Your COIs are susceptible to errors no matter which company has issued it to you. And it’s not always easy to detect them on first sight considering the incredible amount of COIs are being issued to you each year. And as much as it’s a must for every insurance provider to recheck details on their end, errors are simply inevitable as long as there’s human involvement in the process.
COI Error and Omission (E&O)
Errors can be disruptive to your COI processes. Every small detail that’s included in the COI that isn’t a mistake caused by the professional involved (a broker, insurance agent, or admin assistant) is considered E&O. Having incorrect information in your COIs caused by E&O can cost your company more than just legal fees, but the efforts for making sure that the changes you’ve implemented are applied to all affected sectors.
How do I stay protected?
Guarding your COIs against incorrect information is a difficult task without the help of some technology to help you to effectively sort through them. This technology can help eliminate the errors caused by employees who are clueless about anything that has to do with insurance. These employees may miss out on incorrect details or even mistake fraudulent, expired, or invalid certificates as valid certificates, causing more lessened or canceled insurance coverages and liabilities. Aside from your employees, it’s also possible for the subcontractors and third-party vendors to create the errors themselves, especially if they’re not passing on the task to an agent.
Having false information on your COIs is inevitable. To avoid errors in your certificates, make the necessary manual steps to make sure you’re on the right track:
- Check spellings and names included in the endorsements
- Verify if the endorsement is related to the insured’s existing policy
- Identify any limiting language included and if there are any found, take necessary actions to make sure the company is a covered entity
- When checking for the legitimacy of companies included on the certificate, contact your insurance agent to make sure they exist
- Check for any handwritten information or details with mismatching font. This is a red flag for most COIs
- Verify if the COI is a generic form taken from the internet. Forms with small rectangle boxes below that say “CLEAR ALL” means that the COI is created using a PDF filler application
- Authenticate the issuing company by double-checking the certificate’s accuracy. If the insurance agent denies the affiliation to the company, then it’s time to start asking questions
- Check if the insurance company made use of the Acord25 Form. Do this by checking any instances of the Acord25 label on the bottom left-hand corner of the form
Go the automated way when you use a COI tracking system that lets you scan, read, capture, and organize your insurance certificates the simple way. Having a state-of-the-art COI tracker helping you with complying to your COI’s requirements is very beneficial not just to your company, but your additional insureds and insurance provider as well. Curious to find out how COI Tracker can help? Request a demo with us today!