changes, updates and cancellations to ensure continued compliance is essential.
Streamline and automate the COI tracking process
Traditionally, collecting COIs from everyone involved with a property can be incredibly tedious and manual. Property managers have had to deal with manual data gathering and gaps in the process for years. Now, there is a new way to securely obtain and track COIs without having to waste precious time or resources. The myCOI tracking platform makes it easy to obtain, store, sort, and even update existing COIs with the click of a button.
Instead of hasty attempts to gather COIs from tenants, vendors orcontractors in the days or hours before they’re scheduled to move in or start working, make COI compliance part of your onboarding process. Treating COI documentation like any other part of the tenant,vendor, supplier or contractor management procedure creates a seamless internal process.Managing COIs with a tracking solution like myCOI can help automate this workflow and protect your company
Learn more about COI tracking from our experts here.