If you’ve been a compliance officer for a while now, you know that collecting and verifying certificates of insurance is as tedious as it is tiring. With all the people you have to communicate with, all the paperwork that you have to go through, you barely have time for anything else. Really, it’s understandable that some compliance officers doing this manually choose to cut corners and just check the expiration dates for their review process.
But, of course, there’s really no excuse for doing that, especially considering that it’s your job and the company’s profitability on the line. You risk overlooking a lot of important details, like whether your certificates of insurance (COIs) reflect the status of your Insured correctly. Are you even sure that they’re still insured?
Increased Risk From Uninsured Subcontractors
Whether or not you’re aware that your vendors are uninsured, it doesn’t change the fact that this undermines your indemnification agreement. And when you have a general liability claim to deal with, you also become the sole party responsible for any punitive damages – a cost that the counter-party ought to have been responsible for.
If you were subject to an audit right now, would you be able to say that your vendor/s are really insured? Take note that should an audit reveal that your vendor is underinsured or uninsured, you’re left with the extra premium based on the vendor’s payroll also as if the employee was on your pay.
COI Coverage
Here’s a reliable motto: COIs give info about a policy; doesn’t specify coverage. It’s a receipt, if you will, that your vendor bought an insurance policy from a particular Insurer. It won’t do to just check the expiration dates on your accounting software; you have to check the contract details and requirements from the endorsements themselves.
COI Tracker is Better than Traditional Accounting Software
Fortunately, you’ll have time to do all of that properly, and then some if you try certificate insurance tracking software like COI Tracker. COI Tracker automatically collects and enters all useful information from COIs, intimates important expiration dates to you before they happen, helps you verify compliance, and helps you compile your data neatly to your ERP or standalone accounting software.
With COI Tracker, what takes hours will be done in minutes, and it frees your hands to close gaps in your review process so you can further limit your risks and potential liabilities from non-compliance. Try it for free today and experience your COI tracking process like never before.